When the angel is delayed

[SPEAKER_00]: hope you're doing well, welcome to run joining us online and in the parent's room as well.

[SPEAKER_00]: My name is Matt and we're going to open the word together.

[SPEAKER_00]: We're going to go to the book of Daniel today.

[SPEAKER_00]: So if you want to open your Bibles or your Bible app or whatever you have to there will be reading from Daniel in just a minute.

[SPEAKER_00]: And it will also be up on the screen.

[SPEAKER_00]: But before we do that, just a couple of housekeeping things, a couple of things to note that I'd love to let you know about.

[SPEAKER_00]: The first one is that Jodie says, Hello, she's actually at Don Cast, the Church of Christ, with Doug and Mel Pause this morning.

[SPEAKER_00]: She is there in her official capacity as executive officer for churches of Christ in Vectas, and so it's exciting for us as a church to be able to send Jodie to be there but also to be able to continue to encourage Doug and Mal and what they're doing there, which is

[SPEAKER_00]: they are doing an incredible job, so that's good.

[SPEAKER_00]: The second thing I want to let you know about is a few weeks ago you may remember I had a bit of a chat with us as a church just about our where we were at financially across the course of the year and how each month we'd kind of registered a bit of a shortfall just in our regular ties and offerings across the course of the year and how that might impact.

[SPEAKER_00]: some things that we can and can't do.

[SPEAKER_00]: The good news is that when our may figures came in, discovery not only met budget, but we recorded our highest month of giving so far for this year.

[SPEAKER_00]: So that's exciting.

[SPEAKER_00]: And it's exciting because any time we say that, and then time out that there's a challenge put out in front of us as a church.

[SPEAKER_00]: 99.9% of times discovery church goes, oh yeah, that's the bar, let's go.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I love that about us.

[SPEAKER_00]: I love that we're never shrink back from a challenge.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I love what the Lord's doing in us and through us.

[SPEAKER_00]: And the goal is for us to keep that consistent across the course of the year.

[SPEAKER_00]: And if you're one of those new people have been with us for six to 12 months and who have trusted us with your giving for the first time, or the first time this month, we just want to say thank you.

[SPEAKER_00]: And yeah, it's so incredible that we get to build something that's going to outluck outlive us and outlast us.

[SPEAKER_00]: None of what we do is for ourselves.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's for the next generation to come.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I can't think of anything better than to continue to serve and support that.

[SPEAKER_00]: Also, thank you if you've already given an our vision offering, you want to say thanks.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's been so awesome to see that.

[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, our accountants don't party much, but our accountants on the May figures when they came in, they did have a small party.

[SPEAKER_00]: just a little woo, you know, like that from out from the hour counts at the same.

[SPEAKER_00]: So that was really, really good.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now, who knows what happened in 1508?

[SPEAKER_00]: Right, that's good.

[SPEAKER_00]: Students of history, we are.

[SPEAKER_00]: In 1508, Michael Angelo, not the Ninja Turtle, but the original artist, was given what was one of the most famous artistic commissions in human history, who knows what it was.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's right, paint the ceiling to the 16 chapel.

[SPEAKER_00]: Has anyone been to see it?

[SPEAKER_00]: Show a hands.

[SPEAKER_00]: Has anyone just seen it in a photo?

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, yeah, you know, you've got Adam reaching out to God.

[SPEAKER_00]: You've got the prophets, all these biblical stories that are painted on the ceiling of a 16 chapel.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now, that sounds awesome and you go, man.

[SPEAKER_00]: And it almost feels inevitable.

[SPEAKER_00]: It feels like it's always been there.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, like it's just been part of our history forever.

[SPEAKER_00]: But the vision of that took four years to come to reality.

[SPEAKER_00]: It was commissioned in 1508, but it was before years before that would be completed.

[SPEAKER_00]: So that's four years of Michelangelo every day climbing up the scaffolding, lying on his back and painting a ceiling that ends up being one of the most brilliant and beautiful pieces of human artwork in all of history.

[SPEAKER_00]: Four years of climbing up, lying down, paint in the eyes, it's dripping onto him for four years as he completes this task.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, Michelangelo would go on to write a poem about what it was like as he was painting it.

[SPEAKER_00]: So he wrote a poem about it.

[SPEAKER_00]: And you know what he said?

[SPEAKER_00]: He said this.

[SPEAKER_00]: My beard turns up to heaven.

[SPEAKER_00]: My brain is crushed into a casket.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's how much he loved it, guys.

[SPEAKER_00]: My brain was crushed into a casket.

[SPEAKER_00]: It wouldn't have one of those days.

[SPEAKER_00]: He didn't love it that much.

[SPEAKER_00]: There were days that were not artistically fulfilling, oh, Michael Angelo, Matt living the dream.

[SPEAKER_00]: You get to paint for a living.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, lying on his back getting paint dripped into his eyes, wet plaster falling over him.

[SPEAKER_00]: See, the thing is there is a gap between the vision that we see in our minds and the reality of what it takes to get there, amen?

[SPEAKER_00]: Anyone of the felt that gap?

[SPEAKER_00]: We are like, I can see it.

[SPEAKER_00]: I know it.

[SPEAKER_00]: I can taste it.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe even the Lord's promised it.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe even I feel like it was a promise that I got from God or a vision that he's made me see.

[SPEAKER_00]: But the journey from here to there,

[SPEAKER_00]: my brain is crushed in a casket.

[SPEAKER_00]: Anyone have one of those moments.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's true not just of art, it's true of life.

[SPEAKER_00]: You've received a promise, but the fulfillment takes longer than expected.

[SPEAKER_00]: You pray for breakthrough, but nothing seems to move.

[SPEAKER_00]: You take a step of faith, and as soon as you step, there is resistance, there's pressure, there's progress seems to be stunted, and you're not moving.

[SPEAKER_00]: The future seems to be arriving more slowly, then you hoped, what do we do?

[SPEAKER_00]: What do we do?

[SPEAKER_00]: Let's read about it.

[SPEAKER_00]: Daniel experienced this exact same thing.

[SPEAKER_00]: Wasn't just Michael Angelo, wasn't just your life, it was Daniel's life as well.

[SPEAKER_00]: Let's read Daniel chapter 10, verse 2 to 9.

Daniel 10:2–9

[SPEAKER_00]: In those days, I Daniel was mourning MOUR and ING for three weeks.

[SPEAKER_00]: I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth.

[SPEAKER_00]: Nor did I anoint myself at all for the full three weeks.

[SPEAKER_00]: On the 24th day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the Great River, that is the Tigress, I lifted up my eyes and looked and behold, a man clothed in linen.

[SPEAKER_00]: with a belt of fine gold from UFAS around his waist.

[SPEAKER_00]: His body was like barrel.

[SPEAKER_00]: His face was like the appearance of lightning.

[SPEAKER_00]: His eyes were like flaming torches, and his arms and legs were like the gleam of burnished bronze.

[SPEAKER_00]: And the sound of his words sounded like the sound of a multitude.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I'd Daniel alone saw the vision for the men whole with me did not see it, but a great trembling fell upon them and they fled to hide themselves.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I was left alone, and I saw this great vision and no strength was left in me.

[SPEAKER_00]: My radiant appearance was fearfully changed.

[SPEAKER_00]: I retained no strength.

[SPEAKER_00]: Then I heard the sound of his words, and as I heard the sound of his words, I fell on my face in a deep sleep with my face to the ground.

[SPEAKER_00]: OK, so Daniel teaches us that some victories don't arrive because you work harder, you try harder, you strategize more, you press down or press in even further to activity or strategy they're one in prayer.

[SPEAKER_00]: Breakthrough happens and belongs to those who are willing to seek God and who are willing to wait on him.

[SPEAKER_00]: What's happening in this story?

[SPEAKER_00]: The Israelites have been exiled.

[SPEAKER_00]: They've been taken from their home country, their place in Jerusalem, and they've been removed to Babylon.

[SPEAKER_00]: There was a big bad, nasty king in Babylon, and that king was deposed.

[SPEAKER_00]: The new king came in as name was King Cyrus, and he said to the people of Israel, good news, you can go home.

[SPEAKER_00]: Hurray!

[SPEAKER_00]: They were all excited about heading back to their homeland and they began the journey in dribs and drabs.

[SPEAKER_00]: Groups of them would head back from Babylon back to their country.

[SPEAKER_00]: And yet they had the promise that they were going to be back where they were meant to be.

[SPEAKER_00]: and the work was delayed.

[SPEAKER_00]: Things slowed down.

[SPEAKER_00]: We're told you can read about this in the book of Ezra, which is another one of these, don't one of Daniel's contemporaries.

[SPEAKER_00]: It said that the work to rebuild the city came to a standstill.

[SPEAKER_00]: There was oppression in all different kinds of ways, persecution in all kinds of ways.

[SPEAKER_00]: The progress, stalled and stopped.

[SPEAKER_00]: And what did Daniel do?

[SPEAKER_00]: He didn't get mad.

[SPEAKER_00]: He got sad.

[SPEAKER_00]: First point is this, you can tell your emotions what to do.

[SPEAKER_00]: Daniel said, I mourned and prayed and fasted for 21 days.

[SPEAKER_00]: For three weeks, this was a deliberate intentional season of mourning prayer and fasting.

[SPEAKER_00]: We think that mourning or lament just comes upon us, like a wave of grief.

[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, now I'm all of a sudden, I'm sad.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know what's happened.

[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, my gosh, now I'm just lamenting, or I'm in mourning, no.

[SPEAKER_00]: David said it into his calendar.

[SPEAKER_00]: Daniel said it into his calendar.

[SPEAKER_00]: He said, 21 days, I'm gonna mourn.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm gonna lament.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm gonna fast and I'm gonna pray for my situation and my people.

[SPEAKER_00]: Things haven't turned out how we thought.

[SPEAKER_00]: The vision is there.

[SPEAKER_00]: We see it, we see us being back in our homeland, but the reality is taking a long time.

[SPEAKER_00]: And you know what I'm gonna do?

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm gonna fast, I'm gonna pray.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm gonna forego my morning makeup ritual, my normal routine and I'm gonna seek God.

[SPEAKER_00]: And the point is, at the end of that three weeks, he washes his face, gets up, changes his clothes, has a nice meal, and moves on with his life.

[SPEAKER_00]: You can tell your emotions what to do.

[SPEAKER_00]: There are things that are going on for you, battles that you are fighting right now, things that you are praying for, and I want to encourage you, put it into your calendar and set a time to pray.

[SPEAKER_00]: You can deliberately enter into a season of morning all lament for a particular issue and seek God around that for that amount of time.

[SPEAKER_00]: You're in charge of your emotions.

[SPEAKER_00]: He declares a season of morning.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now some of you need to set that.

[SPEAKER_00]: Some of you need to grieve.

[SPEAKER_00]: You need to set it, put it in your calendar, lock it down, and go, I'm going to mourn for this amount of time.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to lay hold of God, I'm going to fast and pray.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now, others of you have been there for too long, and you've got to wash your face, get up and move on my friend.

[SPEAKER_00]: Get out of that place.

[SPEAKER_00]: Take off your grave clothes, take off the black stuff, wear something colorful, and go and say something nice to someone.

[SPEAKER_00]: All right?

[SPEAKER_00]: Get into a new season.

[SPEAKER_00]: Your 21 days are up.

[SPEAKER_00]: Move on.

[SPEAKER_00]: We're two weeks in to our church wide prayer and fasting season.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's one week left.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm the continue to fast and pray, and I know that so many of you are with joint into this season intentionally, as we contend and we pray, we say, God, would you turn us?

[SPEAKER_00]: Would we become a church that goes from here to everywhere?

[SPEAKER_00]: Would we see new locations?

[SPEAKER_00]: Would we see new life?

[SPEAKER_00]: Would we see people come to faith?

[SPEAKER_00]: Would we see children return to the Lord?

[SPEAKER_00]: Would we see families restored back together?

[SPEAKER_00]: That's what I'm praying for.

[SPEAKER_00]: And we set ourselves a task, and we set ourselves a time.

[SPEAKER_00]: You can tell your emotions what to do.

[SPEAKER_00]: Secondly, what's crazy about this is he has to hold joy and grief together.

[SPEAKER_00]: Wouldn't it be really nice in life if all the good things happen to you at once?

[SPEAKER_00]: And you've got like a six-month period of time where everything good just happened to you, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: Everything, and there was no negative things.

[SPEAKER_00]: Except it just never happens that way.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's like joy and grief run on parallel train tracks.

[SPEAKER_00]: And good things are happening and super difficult hard dark things are happening at the same time.

[SPEAKER_00]: Isn't that true?

[SPEAKER_00]: And you figure out, man, I wish it was just gold in sunny season for like six months, just give me that.

[SPEAKER_00]: But all the time, joy and grief run on parallel tracks.

[SPEAKER_00]: This happens for Daniel, because the time that he praise and fasts, he says it's the first month.

[SPEAKER_00]: And the first month for Israel started at Passover when they remembered that they came out of Egypt out of slavery.

[SPEAKER_00]: So his three week period of prayer and fasting, most certainly came at the same time, which was the most celebratory, best, most beautiful part of the Jewish calendar.

[SPEAKER_00]: It'd be like you fasting over Christmas.

[SPEAKER_00]: You're not, you're just watching that Pavlovach just go past you.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I can't, you're watching that, you know, you're watching that little lobster rolls, just just disappear down the other end of the table and you just have to sit there and you've just got that one little tear in the corner of your eye.

[SPEAKER_00]: You're holding joy and grief together.

[SPEAKER_00]: You still get some presents, but no food for you, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: No delicacies for you.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is what it'd be like for Daniel.

[SPEAKER_00]: He has to hold joy and grief together in this season.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's praying and fasting over what is one of the most celebratory.

[SPEAKER_00]: One of the most, we're so pumped to we're excited, we're remembering the Lord rescued us from slavery, and yet he's holding grief for what's not happening in his city.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's holding grief for the promise that they've received that they haven't lived in the fulfillment of.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's got to go back up that scaffold and paint a little bit more and then come back down again.

[SPEAKER_00]: The goal of prayer and fasting is not to somehow twist God's arm into getting what we want.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's about clarity.

[SPEAKER_00]: The goal of prayer and fasting is clarity because there is nothing that clouds our judgment more than comfort.

[SPEAKER_00]: Comfort is the number one thing that will make you see things that you're not really seeing.

[SPEAKER_00]: or believe things that you don't really believe.

[SPEAKER_00]: Confit is.

[SPEAKER_00]: But as soon as we put ourselves into an uncomfortable place, oh my gosh, you can start to see things clearly.

[SPEAKER_00]: As soon as you start to fast and pray, especially if you fast real hard, you can start to hear someone fold a piece of bread from across the street.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like, what's that?

[SPEAKER_00]: It's so clear.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm like, I'm so aware, but it means I can hear God.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not trying to get him to twist his arm into getting him to do what I want.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm just becoming clear to hear the things that he's already saying.

[SPEAKER_00]: He might be saying things to you, but you're drowned about.

[SPEAKER_00]: Because we get two, two comfortable.

[SPEAKER_00]: Doesn't manipulate God.

[SPEAKER_00]: Prayer doesn't manipulate God.

[SPEAKER_00]: It just changes us.

[SPEAKER_00]: It slows us down and enough to listen.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now, what happens here is he fasts and prays and he sees a vision of this man that looks like your body, like barrel arms, that are like bronze, eyes, that are like fire, he speaks and it's like a multitude.

[SPEAKER_00]: What is going on?

[SPEAKER_00]: No wonder Daniel falls down to his grip to the ground on his face.

[SPEAKER_00]: Because Daniel knows that what we behold shapes us.

[SPEAKER_00]: What we put our attention on, what we put our imagination on begins to shape who we are.

[SPEAKER_00]: You see this with someone who lives in fear or anxiety.

[SPEAKER_00]: Not only do your mind just wrap around fear and anxiety on my thinking fearful thoughts, thinking anxious thoughts, it begins to change someone's shape physically.

[SPEAKER_00]: Get hunched over and closed in and I'm scared about what's going on around me and I need to protect what I've got.

[SPEAKER_00]: It changes someone's department, it changes the way that they speak, it changes their gate, what we behold shapes us.

[SPEAKER_00]: Daniel knows that.

[SPEAKER_00]: He comes to this place, a prayer and fasting.

[SPEAKER_00]: He sees this vision of an angel, and he's freaked out, oh my gosh, what is going on, but it turns to shape him.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's why, on a Sunday morning, I set it in my calendar, tell my emotions, what to do, 9 and 11, and I stand here and say, all hail King Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: Why?

[SPEAKER_00]: Because that's what I want to shape me.

[SPEAKER_00]: The thing that's going to change me to become a better husband, a better father, a better friend is a vision of Jesus, the one who laid down his life for the earth, and I want to stand with my arms raised and worship him because what I behold shapes me.

[SPEAKER_00]: We get shaped by the things that are a fact that our affections move towards.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so even when we don't feel like it, even when I'm not in that place, even when I feel like, oh man, this is not going well.

[SPEAKER_00]: I tell my emotions what to do.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I said it in my calendar, and I say 9 and 11, Lord, Emmanuel and Discovery, I'm gonna stand, and I'm gonna sing all hail King Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: Because last time I checked, I was not the one who died and rose again for planet Earth.

[SPEAKER_00]: He was.

[SPEAKER_00]: He was the one who showed me humility.

[SPEAKER_00]: He was the one who showed me love.

[SPEAKER_00]: He was the one who set the stars in motion, and then yet died for us.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so I will stand and behold him.

[SPEAKER_00]: and the ideas that as I behold him, I'm transformed with ever-increasing glory.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not gonna stand there and just mud of the words my arms folded and worship like it's looking down now.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not open myself up to behold the glory and the wonder of Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: Daniel spends three weeks seeking God, but before Daniel receives instruction, he receives revelation.

[SPEAKER_00]: We become like whatever captures our imagination.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so what happens next, Daniel 10 to 14, behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is a very physical thing that's happened to Daniel.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's fasted and prayed, the vision comes, he falls down, then he falls flat, goes into a deep sleep and then a hand goes on him and wakes him back up and sets him on his hands and knees and he's said to me, oh Daniel, man greatly loved.

[SPEAKER_00]: understand the words that I speak to you and stand upright.

[SPEAKER_00]: For now I've been sent to you and when it's spoken this word to me I stood up trembling and he said to me fear not Daniel from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humble yourself before God your words have been heard and I've come because of your words.

[SPEAKER_00]: The Prince of the kingdom of

[SPEAKER_00]: 21 days.

[SPEAKER_00]: But Michael, one of the chief princes came to help me.

[SPEAKER_00]: I was left there with the kings of Persia, and I came to make you understand what's happening for your people in the latter days for the vision is yet to come.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, what is going on here?

[SPEAKER_00]: We're going to explain it and talk about, and I think it's going to help you, is because it's certainly helping me.

[SPEAKER_00]: Daniel has been praying for 21 days.

[SPEAKER_00]: He receives his vision and angel comes and he's overwhelmed.

[SPEAKER_00]: He falls down flat.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's overwhelmed, overwhelmed by the glory that he'd seen overwhelmed by the conflict that was going on, overwhelmed by the fact that there was all these problems with them progressing and moving back into their homeland, overwhelmed by the future that was going on.

[SPEAKER_00]: He was physically, emotionally and spiritually overwhelmed and exhausted.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now, anyone know what that feels like, I know you do.

[SPEAKER_00]: Some of you, you feel like I'm in another day tomorrow when I think about tomorrow, I'm overwhelmed.

[SPEAKER_00]: When I think about my family, I'm overwhelmed.

[SPEAKER_00]: When I think about my business, I'm overwhelmed.

[SPEAKER_00]: When I think about what's going on in my marriage, I'm overwhelmed.

[SPEAKER_00]: When I think about my finances right now, I'm overwhelmed.

[SPEAKER_00]: I know you know what it feels like, but sometimes you don't need more information.

[SPEAKER_00]: You need strength.

[SPEAKER_00]: And that is what Daniel receives.

[SPEAKER_00]: The Lord places his hand on him and says, Daniel, man greatly loved, time to get up.

[SPEAKER_00]: He receives strength.

[SPEAKER_00]: The message doesn't begin with an explanation.

[SPEAKER_00]: He doesn't begin with strategy, he doesn't begin with a timetable, he begins with reassurance.

[SPEAKER_00]: I know you've seen those times and I know you've been in grief and I can guarantee you the thing that helped you the most in those moments when you were struggling, when you were in the depths, was not more information or good ideas.

[SPEAKER_00]: It was the presence of God or the presence of a friend who stood sat with you or stood with you on the yield with you and said nothing.

[SPEAKER_00]: But you knew that we're there.

[SPEAKER_00]: Amen?

[SPEAKER_00]: Presence is what helps when someone is overwhelmed, not information.

[SPEAKER_00]: because you can be overwhelmed and you can jump on it, you know, AI and put it on overwhelmed, and it's gonna tell you some stuff that an algorithm spits out, that's come out of a bajillion other algorithms that spits out at you and makes you feel better for like 2.7 seconds.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then you realize, oh, it's just a machine, but you have the presence of God who is with you.

[SPEAKER_00]: What is hands on you?

[SPEAKER_00]: The only thing that's gonna get you to your feet if you're on your hands and knees is the presence of Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: The deeper need is not explanation.

[SPEAKER_00]: The deeper need is his presence.

[SPEAKER_00]: God's greatest gift to us is not more information about him.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's himself.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's himself.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now, we're going to talk about this last part of this passage because what is going on

[SPEAKER_00]: Daniel praise and fast for 21 days, he sees a vision.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now, most commentators will see the vision, even though it sounds like it's God speaking, is actually an angel that appears to Daniel.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, he's fast at that long that he's seeing angels, guys.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is getting pretty crazy now.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's like, ooh, give that guy some food.

[SPEAKER_00]: He sees an angel most commentators say, if Gabriel, one of the chief angels, who comes and sees Daniel.

[SPEAKER_00]: And he says to Daniel, dude, this is what's going on.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to tell you about the vision that's to come.

[SPEAKER_00]: And the thing is, I was sent 21 days ago.

[SPEAKER_00]: And Daniel's like, tell me more.

[SPEAKER_00]: And he says, but the king of Persia prevented me.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I would.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now, what's happening here is this.

[SPEAKER_00]: Most commentators will say.

[SPEAKER_00]: that the king of Persia in this passage is not an ordinary human king, but is a demonic power or a principality over a geographical region, hang with me here.

[SPEAKER_00]: There is a thought, and this is pretty common Orthodox Christian thought, that there are demonic powers or principalities that are assigned to geopolitical regions on the earth.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so what Gabriel is saying here is good job Daniel, you started praying but the kind of the chief demon that was over Persia stopped me from getting here for 21 days.

[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, I had to call my buddy Michael and he came and we both got there together, we fought him and we're good to go.

[SPEAKER_00]: What does that mean?

[SPEAKER_00]: Here's what that means for tomorrow.

[SPEAKER_00]: It means when you wake up tomorrow morning and you open your Bible and you sit in your comfy chair and you pray.

[SPEAKER_00]: you are not just praying to the ceiling.

[SPEAKER_00]: You are shifting geopolitical forces spiritually across the earth.

[SPEAKER_00]: You are interacting with something that is so far beyond you.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's more happening than what you can see.

[SPEAKER_00]: So you can engage with prayer like someone who is actively involved in the affairs of planet earth.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now, why do I know that?

[SPEAKER_00]: I think that, and I think it's sort of anecdotal, but I also see it happening across our nation.

[SPEAKER_00]: My friends are something happening in Melbourne right now, where people are coming to faith in their droves.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's happening at discovery, but it's not just happening here.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's happening right across our city.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's happening right across our state.

[SPEAKER_00]: Small church, large church, ethnic church, whatever.

[SPEAKER_00]: Every church is recognizing and our city right now is hungry for the things of God.

[SPEAKER_00]: Why?

[SPEAKER_00]: Because as I look across our nation, I don't see it in the same way.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now, don't quote me on this, and I could be wrong, but my running theory is that we had such a difficult time in COVID.

[SPEAKER_00]: It kind of smashed us, and we all spent so much time at home, and it forced us to pray.

[SPEAKER_00]: It forced me to pray.

[SPEAKER_00]: And what we're seeing now is we've come out.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's like an arrow being shot out of a bow.

[SPEAKER_00]: And we were hardest hit, and because we prayed, now we're seeing some incredible fruit and my friends.

[SPEAKER_00]: My friend, Vin Goulay said it this way.

[SPEAKER_00]: The wind is at our backs for the first time in a long time.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I think we should celebrate that.

[SPEAKER_00]: We can be grateful for it because God's people started to pray.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's more happening than what we can see.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's true.

[SPEAKER_00]: There is a war in heaven that we participate in every single time we pray.

[SPEAKER_00]: And what does Gabriel say?

[SPEAKER_00]: It took me 21 days to get here.

[SPEAKER_00]: But he also says this.

[SPEAKER_00]: From the first day, Daniel, you started praying.

[SPEAKER_00]: The answer was there, from day one.

[SPEAKER_00]: So it was not like Daniel sets this calendar 21 days.

[SPEAKER_00]: And for 20 days, he praised praise, praise, praise, praise, and God goes, nah,

[SPEAKER_00]: Let him wait today, 21.

[SPEAKER_00]: Let him see if he makes it.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then day 21, Chachin, Jackpot, prayer answered.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's not what happens.

[SPEAKER_00]: Daniel praise from day one.

[SPEAKER_00]: The first morning he gives up his delicate, nice food and his morning skincare routine.

[SPEAKER_00]: The prayer is answered then.

[SPEAKER_00]: It just took 21 days to see it.

[SPEAKER_00]: So my friend, if you're praying right now, the answer is already there, it might just be that you don't see it yet.

[SPEAKER_00]: You've got to keep climbing up that scaffold, keep coming down, keep climbing up, keep coming down, day in, day out, day in, day out, the prayer is already answered back there, but it takes a bit of time because there's a wall going on.

[SPEAKER_00]: The message sometimes takes a little while to get from there to here.

[SPEAKER_00]: The prayer is already yes, the prayer is already a man, the prayer has already been answered, but you've got to keep praying.

[SPEAKER_00]: From day one, I'm not making it up, guys.

[SPEAKER_00]: You can read it there.

[SPEAKER_00]: The angel says, from the very first day you started praying, from the very first day you humble yourself.

[SPEAKER_00]: Just because you cannot see the movement, doesn't mean that God is an active.

[SPEAKER_00]: don't mistake this scaffolding for absence because God is still building.

[SPEAKER_00]: Lastly, finally, and maybe, Tammy, maybe you can come join me for this.

[SPEAKER_00]: That would be good.

[SPEAKER_00]: I want us to focus on two beautiful little words in this passage.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's this awesome little reversal that happens in this passage.

[SPEAKER_00]: Daniel says at the start of Daniel chapter 10, I set myself to pray in fast and I ate no delicacies and he says meat and wine and, you know, the skin care thing is baked, you know, in a time before Rex owner and deodorant, you needed to use oils to make yourself kind of able to be around.

Daniel 10 · chapter mention

[SPEAKER_00]: And so he stops all of that for a season.

[SPEAKER_00]: But he says I ain't no delicacies.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now the Hebrew word that translated is bread of desirables.

[SPEAKER_00]: I ain't no bread of desirables.

[SPEAKER_00]: To me, that's an almond croissant or a cinnamon scroll.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's a bread of desirable.

[SPEAKER_00]: Anything that's flaky pastry with like butter, jammed in between many, many, many layers.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's a bread of desirable, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: And so he says none of that for 21 days.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then when the angel comes to him and puts his hand on him and lifts him up, he addresses Daniel, and says, oh Daniel, man greatly loved.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now, it's a kind of unfortunate translation for us in English, because in the Hebrew, he says to Daniel, oh Daniel, one who is greatly desired.

[SPEAKER_00]: So what does that mean?

[SPEAKER_00]: It means that as Daniel said no to desires, he realized something true all along, that he was the one who was greatly desired.

[SPEAKER_00]: And it's true of you, and it's true of me.

[SPEAKER_00]: You are greatly desired by God.

[SPEAKER_00]: Your greatly does mean love to you.

[SPEAKER_00]: He cares about you so delighted in you.

[SPEAKER_00]: And yet, perhaps we don't experience it because we've brought into the lie that we are what we consume.

[SPEAKER_00]: And the more delicate sees I have, the more delicate I am, it's not true.

[SPEAKER_00]: He says, no to those things and finds out the truth all along, which is your greatly desired annual, greatly desired.

[SPEAKER_00]: And it's this beautiful little, almost Easter egg in this passage that uses that exact same word.

[SPEAKER_00]: He says, no to one and it receives the whole time, oh, I was desired all along.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so in a minute, we're about to share around the table.

[SPEAKER_00]: We're about to share around the broken bread and the cup, which represents, and reminds us of the broken body of Jesus, and his spilled blood.

[SPEAKER_00]: which takes us from being separated from God to being connected to Him.

[SPEAKER_00]: We're about to celebrate together.

[SPEAKER_00]: The fact that God is still building something significant.

[SPEAKER_00]: The masterpieces becoming visible.

[SPEAKER_00]: And for 21 days, it might not be seen, but then the end up and down the scaffolding, it's finally revealed.

[SPEAKER_00]: So the way that I'd love us to do this this morning is there are stations set up around the auditorium here, and we have some hosts as well who have the bread in the cup, and they might take those up into the race, seeing so it's easier for people who are in those areas.

[SPEAKER_00]: And the team are just gonna play.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm gonna pray for us in a minute and then I'd love you to get up out of your seat.

[SPEAKER_00]: Go and receive the bread in the cup and take it back to your seat and sit back down.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then we'll kind of sick quietly, we'll meditate on these words for a minute.

[SPEAKER_00]: Then we'll pray and we're gonna eat and drink all together.

[SPEAKER_00]: As a church.

[SPEAKER_00]: So what do we go do that now?

[UNKNOWN]: Thank you.

[UNKNOWN]: Thank you so much for watching.

[UNKNOWN]: Thank you very much.

[SPEAKER_00]: So Jesus, we thank you, you entered into the unfinishedness of our world, even your disciples expected a crown where they saw was a cross.

[SPEAKER_00]: Even good Saturday, sat between good Friday and Easter Sunday, when Resurrection was already coming.

[SPEAKER_00]: And because Christ has risen, we know something that Daniel only glimpsed.

[SPEAKER_00]: That not only God are you working toward a breakthrough, you're working toward new creation.

[SPEAKER_00]: One day the scaffolding will come down.

[SPEAKER_00]: One day the master piece will be revealed.

[SPEAKER_00]: And one day, every promise will find its yes that a man, he grossed.

[SPEAKER_00]: And on earth when Jesus entered the wilderness for 40 days to pray in fast, he became the better and true Daniel.

[SPEAKER_00]: He entered hunger so that we could receive fullness.

[SPEAKER_00]: He entered suffering so that we could receive salvation.

[SPEAKER_00]: And he entered death so that we could receive life.

[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus, we thank you.

[SPEAKER_00]: And your name, we pray, we men.

[SPEAKER_00]: Let's eat and drink together, church.

[UNKNOWN]: Thank you, Lord.

[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you, Lord.

[SPEAKER_00]: All right, church, let's stand together.

[SPEAKER_00]: We're gonna sing when a worship, when a behold is glory in just a minute.

[SPEAKER_00]: What do I encourage, Jesus is building his church?

[SPEAKER_00]: Not just here in Manavila, not just in Frankston, but from here to everywhere.

[SPEAKER_00]: We pray we fast, we seek God because the future doesn't depend on us or our smarts, but it depends on his glory and on his goodness and on his story being told.

[SPEAKER_00]: So why don't we lift our voices this morning church?

[SPEAKER_00]: Why don't we exalt his holy name?

[SPEAKER_00]: Why don't we bring praise to him and honor him this morning as the one whom holds all things together.

[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus, we love you, we thank you for all that you're doing.

[SPEAKER_00]: We pray, we bless you this morning.

[SPEAKER_00]: We honor you this morning.

[SPEAKER_00]: We declare your goodness this morning, your wonder this morning in Jesus mighty name.

[SPEAKER_00]: Come on church, let's sing together, shall we?