| Often when we start praying, we set in motion a spiritual warfare. This is particularly true if we are seeking to advance in any way into Satan's territory. If we ourselves are right with the Lord, our prayer is immediately heard by God. For many reasons, we may not receive an immediate answer, yet we have the assurance that God has heard us (Ps 116:1; Da 10:12). One of the most helpful and important verses in the Bible on the problem of delayed answers to prayer is here in this chapter. Verse 13 tells us that the angel, who was sent to answer Daniel's prayer for further knowledge, was resisted by one of Satan's demonic leaders. No answer came to Daniel for three weeks, in spite of his fasting, penitence and pleading. Who was the demonic leader? Are there really demons? Does Satan have servants? The answer is definitely yes. The Bible teaches that there is an unseen world around us in which there are tremendous forces for good and evil (Eph 6:12). God has thousands of angels as his messengers (Heb 1:14). Satan also has a great number of fallen angels who are his messengers of evil. They live and work in our world but they are invisible, powerful and dangerous. There are millions of people who worship Satan today or who are reaching out to the evil spirits. They do so at their own peril. They are opening their minds and lives to all that is wrong. Only Christ can deliver them from Satan's clutches. We ourselves may need to take a stand against Satan and claim our victory in Christ. This will be especially true if we are seeking to go on further with Christ or to advance into Satan's territory. It will not yield to anyone except to Christ Himself. If you are struggling in prayer, it might be that you should claim afresh Christ's victory over Satan. Don't give up. Don't be discouraged. God has heard you and He will answer you. | 
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