"...thy words were heard; but the Prince of the Kingdom of Persia withstood me." Daniel 10:12-13 KJV
I am sure that we all can relate to feeling like our prayers have gone or are going unheard by the Father. We can be doing everything that we may know how to do; praying, fasting, worshiping, praising and tithing and we can still feel like "God, where are you?" Rest assure that YAH hears our prayers every time we pray. I believe that there are times when He may lead us through "dry areas" to develop our faith and trust in Him and then there are times when the enemy causes our blessings to be held up.
Daniel had been praying and fasting for three whole weeks before the Father came down and delivered him. He said to Daniel, 'thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days." (v. 12-13) There may be times that your prayers have been heard and YAH has sent deliverance but they have been held up in the heavenly realm. That's when we need to turn our focus on rebuking the enemy and getting our blessings released. Let me tell you a story.
Yesterday I had a situation with my bank where they charged me a fee because of their system glitching. I had two transactions come through one of my bank accounts at the same time resulting in the bank taking some of my money to cover the charge. I called them and asked them what happened. After they researched to issue they saw that they problem was due to their 'glitchy' system but still was very slow about returning my money. The first woman said she would discuss it with someone over her to see about getting the approval to refund me the fee charged, but she never came back and ended up transferring me to another branch. The woman at that branch also concluded that it was the bank's fault as well but said, "I don't know if we can reverse it" and that "the manager just went to lunch, I have to wait till he gets back to ask about returning your money." "What's your number so we can call you back?" I gave her my number and awaited their call back.
An hour goes by, I call back they tell me that the manager was still away from his desk so I had to leave a message, so I did just that. By this time I am truly livid and ready to freak out because they were taking their precious time with returning my money due to a error on their part. Even more upsetting is that I told them that I needed them to return this money for another bill that was going to be drafted out in a couple of days. At that time I went into to my bedroom and began to pray. I needed YAH to calm me down so that I could respond and not react. I began to pray for peace and patience and then it hit me. I began to realize that maybe this was a tactic of the enemy to trigger one of my soft spots to act out of character. He was so unhappy about the spiritual growth and progress that I had been making the past few weeks that if he could use anything to throw me off he would. I could tell that it was him because the situation was not nearly as a big deal as I was making it. Yes, I was upset and annoyed but I could tell that the enemy wanted to keep painting a scenario in my mind that would cause me to act in flesh and not in the Spirit.
I immediately began to repent for my anger that was inspired by my flesh and not the Spirit. I began to feel better and told YAH that I would put the situation in His hands. I could feel myself warring between keeping it in YAH's hands and letting Him work it out and the enemy trying to keep poking at that area of my flesh that I still needed to die from. As I was praying, I could feel the Spirit leading me to pray against spiritual hold ups and barriers so I began to do that. I began to speak that all hold ups and hindrances would be destroyed and cast down and that all things belonging to me would be released! By this time, two hours had passed since I last called the bank and they were now well past their closing time. I said to myself that I would visit them in the morning since I had not gotten a call back. Just as I was saying that, the phone rang...it was the bank! The woman I had spoken to earlier said, "I just heard back from my manager and he said that he would refund your money to you tonight!"
The reason why I told you this long and transparent story is because YAH hears every prayer and answers every prayer but there may be some times when the prince and power of the Air (Lucifer - Ephesians 2:2 KJV) will work to keep your blessings from coming. This happened to Daniel in the Scriptures and it can happen to you. Once I had began to cast down the strong holds and release the hold-ups is when I finally received the call back from the bank; it literally was no more than 5 minutes afterwards! The Scripture also tells us, "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Ephesians 6:12 KJV.
This experience for me was an eye opener for areas in my life that I need to continue to work on. It also served as a reminder to me of the authority and power that I am now walking in with the Holy Spirit, or in Hebrew, the Ruach Hakodesh (Ruah Ha-qodesh). As followers of the Messiah who are obedient to His Laws, Statues and Commandments ( John 14:15, Matt. 5: 17-19 KJV) and those who have the Ruach Hakodesh (Ruah Ha-qodesh), the Comforter, the same power that rose YAHAWASHI/YAHSHUA or 'Christ' from the grave, we are to do the same and even greater things/works than the Messiah ( John 14:12 KJV)! Command your blessings, take authority over the enemy and the command that whatever is held up be released!
Shalom & Blessings,
Joanna