How is your prayer life going? Is it hit and miss or is it a constant communion with God? Do you just talk to God or do you take time to listen also. It's interesting... some people only pray on Sundays, or at a meal, or when their lives are up against a wall. Others, have learned to live a life of prayer. Literally, it is "praying without ceasing." Every part of their day is in constant connection with their Heavenly Father about every event of their lives. They are talking to God but they are also listening at the same time.
Hearing God is vital to our lives. I like what Matthew says, " He that has ears, let him hear." (Matthew 13.9)
Daniel 10 helps us in this regard as it is a time in Daniels life in which he was fervently praying and seeking God over some matter. God comes and anwers him in a dramatic and powerful way.
Before I get into our text, let me explain a little of the background leading to the event we will read about. Daniel had been taken prisoner from his homeland and hometown as a teenager with other gifted young men and had been incorporated into the culture of Bablyon. Daniel continued to maintain his relationship with the Lord, and in his captivity he came across a prophetic passage speaking of the bondage of his people. God had promised that the slavery would last 70 years. As we begin to read, here is what has happened.
The king of Babylon had fulfilled the Scripture and had issued a decree two years earlier that allowed the Jews to return to their homeland. But a mass exodus from Babylon had not happened. You see, the Jews had spent 70 years - that is two generationsin Babylon. Many of them had lost their identity. They were Jews in name, but in reality they were apathetic about the true things of God.
Daniel is an 85 year old man, retired from public office, and heartbroken over who the Jews have become. He begins to pray for their apathy. In this passage he has been praying and fasting for three weeks, when He receives a visit from the pre-incarnate Christ.
In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a revelation was given to Daniel (who was called Belteshazzar). Its message was true and it concerned a great war. The understanding of the message came to him in a vision. At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks. I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over. On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris, I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist. His body was like topaz, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude. I, Daniel, was the only one who saw the vision; those who were with me did not see it, but such terror overwhelmed them that they fled and hid themselves. So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision; I had no strength left, my face turned deathly pale and I was helpless. Then I heard him speaking, and as I listened to him, I fell into a deep sleep, my face to the ground. A hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. He said, “Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up, for I have now been sent to you.” And when he said this to me, I stood up trembling. Then he continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. (Daniel 10:1-12 ESV)
I Will Begin To Hear God When:
1. I Truly Desire To Hear Him (10:2-3, 12)
I believe that the first aspect of truly hearing God is being in a position that all other voices are hollow echoes of emptiness. You must hear God.
In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three weeks. (Daniel 10:2 ESV)
Daniel expressed his overwhelming desire to hear God. He wanted to hear God so much that all other desires became second.
I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, for the full three weeks. (Daniel 10:3 ESV)
He wanted to hear God. He desire to hear from God was so great that Daniel did not want to eat, drink, or even bathe!
Why was Daniel so anxious to hear from God? He looked around and was in such despair over the apathy of the people of God that he wanted to know how to be a part of the solution. Daniel easily saw the problem. God's people enjoyed being in captivity. But he could not see what to do to wake them up to the incredible blessing that they were missing.
Let me ask you something. As you look around at culture, within and without the church, what do you see? Do you see people content to live without God? Does it break your heart? What can you do about it? This is what Daniel was mourning about. This is why he so desired to hear from God. He wanted to somehow be a blessing to other people!
Here is the point. Daniel wanted to hear from God so much, that it consumed him. He had to hear. His motivation was pure, and his desire absolute. These are the type of people that hear from God. This is when/how God speaks. To people who want to hear from Him so they can communicate His love to others.
Then he said to me, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words. (Daniel 10:12 ESV)
You will hear God when you really want to hear Him. This is pretty much what God does. He gives us what we want when it comes to our relationship with Him.
2. I Totally Dedicate Myself To Respond To What I Hear (10:10-11; 1:3-17)
The next aspect of people that hear God is this. When they hear Him, they respond to His voice.
And behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. And he said to me, “O Daniel, man greatly loved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for now I have been sent to you.” And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling. (Daniel 10:10-11 ESV)
Daniel instantly responded, even in a moment that was beyond human comprehension. He did not understand what was happening, but He knew Who was causing it to happen and that was enough.
This was a pattern in Daniel's life. He prayed to God, listened to God's instructions and immediately responded.
If you do not listen to God now, and respond to what you hear, why would he continue to speak to a wall? God speaks to those who truly desire to hear Him, and to those who are dedicated to let His voice change them.
3. I Am Completely Devoted To Him (10:9-19)
This is the driving force. God speaks to us in love, and when we are in love, God speaks to us.
When I am devoted to God, my desire is to hear from Him, and my love compels me to trust and respond to what He says.
Then he said to me, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words. (Daniel 10:12 ESV)
Looking at this passage we see how Daniel viewed God. It was in worship, love and trust. This is what God wants.
Daniel was deeply devoted to and in love with God. That is the heart that God responds to. He wants to be loved by you freely today. He wants you to make Him your choice. He doesn't want to force you to love Him, He just wants you to come freely and without apprehension. As you do, you will enter into this beautiful communion of you talking to Him and He with you. It is then that He lavishly pours out His blessings and favor upon your life.
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