Today’s Devotion
Topic: Highly Esteemed By Heaven
Text: Daniel 9: 23a
As soon as you began to pray, a word went out, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Amen.
In the first year of Darius, son of Xerxes, ruler over the Babylonian kingdom, Daniel understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. So he turned to the Lord God and pleaded with Him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.
He later wrote the experiences and encounters he had during this prayer period. He said “while I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the Lord my God from his holy hill— 21 while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice.
22 He instructed me and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. 23 As soon as you began to pray, a word went out, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. (Dan 9: 20- 23a).
Dearly Beloved, the question here is, how special can a man be to be highly esteemed by heaven? It’s incredible! Daniel was so special to God that just when he began to pray, an answer was given. And the Archangel assigned to deliver the response came in a SWIFT FLIGHT. Wow, what a wonderful privilege this will be!
The archangel did not give any reasons why Daniel had won so much favour with God, but from our study of his person, character and work from the book of Daniel, we know that:
a) He purported in his heart not to defile himself with the king’s delicacies. (Dan 1: 8)
b) He was consistent in prayer and was accustomed to praying three times a day. (Dan 6: 10)
c) He consulted God in all he did. (Dan 2: 17- 19)
d) He never gave up his faith even when he faced the ordeal of the lion’s den. (Dan 6: 16- 17)
The good news is that all believers born into God by reason of the blood of Jesus, ARE HIGHLY ESTEEMED BY HEAVEN TOO. NOT BY THE DEEDS WE HAVE DONE, BUT BY THE SACRIFICE JESUS MADE AT CALVARY. WHEN WE PRAY, THE HOLY SPIRIT (HIMSELF) MINISTERS TO US IN SEVERAL WAYS WE CAN NOT SEE. He sees each tear that falls and hears us when we call.
Begin to pray therefore. Say it all to Jesus. Confess your own sin and that of your people. Petition God to watch over His word and perform it in your live, your finances, home, children, projects etc. Just pray by faith knowing that you have the full attention of your Father in heaven.
You will then experience the presence of the Holy Spirit ministering strength for your weakness and breakthroughs where there were blockades.
Those of us in Christ are highly esteemed by heaven as A CHOOSEN GENERATION, HOLY NATION, ROYAL PRIESTHOOD AND GOD’S OWN SPECIAL PEOPLE (1 Pet 2: 9). Why not join us? Jesus awaits you with a smile.
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