Daniel 10.12 encourages, don’t be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer.

Imagine praying and an angel or Jesus Himself showing up to say your prayers have been heard and I have come in response. That would be pretty incredible. That was Daniel’s experience.

Why did God listen to Daniel? Daniel did two things any of us can do and if we do them we can be confident that our prayers too will be heard.

First, Daniel sought to understand the will of God. Daniel read the word of God which led him to seek the will of God. The prayers God most desires to answer affirmatively are those that align specifically with His will. The Word of God, the Bible, teaches us the will of God.

The will of God is most often defined in general terms so that the Spirit of God can dial us in as we seek, like Daniel, understanding for specifics through prayer. If our prayers are predominantly for our selfish ends our prayers will seem to have little effect.

Prayer that seeks to understand and apply the will of God from the Word of God are gladly heard and quickly answered.

Second, Daniel was humble before God. Daniel saw himself as a servant of God first and foremost. Daniel had a job but his purpose was to honor God in the world. Daniel’s purpose impacted his job, sometimes at great personal risk. Nevertheless, Daniel made honoring his God more important than his own personal welfare.

This type of humility, this willingness to serve God wherever, however at whatever cost, results in prayers being heard and answered by our God.

Prayer is not a complicated matter but seems that way when our prayers are more like texts to God; a quick connect for Him to do something for us.

The prayer that results in experiencing the Person of God in our lives, working through our lives, comes to those who are seeking God in order to do His will in this world.