Setting Our Hearts to Understand

UV 980/10,000 Setting Our Hearts to Understand Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. Daniel 10 v 12 Daniel received many revelations and visions which filled him with a sense of awe and fear. He fasted, confessed and prayed. The Lord sent one of His chief princes, Michael to give him the message that his prayers were heard. When we humble ourselves before the Lord, fast and pray, He will hear our words and similarly send us His Word. He will also send His angels to minister to us and to strengthen us as Daniel was strengthened by Michael. Daniel considered the visions and prophecies he received and set his heart to understand it and to repent before the Lord God for his own sins and the sins of Israel. Similarly, we must set our hearts to understand the Word of God, the prophecies we have heard and the visions we have seen. The uni-verse states that the Lord heard the prayers of Daniel right from the very first day he had set his heart to understand the Word. It is interesting that almost every time an angel of the Lord appeared to people right through the Old Testament times and even till the book of Revelation, he starts by saying, “ Do not fear. “ When we hear from our fellow human beings , “ Don’t worry”, the words trigger the embedded command to do the opposite- we begin to worry and fear. But when we hear the Word of God, a tremendous sense of peace and assurance will come upon us whatever be the situation or provocation. It is said that the words, “ do not fear” occurs 366 times in the Bible, one for every day and the leap year is also taken care of. The angel Michael addressed Daniel by his personal name, showing the intimacy of relationship. Daniel was no stranger to Michael. We need to only replace our own names with the words, “_______, Do not fear.” We need to use our fear to turn it into an occasion for prayer, an opportunity to approach the Lord instead of denying it or putting up a brave face. Daniel did not hide his fear but his face changed ashen, his body became weak. The angel’s touch and words restored his physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual strength. The Lord once revealed, “ You need my grace, I need your heat,” heat meaning our prayers and fellowship. We need to imitate Daniel in cultivating regular habits of prayer, self discipline, study and devotion in order to excel like him in our spiritual understanding of revelations from the Lord. The response of the Lord is immediate and effective. Our fervent words of prayer are enough to prompt the Lord to send His angels to minister to us. The words, “ I am come for thy words,” expresses this sense of urgency and immediacy of the Lord’s response to our prayers. Prateep V Philip