Key Truth: God teaches His people to be strong and of good courage by the way He shows His care for us in His faithful, sovereign power.

A Broken Heart and a Humble Fast

Daniel 10:1-3

Q: What causes you to mourn? Who do you turn to when you are confused and defeated?

“Ordinary daily prayers do not require fasting; but when any great necessity presses upon us, that exercise is added by way of help, to increase the alertness and fervor of our minds in the pouring forth of prayer. For this reason the Scriptures often connect fasting with sorrow… Daniel, therefore, did not abstain from all food, and wine, and luxuries, with the view of rendering any obedience to God, but of testifying his own grief: then he was anxious to rouse himself to prayer, and by that mark of humility, to prepare far better for repentance.”

John Calvin, Commentaries on Daniel

A Fearful Vision and a Strengthening Love

Daniel 10:4-12

Q: Who or what do we fear? What does that say about who or what we think is ultimately sovereign in this world?

“When God appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, he said, ‘Fear not.’ When God revealed his glory to the prophets, he said, ‘Fear not.’ When messengers announced Jesus’s birth to his family and to the shepherds in their fields, they said, ‘Fear not.’ When the glory of God is so great that it might obscure the love God has for his people, he always assures them that they need not fear harm from him. The circumstances into which he comes may be frightening, and his own nature requires our awe, but he comes to overcome our fears with the promise of his care.”

Byran Chapell, The Gospel According to Daniel

A Fearful Enemy and a Victorious God

Daniel 10:13-21

Q: Has God ever begun to answer a prayer before you realized it?

“Satan dreads nothing but prayer. Activities are multiplied that prayer may be ousted, and organizations are increased that prayer may have no chance. The one concern of the devil is to keep the saints from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray.”

Samuel Chadwick, The Path of Prayer

Daniel 10:1-21 teaches us that:

-We cannot stand before God unless we are loved by Him.

-God’s love for us and sovereign power enable us to be strong and of good courage despite fearful circumstances.

-We should persevere in prayer knowing that God works and fights for us in ways we do not always perceive.