The book of Daniel records Daniel as a person who could pray. What Satan wanted to deal with particularly was Daniel’s prayer. His prayer touched God’s heart and was able to fulfill God’s plan. Satan purposely wanted to deal with his prayer and to destroy his prayer. Chapter six especially shows us that Satan wanted to damage this praying person through the men under Satan. At least he tried to destroy his prayer and to render him unable to pray.

One remembers the story of King Darius who decreed that within thirty days, anyone who petitioned anything of any God or man besides the king would be cast into the den of lions. Satan’s subtle strategy was to utilize the men around King Darius to deal with Daniel, to stop Daniel from praying, and eventually to ensnare Daniel, the man of prayer. How did Daniel respond to this? He still prayed as usual and was not at all threatened by it. The Bible is very clear: “Three times daily he knelt on his knees and prayed and gave thanks before his God, because he had always done so previously” (Dan. 6:10). Nothing could stop Daniel’s praying. If Daniel had not prayed, Daniel would have failed. As long as Satan could destroy and stop Daniel’s prayer, Satan would win. Hence, Daniel’s prayer was like a stronghold on a battlefield.

We must realize that it was this prayer of Daniel which resulted in God being manifested as the living God. With Daniel, God truly manifested Himself as the living God. And this manifestation of God was due to Daniel’s prayer.

In chapter nine we see that as soon as Daniel read and found out God’s desire for the Israelites to return from captivity after seventy years were fulfilled, he immediately fasted and prayed. Some have the wrong concept that since God had spoken and ordained that the Israelites would return from captivity after seventy years, why was there any more need for prayer? Had God not spoken that He would bring them back? Indeed it is true that God had promised to bring back the Israelites after the fulfillment of seventy years. Yet there was still the need for man to pray. If God could not find a man to pray for this on earth, it would be hard to bring to pass the return of the Israelites after the seventy years. Daniel met God’s need. He was truly a man who cooperated with God through his prayer.

In chapter ten we see that not only was Daniel a praying person, but a persistent praying person. He asked God for understanding and for direction. He prayed and prayed steadfastly. The Bible tells us that he received God’s answer on the first day of his petition. From the first day, God had answered his prayer by sending an angel to show him what would happen to the children of Israel. Yet when the angel came to the air, he met Satan’s prince who withstood him. There was a battle. In other words, when God in heaven was about to join Himself to man on earth, He met Satan’s resistance, and there was a twenty-one day battle. Although God had already heard Daniel’s prayer, Satan resisted in the air and would not allow God’s answer to reach Daniel. Nevertheless, Daniel was a persistent praying person. He persisted in prayer for three seven-day periods. As a result, the angel came to tell him how God had heard his prayer and how He would deal with His people.

All of this shows us that Daniel was a praying person. He prayed every day, and he prayed for everything. Once I asked a young brother if he prayed. He said, “I pray every day.” I asked, “What time of the day do you pray?” He said, “Three times a day at mealtime I pray.” I would say that prayers at mealtime do not count as prayer. There is not much use for that kind of prayer because it is prayer for the food. But Daniel’s prayer was not at all for the food. He always prayed with a single purpose and never prayed for himself.

Daniel’s prayer reached the highest peak. He asked God to do something for Himself. He prayed, “Cause Your face to shine upon Your sanctuary that has been desolated, for the Lord’s sake” (Dan. 9:17). I hope that we would circle the words “for the Lord’s sake.” We can see that his prayer was totally for God and not for himself. It seems as if he was saying to God, “My supplication here today is not for myself but for You. Even though I am asking You to do something, it is not for myself, but for You.” This was a very special prayer; it was also the highest prayer. Our prayers are ninety-nine and nine tenths percent for ourselves. Very few of them are for God. Only a person like Daniel, who prayed to God single-heartedly, can be used by Him to turn the age.
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