Humility

 Then he said to me, "Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words.
Daniel 10:12 ESV
https://bible.com/bible/59/dan.10.12.ESV

Daniel was an old man now. Yet even this late in the day, he had a vision of the Lord Jesus Christ. Understandably, such an encounter would be fearsome, but Jesus commanded him not to be afraid.

This passage is what we call a theophany: an appearance of Christ before His first advent as a man in ancient Palestine. Here, He appeared to Daniel in exile in pagan Babylon. He came to assure him that He is sovereign, He's in control.

Often, when we're praying, pouring out words of intercession for God's people, it can feel like we're hitting a brick wall. Yet we can take encouragement from Daniel's vision of Jesus- even when it doesn't feel like it, our words are heard and responded to. This is an astounding truth.

Why would God listen to sinful worms like us? Because He made us and He loves us, insignificant as we often may feel in the grand scheme of things. We can cry out to Him in Jesus' name in confidence that He will hear and respond.

'Loving Father God, thank You for hearing our cries to You. We're grateful that You don't ignore us, even if it feels like it. Please help us to be faithful to You, in Christ's name, amen'

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