So we're going to start out by reading from Daniel 10. Get an overview here of what's going on. We're going to jump to Ephesians six and then we're going to come back to Daniel 10, okay, and kind of pick it apart a little bit. But if you remember, in Daniel nine, Daniel had been praying to the Lord concerning the nation of Israel, and the Lord, gave him a incredible prophecy called the seventy weeks prophecy. Daniel had been praying concerning the nation of Israel, his people, and what was going to happen to them.

He reminded God as Nehemiah did in Nehemiah one of the promises that God had made to Israel and how that they would return as God had promised. And so God gave him the seventy weeks prophecy to follow-up the seventy year prophecy to Jeremiah, the seventy week prophecy concerning 490, at the end of which the Messiah would return and establish the kingdom of Israel. And all those promises in Isaiah and Jeremiah and many of the other prophets would be fulfilled. Now between the four hundred and eighty third year and the April is where we where we live. Between the sixty ninth week and the seventieth week, the seventieth week we call what?

Somebody help me out. The tribulation. Very good. And so the seventieth week in the tribulation are the same thing. It kicks off with the Antichrist making a covenant, treaty, with Israel, which he breaks halfway through and turns on Israel.

God pours out his wrath while upon the nations of the world while antichrist is trying to get rid of Israel, and then Jesus returns. At the battle of Armageddon, delivers his people, destroys the enemies, and reigns for a thousand years. So that brings us to Daniel 10. Daniel, just a couple of years later, is still burdened for his people. We are now in the third year of the reign of Cyrus and I'll say in a moment while that is why that is important But this is just following the end of that prophecy.

We begin chapter 10 verse one. In the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar. And the thing was true, but the time appointed was long, and he understood the thing and had understanding of the vision. In those days, I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks. I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all till three whole weeks were fulfilled.

And in the April, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel, if you have a more modern translation, it says what? Tigris. Okay? There's you know what the Tigris River is today. Tigris and Euphrates rivers flow through parts of Iraq and Iran down to the Persian Gulf.

Verse five, then I lifted up mine eyes and looked and behold a certain man clothed in linen whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz. His body also was like the barrel and his face is the appearance of lightning. His eyes as lamps of fire and his arms and feet like in color to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude. So this man that Daniel saw in his vision was gleaming bright with these jeweled like prism and the brass that shined on reflected very bright and his voice was as a multitude speaking all at once. Verse seven, I, Daniel, alone saw the vision.

For the men that were with me saw not the vision, but a great quaking fell upon them so that they fled to hide themselves. Therefore, I was left alone and saw this great vision. And there remained no strength in me for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption and I retained no strength. Yet, I heard the voice of his words. When I heard the voice of his words, then I was in deep sleep on my face and my face toward the ground.

It seemed as though Daniel had sort of succumbed and basically passed out on the ground as he was approached with this by this being. Verse 10, and behold, a hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands. And he said unto me, oh, Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understanding the words that I speak unto thee and stand and stand upright. For unto thee, I am now am I now sent? And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling.

Then said he unto me, fear not, Daniel. From the first day that thou did set thine heart to understand and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard and I am come for thy words or in response to thy words, thy prayers. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days. But low Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, and I remained there with the kings of Persia. Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days, for yet the vision is for many days.

And when he had spoken such words unto me, I set my face toward the ground and became as and became dumb. And behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips. Then I opened my mouth and spake and said unto him that stood before me, oh my Lord, by the vision, my sorrows are turned upon me and I have retained no strength. For how can the servant of this my Lord talk with this my Lord? For as for me, straightway they remain no strength in me, neither is their breath left in me.

Then there came again and touched then yeah. Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me and said, oh, man, greatly beloved, fear not. Peace be unto thee. Be strong. Yea, be strong.

And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened and said, let my Lord speak for thou hast strengthened me. Then said he knowest thou wherefore I am come unto thee. And now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia. And when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come. But I will show thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth, and there is none that holdeth with me in these things but Michael, your prince.

So let's go to the Lord in prayer once more. Dear God, please give us understanding as we look into your word this evening. Pray, Lord, that we might be encouraged and gain wisdom from it. Lord, work in our hearts that we may become more like you as we receive your word this evening. In Jesus' name, amen.

So hold that place. We will come back in just a few minutes to Daniel 10, but I'd like to go to Ephesians six. So Ephesians chapter six. So if you turn over there, Ephesians six verse 10. Ephesians six ten.

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the, next word, devil. 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. Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand. Stand therefore having your loins gird about with truth, having on the breastplate of righteousness.

Your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all, the shield of faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, praying always with all power and supplication in the spirit and watching there unto with all supplication, with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. So we'll stop there for just a moment. I also want you to note the verse here, first Peter five eight, which says, be sober, be vigilant because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour. The Bible is abundantly clear that there is a battle taking place all around us which our eyes cannot see.

And yet, it is real. And yet, it is happening. And yet, it can affect who? Us. There are such things as angels who serve God.

They are very real. They are involved in the plan of redemption, particularly one named Gabriel that we've already seen here in Daniel and that we'll see again when we get to the New Testament and the announcement of the birth of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ. There are also demons who serve Satan, who are at war against each other over the fate of humanity and over the performance of the will of who? Of the will of God. Satan is determined to thwart the will of God.

Will he succeed? No, he will not. But he is at war and he's not at war alone. He has a vast multitude of demons who sided with him. With him were cast out of heaven and with him are determined to thwart the plans of almighty God and keep man separated from God for all eternity.

Their fate is already sealed because not only was it sealed in the mind of God before the foundation of the world, but more so it was sealed by the death and resurrection of who? Jesus Christ on the cross. For he defeated sin and Satan and made the way for man and God to be what? Reunited through his righteousness, through faith in Him. They are a defeated foe, but they haven't yet surrendered.

And they won't until they have been defeated and sentenced and it has been carried out. Some demons do tempt men to sin. They do seem to be involved in that task. Others meddle in the affairs of men, sometimes causing havoc in people's lives. There were several like that of which Jesus cast out demons when he was upon the earth, sometimes called unclean spirits in the New Testament.

One of those was a man that we normally just call by the title the maniac of Gadara. He was host to a multitude of demons. Jesus cast them out, and boy, was his life changed in a moment. Demons are still around. Now, not ghosts.

The souls of people who die either go to heaven or to hell. They're not all floating around in limbo. But there are angels and there are demons and they are active and they are real. Angels, they help men to overcome the plans of the evil one. Angels protect us in many cases from the plots and the plans of Satan.

Angels relay the messages from God to men in cases, particularly as we see here in this passage and in the New Testament in Gabriel. And they carry out God's bidding as we read about many times in the book of Revelation. Whereas God is dealing out judgments during the tribulation, in many cases, who is it that is carrying out the judgment? It is an angel that God has given this particular task to. In Isaiah, we read that some fly around the throne of God crying, what?

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty. But they are real, but so are the demons. The demons do sometimes empower the wicked to do Satan's bidding. Before Judas went to betray Jesus, it says in one of the gospels, Satan entered into Judas and led him in that task. We are told the antichrist is empowered, the beast in Revelation by the dragon.

And who is the dragon? Well, the dragon is Satan who empowers the antichrist and the false prophet to do many wondrous, seemingly miraculous works to convince the world that he is the Messiah when he is a false one, leading them to an eternity in hell. They even battle one another. How do we know that? Well, we just read it in Daniel chapter what?

Chapter 10. They are at war with one another. They can be defeated by God. That is the demons. They can be defeated by an angelic host that we read about in Daniel 10 led by this messenger that was sent dispatched to Daniel and Michael the archangel, that we read about also in Daniel 10.

They can also be defeated by men and women when yielded to the power of the Holy Spirit. For greater is he that's in us than he that is in the world. Both angels and demons are definitely involved in our story today. Michael is most definitely an angel, and the prince of Persia here would also seem to be a demonic power that is involved with the human prince or king leader of Persia. So that we have an angelic a warfare going on here between Michael and his angels and this prince of Persia as he has mentioned here.

So let's jump back into it. Daniel chapter 10, okay? Now, we start out in verse one again. In the third year of the king reign of Cyrus, king of Persia. This means that a contingent of Jews have already been sent back to Judah to rebuild it because that happened in year one of Cyrus the Persian.

When Cyrus took control of Persia in the first year of his reign, he, as Isaiah foretold, sent a contingent of Jews back to Jerusalem. Basically, he set the Jews free, the Israelites, and allowed them to go back to their homeland, particularly to Judah to rebuild the city of Jerusalem and their civilization. This had already taken place. Earlier in Daniel, Daniel prayed for this very thing. And a few years later, God kept his promise.

At the end of seventy seventy years after they initially were conquered by Babylon. They were set free by Cyrus to go back. However, as we read in Ezra and couple the prophets, Zechariah, Haggai, things were not going all that well in Judah. Jerusalem was not getting rebuilt very quickly at all. It was taking months just to lay the foundation of the temple.

The walls, as Nehemiah found out a few years later, were still all broken down. Few of the homes of the city or buildings had been rebuilt. Israel faced many adversaries. We read about them in Ezra and particularly in Nehemiah to the rebuilding of Jerusalem. Some were Jews that had intermarried with Gentiles in the area that were not real all that happy to have the other Jews back claiming land that they had claimed.

Some of them were other Gentiles that had been brought into the area. You see, when Babylon conquered Jerusalem, not only did they take captive a bunch of Jews, but they took captives from other places and they replanted them in Israel, in Judah. And so those people weren't happy at all to see the Jews return to build Jerusalem. So Ezra and Nehemiah, Zerubbabel, Joshua ran into all kinds of hindrances, not just from without, but even from within. Many of the Jews just were not zealous to get the temple rebuilt.

The prophet Zachariah and Haggai spent a great deal of time on that particular issue. I'm sure Daniel may have been aware of this. In David Jeremiah's book I'm reading, that's what he suspects is the case. And so Daniel, in the midst of hearing this news, had a similar response to Nehemiah when Nehemiah heard this news. The walls are still broken down.

And so it drove Daniel and it drove Nehemiah to their knees in prayer. And Daniel prayed once again. Seems like Daniel did a lot of that, didn't Daniel spent a lot of time in prayer. Why did he do that? Because he was convinced that it mattered.

He was convinced that his God would hear him. He was convinced that his God would keep his promises and so he prayed. He prayed and he fasted for twenty one days, pretty long period of time. He prayed and he fasted and he prayed for Israel. And he prayed for God to help him with the burden of the vision that he had given him, that he might comfort and educate him further in God's in God's plan.

Sometimes when Daniel prayed, he got an answer right away. This time, twenty one days later, hasn't still got an answer yet. Does Daniel give up? No. He keeps praying until the until the answer comes.

I'm afraid sometimes, what do we do? We just pray here and there a couple times. It doesn't happen and what do we do? We just give up. Well, I don't know.

Must not be God's will, I'll give up. Maybe we give up a little too soon. Maybe it's not that it's not God's will, maybe it's God's will that we keep what? That we keep praying. Remember the parable that Jesus told of the unjust judge and the the widow that went to the judge and said, you know, this guy is mistreating me over here.

I need help and the judge said, I'm sorry. I don't have any I'm not interested in helping you. You don't have any what? Money or clout. But she kept after him and kept after him and kept after him.

Finally, after a while, he turned and said, okay, I'll do it. Just leave me alone. Jesus' point was, if the unjust judge will heed the pleas of the widow who continues day after day after day coming to him, don't you think a God who loves you, a God who is just and fair, that he will answer our prayers if we do what? If we don't give up so easily as we often do. So Daniel kept praying.

This time, it didn't happen right away. This time, it took a while. It seems that one of my commentaries pointed out that his morning prayer and fasting took place around the time of the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. So it kind of was already part of his worship around that time and and he just took it to the next what? The next level, so to speak.

And then the vision comes. Then the messenger finally shows up and boy, does he show up. It's not just a a little answer, it is a it is incredible answer. As Daniel has this vision of of this man. He's he's standing, he's beside the river, the Tigris River in Persia, and he lifts up his eyes and he looks and behold a certain man clothed in linen, white, speaking of glory and purity, whose loins were girded with fine gold.

His body was like a barrel, like a a gemstone. His face and the appearance of lightning, his eyes flames of fire. His arms, his feet like the color of polished brass, and the voice, words like a voice of a multitude. And he's the only one that sees the man, though everybody else around him flees out of fear, not sure what they're afraid of, but there's a shaking and they they run and hide, but Daniel's eyes stay fixed as he is the only one who can see the man standing there by the river. He ends up on his face, then he's brought back on his feet, then he ends back on his face again as he hears the message of the man who touches him and brings him up to his feet as he's shaking there as he hears the message.

In verse 12, the messenger says, fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. But, verse 13, so he was dispatched on the very day that Daniel began to pray, this messenger was dispatched from heaven to bring him this message. But what happened? The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days. So this messenger, this heavenly messenger, obviously this is not just the normal man whose face is like lightning and his body like a gem, this heavenly messenger was hindered in getting there by this prince of the kingdom of Persia.

Now, would seem as we're talking about an angelic, the heavenly messenger, that the prince of the kingdom of Persia is also not a human being, but somebody in the spirit realm who is not serving God, but serving who? But serving Satan. So there is one, at least one, in the demonic realm who is appointed to be behind the kingdom of Persia. In hindering the work of who? In hindering the work of God.

There, Satan is always busy trying to hinder the work of who? The work of God. He tried again and again and again to destroy Israel. He used Haman in Esther's day to try to destroy Israel. He used Herod in Jesus' day to try to destroy who?

To try to destroy Jesus. Satan is always busy trying to hinder the work of God. I think he knows he is defeated foe but he refuses to give up and he's going to do whatever he can thinking maybe somehow he will stop God. Will he succeed? No, he won't.

We see that over and over again in scripture. Haman didn't succeed. Who ended up dying that day? Haman on gallows that he had made for Esther's uncle. It was Herod that a few years later died.

It wasn't Jesus. Satan will lose and God will win. We see that in the book of Job. Satan comes to God, says, you know, Job only serves you because you keep giving him all this stuff. You take it away and Job will curse you.

And God said, no, he won't. Satan said, yes, he will. God said, no, he won't. Satan said, yes, he will. Just give me a chance.

Say, God said, okay, do it. Guess what? Job didn't curse God. He did ask a few questions, but his faith remained And Satan was proven wrong again. So so there is this battle.

Satan is still trying to hinder the work of God. Here he is trying to keep the messenger from getting to who? From getting to Daniel by this prince of the kingdom of Persia. And lo, verse 13, Michael, one of the chief priests came to help me, and I remained there with the kings of Persia. Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days, for yet the division is for many days.

So the messenger says, was hindered for a while, but Michael came and Michael helped me and now I'm freed and I got here to give you the what? To give you the message. Now, the message we did do not actually get to tonight. Aren't you excited about that? The message is next week.

Okay? In chapter 11. But he got there and he's explaining why it took him so long to get there. Now who is the man with the message? Some people, some commentators think this is what we call a theophany or a Christophany.

Okay? In other words, this is an appearance of Christ, a pre incarnate appearance of Christ or God in human form of sorts in the Old Testament. There are a few of these occasions where it seems as though God or Christ has taken the form of a human in some fashion or form in the Old Testament as he communicates and deals with men. In Joshua, before Joshua goes to battle at Jericho, he goes to pray and he sees a man that shook him to the core. And that man identified him as the captain of the Lord's host.

And he gave Joshua instructions on how to defeat Jericho. Many believe that to be a Christophany. In Judges, Gideon was approached by a man, a messenger of God whom he brought offerings to, who accepted those offerings, and gave Gideon instructions in what Gideon was to do. Likely, that was a Christophany. Why?

Because the person that came to Gideon accepted his what? Accepted his worship. Angels don't do that. On a couple of occasions, angels said, I'm not to be what? Don't worship me because there's only one who is to be worshiped and that's who?

That's God. In Abraham's day, there were three men that came to see Abraham just before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Two of those men went on to the city of Sodom to deliver Lot out of the city. Those two are clearly identified as angels. The third one hung around with Abraham, and him and Abraham went back and forth.

Well, if there's 50 righteous people, will you not destroy the city? If there's 40, if there's and I think he went all the day down to what? 10? 10. And it is pretty clear from that passage that the person Abraham's talking to is the Lord.

So that is a theophany or a Christophany there. And there are many commentators that believe that this is a Christophany here, that the person that that Daniel is talking to is a pre incarnate appearance of Christ. And his appearance is very impressive. A matter of fact, in some ways, does resemble in this passage what happened to Isaiah when he saw the Lord high and lifted up. A little bit like Paul, when Paul sees Christ on the road to Damascus and he's the only one who sees Jesus and and hears the words audibly while others around him do not.

So I could see how they would think that this might be a a Christophany. But this person does not identify themself as who? As God. Now, the word Lord is used a few times here in the passage but if if you got a King James version at least, the Lord is not capitalized. That's because the King James translators didn't believe this to be God in human form.

Therefore, they did not capitalize Lord. It's the word Adonai. It means what? What's Adonai mean? It means master.

Okay? And it it can be used of both human masters and heavenly masters in the Old Testament, okay? But there's a couple of things. Number one, this man does not identify himself as God. Number two, he says this, he said he was basically hindered or waylaid in his mission by who?

By the prince of the kingdom of Persia. So this messenger was sent and he was hindered in getting to Daniel by the prince of the kingdom of Persia. During the time of Christ's ministry, it is made plain that demonic beings or unclean spirits posed absolutely no resistance to who? No resistance to Christ. The minute they saw him, what did they begin to do?

They began to plead. Oh, please don't send me to because they were no match. They were no match at all for Christ. No resistance to him. And yet this messenger did face resistance by the prince of the kingdom of Persia, which would lead me to believe that, and this is what agree with David Jeremiah, that this is a heavenly messenger.

This is some kind of angelic person of which angels do appear in similar forms in a couple places in scripture and not Christophany. There are several of these encounters throughout the Old Testament. Some of them may be the pre incarnate appearance of Christ and some of them are angels. This man or angel been dispatched by God twenty one days earlier, now with the help of Michael, is able to bring the message to who? The message to Daniel as he continued on his knees to pray.

The messenger did not give up. The messenger was sent help from another angel, Michael, and he got through finally to bring the message to Daniel because the message was very what? It was very important. It's important for Daniel and it's also important for us. That's why we will get to chapter 11 next week.

Michael, who is Michael? Michael is one of those heavenly messengers, servants of God. He's only mentioned four times in scripture, similar to Gabriel. He's only mentioned about four or five times in scripture. Some have surmised that Michael is actually Christ, but that does not seem to be the case.

He is identified as the ark what? Angel. Okay? Is Christ an angel? The answer is no.

Christ is not a created being. He is the what? He is the creator. Okay? Let's look at the four passages where we read specifically about Michael.

The first one here is in verse 13. Again, but the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days, but lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, notice one of the chief what? Princes. Okay? So that's plural.

So was there more than one chief prince? Well, he's one of the tree princes, which is plural. So he's not unique. So there were more archangels than just who? Than just Michael.

Michael is one of them, which again would seem to indicate clearly that he is not who? He is not Christ because there is only one, only one Christ. Okay? Look if you would down in verse 21, verse 21, but I will show thee that which is noted in scripture of truth and there is none that holdeth with me these things but Michael, your prince. Okay?

Your prince. Prince, helper of whoever your is here. Now, who's he talking to? Daniel. Your can either be singular or what?

Plural. And it's likely your prince is not just a reference to Daniel, but a reference to the nation of or the people of Israel. Okay? Look if you would in Jude chapter in Jude one nine. You can look up here on the screen if you want.

I have this on the screen. Yet, Michael, the archangel, when contending with the devil, he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring him a railing accusation but said, the Lord rebuke thee. So, Michael didn't have the standing, the position wherewith Michael could rebuke Satan. So what did Michael do? Well, Michael said, the Lord rebuke you.

Okay? Which would clearly indicate that Michael is not who? He's not the Lord. He was pointing Satan to the power of the Lord and not his. Okay?

Daniel chapter 12 verse one. I skipped that one. Daniel twelve one. And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy what? Of thy people.

Again, that's Israel. Okay? And so we read about him here in Daniel twelve one. We'll get over there in a little bit. Again, Daniel is identified as the prince of the nation, the people of Israel, that is a title which doesn't appear to be a title given to Christ, but to Michael as Christ's ministry is much broader than than Michael's here.

And then finally, Revelation twelve seven, there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon fought in his angels and prevailed not, neither was there found any more any found place anymore in heaven. So who was Satan before he fell? Lucifer and he was an angel. And when he fell, he took some angels with him that we know as demons.

And the devil and his angels, demonic hosts, fought with his counterpart, which is who? Michael and his angels. Okay? Satan was an angel. Michael is a what?

An angel. Satan led his hosts against Michael's hosts led by him. So Michael is the positive, better, godly opposite of who? Of Satan. Again, identifying that Michael is not who?

Michael is not Christ, Michael is an angel. He is a very powerful angel. He is an angel with great authority. He is an angel that that orders, that commands a host of other angels in battle against the forces of who? The forces of Satan.

He is the prince. He is the overseer, the the helper, the defender of the people of what? Of Israel. So we see that here as we read through these different passages. He is an angel.

He is not Christ. But when God wants to get a message to Daniel and the message is about who? Israel. Who is dispatched to make sure the messenger gets there? Michael and his hosts to defeat the hosts that are stopping the messenger from getting to Daniel.

The great warrior angel, as it turns out, was able to lose the messenger so that he could fulfill his task to speak to Daniel to bring wisdom and understanding and comfort. Praise the Lord. We're not alone in this battle. We would be in trouble for sure if we were. First and foremost, who is on our side?

God is on our side. Jesus is on our side. But there's also a host of angels on our side. Demons are scary, but God is greater. And it is a blessing, I believe, that God does not allow us to view that part of the battle.

But to be reminded that it does exist. For we battle not against what? Flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, the darkness of this world, high places. There is the devil and his host that are actively busy trying to stop God and trying to keep us from serving God. But there's a host of angels on our side and they'll win.

And there is a Holy Spirit that lives inside of me and he'll win. In conclusion, there is a battle brewing in the spirit world of which we have little knowledge, but yet very real. And the greatest tools we have against Satan's host but what do we see? What is Daniel doing? What what what what place in this battle do we have?

What tool do we have to use in this fight? What's Daniel doing? He is what? He is praying. He is praying.

For twenty one days, he is praying. And prayers are powerful when the object of that prayer is God, when the recipient of that prayer is God. And as Daniel prayed, the messenger was sent. And as Daniel prayed, Michael was sent. And the messenger got through.

The message was delivered. The greatest tool we have is prayer, but we do see other tools. The the belt of truth, the sword of the the spirit, the helmet of salvation, the gospel of peace, the breastplate of righteousness. And as we yield ourselves to God, and as we allow him to put the armor all about us, he will quench all the fiery darts of the what? Of the wicked who is out to destroy us.

So pray. Pray more. Prayer counts. Keep praying. Pray without what?

Ceasing. Trust God. There's a battle going on. Be a part of it in prayer. Be a part of it in putting on the armor of God.

Be a part of it in yielding yourselves to the Lord because it is he that will win the battle. What does James say in closing? James four seven. Submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Submit yourselves therefore to God.

Resist the devil and he will flee from you. But that verse begins with what? Submit yourself to God. Get on your knees in prayer. Tell him that you will follow him wherever he leads.

Delight thyself in the Lord and he will give thee the what? The desires of your heart. Submit, resist, and the devil willfully. Let's pray. Dear heavenly father, thank you, Lord, for this chapter.

Lord, it seems probably if we were writing composing this book, we might have just left this one out to get to the to get to the prophecy that follows in chapter 11. But, Lord, there was a reason that you recorded this for us this evening. Maybe that we might be reminded that this matter this battle, this war is bigger than us, but also to remind us that we are on the winning side and that we do have a place in it in prayer and service and in yieldedness to our God. Thank you, Lord, for your protection and for your care. Thank you, Lord, for reminding us, Lord, that we're not alone.

Thank you for sending your messages, your messengers who battle through to get the messages and encouragement and comfort, Lord, to us. Lord, thank you for the opportunity to be a part of it all. Help us, Lord, to be yielded to you that you might do great and mighty things through us. In Jesus' name, do pray. Amen.