Breakthrough Prayers: When You Pray Until Something Breaks - Daniel's Prayer | Part 10
Main Text: Daniel 9:2-23 (AMP) & Daniel 10:2-19 (AMP)
The Big Idea
When we combine prayer, fasting, faith, and persistence, we position ourselves to receive what God has already prepared.
Delayed does not mean denied. Sometimes the answer is on the way, but there is a battle between your prayer and your breakthrough.
- Daniel gives us one of the greatest pictures of breakthrough prayer in Scripture.
- Daniel wasn't praying because God was unfamiliar with his situation.
- Daniel was praying because he understood that prayer participates in God's purposes.
The Phone Illustration
Think about the phone in your hand. This thing can connect me to the whole world and disconnect me from God.
Sometimes fasting isn't just about what you don't eat. Sometimes it's about what you stop consuming.
Setting the Scene
Daniel 9:2-3 (AMP) In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the books the number of years which, according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the desolations [which had been] pronounced on Jerusalem would end; and it was seventy years. So I directed my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.
Lesson 1 | Daniel Prayed With Purpose
Daniel discovered through Jeremiah's prophecy that Israel's captivity was coming to an end.
Principle: A promise from God should become a prayer to God.
Daniel didn't say, "God promised it, so I'll just sit back."
He said, "God promised it, so I'm going to pray for it."
Lesson 2 | Fasting Sharpens Your Spiritual Focus
Daniel didn't just pray. Daniel fasted.
Daniel 10:2-3 (AMP) In those days I, Daniel, had been mourning for three entire weeks. I ate no tasty food, nor did any meat or wine enter my mouth; and I did not anoint (refresh, groom) myself at all for the full three weeks.
Fasting isn't about manipulating God. Fasting is about positioning yourself to hear from God.
It's saying, "God, I'm temporarily turning down the voice of my flesh so I can become more sensitive to Your voice."
What fasting does - F.A.S.T.
- F - Focuses your attention on God
- A - Aligns your desires with God's will
- S - Strengthens spiritual discipline
- T - Teaches your flesh that it is not in control
The Remote Control Illustration
There are voices competing for your attention every day:
- Social media
- Television
- Food
- Entertainment
- Business
- Relationships
- Opinions
- Fear
When you fast, you're saying, "I'm turning down the volume of everything else so I can hear God more clearly."
And when the volume comes down, this is what you may hear:
1 Kings 19:11-14 (MSG) Then he was told, "Go, stand on the mountain at attention before God. God will pass by." A hurricane wind ripped through the mountains and shattered the rocks before God, but God wasn't to be found in the wind; after the wind an earthquake, but God wasn't in the earthquake; and after the earthquake fire, but God wasn't in the fire; and after the fire a gentle and quiet whisper. When Elijah heard the quiet voice, he muffled his face with his great cloak, went to the mouth of the cave, and stood there. A quiet voice asked, "So Elijah, now tell me, what are you doing here?"
Lesson 3 | Confession of Sins Is the Gateway to God
Daniel begins confessing Israel's sins.
Daniel 9:4-5 (AMP) I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed and said, "O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and extends lovingkindness toward those who love Him and keep His commandments, we have sinned and committed wrong, and have behaved wickedly and have rebelled, turning away from Your commandments and ordinances."
Notice something powerful. Daniel is praying about "we," not just "them."
Breakthrough prayer requires examination. Ask yourself:
- What needs to change in me?
- What attitude needs to change?
- What relationship needs to change?
- What habit needs to change?
- What have I been tolerating?
- Where have I disobeyed God?
Sometimes we are asking God to change the situation when God is trying to change us.
Lesson 4 | Humility Draws God's Attention
Daniel 9:18 (AMP) O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and look at our desolations and the city which is called by Your name; for we are not presenting our supplications before You because of our own merits and righteousness, but because of Your great mercy and compassion.
Daniel understood: "God, I'm not coming because I'm good enough. I'm coming because You're good."
Lesson 5 | Daniel's Prayer Was Answered Before He Finished
This is one of the greatest statements in the story.
Daniel 9:20-23 (AMP) While I was still speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God, while I was still speaking in prayer and extremely exhausted, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me about the time of the evening sacrifice. He instructed me and he talked with me and said, "O Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and wisdom and understanding. At the beginning of your supplications, the command [to give you an answer] was issued, and I have come to tell you, for you are highly regarded and greatly beloved. Therefore consider the message and begin to understand the [meaning of the] vision."
Just because you don't see it doesn't mean God hasn't started it.
Your prayer may be answered before your eyes ever see the evidence.
Isaiah 65:24 (NLT) I will answer them before they even call to me. While they are still talking about their needs, I will go ahead and answer their prayers!
Lesson 6 | There Is a Battle Behind the Delay
Daniel had been fasting and praying for 21 days.
Daniel 10:12-13 (AMP) Then he said to me, "Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was standing in opposition to me for twenty-one days. Then, behold, Michael, one of the chief [of the celestial] princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia."
Matthew 17:21 (AMP) [But this kind of demon does not go out except by prayer and fasting.]
Lesson 7 | God's Word Provides Strength to Keep Going
Daniel 10:18-19 (AMP) Then the one (Gabriel) whose appearance was like that of a man touched me again, and he strengthened me. He said, "O man, highly regarded and greatly beloved, do not be afraid. Peace be to you; take courage and be strong." Now when he had spoken to me, I was strengthened and said, "Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me."
Notice: the situation hadn't completely changed yet. But Daniel had changed.
That's important. Sometimes the first breakthrough isn't "God changed my circumstances." Sometimes the first breakthrough is "God gave me strength to face my circumstances."
The Battery Illustration
You can have a great phone, but if the battery is dead, it doesn't matter.
Some believers have talent, money, education, connections, and experience. But they're spiritually drained.
Prayer is where you recharge.
Lesson 8 | Breakthrough Prayer Teaches You to Trust God's Timing
Daniel teaches us a sequence:
- Daniel 9: God speaks.
- Daniel 9: Daniel prays.
- Daniel 10: Resistance occurs.
- Daniel 10: God answers.
God's silence is not God's absence. God's delay is not God's denial. Invisible doesn't mean inactive.
You may be looking at the ground saying, "Nothing is happening." But God may be building roots before He produces fruit.
The 5 Benefits of Prayer + Fasting
- Clarity - You become more sensitive to God's direction.
- Discipline - You learn to control your flesh instead of letting your flesh control you.
- Intimacy - You spend concentrated time with God.
- Endurance - You develop the ability to keep praying when answers aren't immediate.
- Breakthrough - You position yourself to participate in what God is doing.
A Breakthrough Prayer Model From Daniel - P.R.A.Y.E.D.
P - Promise
- Find what God has said (Daniel 9:2, "I understood by the books...").
- Pray God's Word back to Him.
R - Repentance
- Daniel confessed sin (Daniel 9:5, "We have sinned...").
- Ask, "God, is there anything in me that needs to change?"
A - Ask
- Daniel made specific requests.
- Don't just say, "Lord, bless me." Tell God what you're seeking.
- Specific prayers create specific targets for faith.
Y - Yield
- Say, "God, I want Your will more than I want my way."
- Prayer isn't getting God to sign your plan. Prayer aligns your plan with His.
E - Endure
- Daniel kept praying.
- Don't quit because the answer hasn't arrived.
D - Delivery
- The angel delivered the message.
Don't Stop
I don't know what you've been praying about.
I don't know how long you've been waiting.
I don't know what you've been believing God for.
But I came to tell somebody: Don't stop.
You may be closer than you think.
The answer may already be moving.
The breakthrough may already have been released.
Keep praying. Keep fasting. Keep believing. Keep seeking. Keep trusting.
Final Declaration
MY PRAYER HAS BEEN HEARD. MY FAITH WILL NOT FAIL. MY FOCUS WILL NOT FADE. MY HEART WILL NOT QUIT. I WILL PRAY UNTIL SOMETHING BREAKS!
This Week's Scriptures
Jeremiah 33:3
Luke 18:1
James 5:16
Galatians 6:9
Matthew 17:21
Matthew 7:7-9
Matthew 6:33
Psalms 84:11
1 Peter 5:7
Romans 12:1
James 1:5
Discussion Questions
- Promise to prayer: Daniel turned a promise from God into a prayer to God. What promise in Scripture are you holding onto right now, and what would it look like to pray it back to God this week?
- Turning down the volume: The sermon asked what voices are competing for your attention (social media, television, entertainment, fear, opinions). Which one is loudest in your life, and what is one practical step you can take to turn it down so you can hear God more clearly?
- Looking inward: Daniel prayed "we have sinned," including himself. Take a moment with the self-examination questions from Lesson 3. Which one is God pressing on in you, and what is one thing you're willing to change?
- Waiting well: Daniel waited 21 days while a battle raged unseen. Where are you waiting on an answer right now? How might "God's delay is not God's denial" change the way you pray and wait?
- Putting the PRAYED model to work: Choose one situation you're praying about and walk through Promise, Repentance, Ask, Yield, Endure, and Delivery. What specific request will you bring to God, and who can hold you accountable to keep praying until something breaks?