Spiritual Warfare - Daniel Part 10

The book of Daniel, chapter 10. Behind the scenes, you know, everybody sort of likes to know what's going on behind the scenes. And we who live here in Washington, D.C. are especially tuned into this, aren't we? Because we see the inner workings of government and what goes on behind the scenes in a way that most of the rest of the country doesn't really get to see it. I'm amazed when I go to other parts of the country and I turn on the news and I watch what's on the news. You know, if you're in Washington long enough, you get used to the kind of newscast that we have with all the special in-depth reports and all the investigative reporting and all the things that are going on. When you go to the rest of the world, it's really kind of not like that, you know.

We were traveling down south to see my mom this week and we stopped in a little Emporia, Virginia to spend the night overnight. And there, you know, big news is that, you know, Mrs. Smith Cowell out, you know, on Route 3 got run over by a truck. And, you know, that's headline news on the 11 o'clock news. And it's just amazing how the rest of the world lives versus the way we live here in Washington. We're very plugged in, very sensitive to all the behind the scenes working of government here. And to be frank with you, you can sort of begin to like that knowing that you kind of got an inside track on what's going on. Even though sometimes the inner workings aren't real pretty, nonetheless we understand that behind the outward events that drive our nation, there are all kinds of inside events that really make it happen. The pork barreling, the deals and all the other stuff that goes on.

And those of you men and women who go up on the hill and have to defend budgets and everything, you know far better than I the way that game really works. Now, in the same way, so many people in our world only see the outward workings of the universe and really don't understand that there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes. There are a lot of people who fail to appreciate the forces that are really driving the events of our world and that's because they're not Christians and they really don't see God's hand in the events of our world.

And yet even we as Christians who understand that God controls all events in this world, all of the international political events, even we who are Christians, when we really get down to it, there are so many of us who really don't understand and really don't believe that the little things that are going on around the world and the big things that are going on around the world, that there are some behind the scenes to all of this as well. And our passage in Daniel this morning addresses this great theme that there is a complicated behind the scenes set of events spiritually that's going on that we can't see, but every once in a while in the Scripture you get a glimpse of. And in Daniel chapter 10, God gives us a glimpse of how the forces in the universe operate under the sovereign control of Almighty God.

And when we see what's going on from Daniel chapter 10, I believe that God is going to shock us into a deeper and a more committed life of prayer than we've ever known before. So let's look at it together, Daniel chapter 10. Now Daniel 10 begins the last section of the book of Daniel. It's a section that consists of three chapters, chapters 10, 11, and 12, and these three chapters all make up the last prophecy of the book of Daniel. Chapter 10, the whole chapter, represents the introduction to this prophecy, and the prophecy takes up chapters 11 and 12 that will begin next week.

Now let's begin at verse 1. In the third year of Cyrus, the king of Persia, a revelation was given to Daniel who was also called Belteshazzar. That was his Babylonian name. Its message was true and it concerned a great war, and the understanding of the message came to Daniel in a vision. At that time I, Daniel, was mourning for three weeks.

I ate no choice food, no meat nor wine touched my lips, and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over. The prophecy here that we are told about is dated for us to the third year of Cyrus, the king of Persia. That is 536 B.C., and Daniel is now about 90 years old. He's an old man and he's been fasting, the Bible says, and praying and mourning for three weeks. You say, well, what in the world was he mourning over?

What was the problem? Well, the Bible doesn't say, but I think very possibly it was his distress over the meager response of his people to the offer that Cyrus, the king of Persia, made that they could go back to their homeland. If you remember, let's do a little history here. The Jews had been carried away into Babylonian captivity by Nebuchadnezzar. And through Jeremiah the prophet, we talked about this last week, God had made a promise that after 70 years he would make an opportunity available for his people to return to their land. You can find that in Jeremiah 29 verse 14 where God says after 70 years are accomplished, I will visit my people and they will be able to go back to their homeland.

Now this was accomplished when Cyrus, the king of Persia, conquered Babylon and one of his first official acts was to permit the Jews to go back to their homeland. Keep a finger in Daniel 10 and let's turn back to the book of Ezra. The book of Ezra, right after the book of 2 Chronicles, Ezra chapter 1. And in Ezra, we're going to see God do this. Ezra chapter 1, look at verse 1.

I still hear pages turning, so I'm not sure we found it yet. You know, every Bible has an index, so if you ever don't know, just look it up in the index. Ezra chapter 1, in the first year of Cyrus, the king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus, king of Persia, to make a proclamation throughout his realm and put it in writing. This is what Cyrus, the king of Persia, says, the Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and has appointed me to build a temple for him in Jerusalem. Any one of his people among you, may his God be with him. Let him go up and return to Jerusalem and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem. And the people in any place where survivors may be now living are to provide him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, to build the temple of God in Jerusalem. Notice the Bible says that to fulfill the word of Jeremiah, who said, after 70 years, I'm going to let you go back, God worked in the heart of Cyrus. Cyrus probably didn't realize it was God, but what difference does that make?

The Bible says that the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord and the Lord turns it in any direction he wants to. And for whatever reason, Cyrus decided to let the Jews from Babylon and anywhere else they had been scattered return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple, just exactly as God had promised. Notice how few Jews, however, actually went back.

Ezra chapter 2, look at verse 64. It says the whole company that returned to Jerusalem numbered 42,360. And also there were 7,300 men servants and maid servants and 200 men and women singers. And so when you add it all up, there was about 50,000 people who returned under Zerubbabel to the city of Jerusalem. Now this is out of a Jewish population in Babylon that probably ran into the millions by now. And so out of a million or maybe two million Jews, 50,000, that's all, went back, no more. The rest were content to remain in Babylon because they had become accustomed to the affluence there, they had opened up shops there, they had become doctors and lawyers, you know how Jews are, and they had all found professions, and they were well situated in Babylonian society.

And it was hard to go back. Remember Jerusalem was in a shambles. There's no public water, there's no sewer, there's no public transportation, there's nothing in Jerusalem. The walls torn down, the temples torn down, there's no crops. I mean to pick up and go back to Jerusalem was going to be a very arduous thing. And so only 50,000 out of potentially one or two million people agreed to go back. And perhaps this is what saddened Daniel because he's writing in the third year of Cyrus, it's only been a year or so since Cyrus made his decree, and maybe this is what saddened Daniel and maybe this is why he's mourning and praying over the spiritual backslidden condition of his people that they would be more concerned about staying in Babylon where it was affluent and comfortable than in going back to Jerusalem where they belong and rebuilding the temple and the land of God.

Well, I don't know for sure, but anyway that's a possibility. Let's go on in Daniel 10. And on the 24th day of the first month as I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris, I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen. Notice Daniel did not go back to Jerusalem. He stayed in Babylon.

You say, well, Lon, I mean, something doesn't fit here. I mean, why would he stay and mourn about all the other people that stayed? Because he was 90 years old.

I don't think at 90 years old God expected him to go very far. So he stayed in Babylon. And one day when he was out by the Tigris River, the Bible doesn't say what he was doing, but he was out there, it says he looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen with the belt of the finest gold around his waist. His body was like chrysolite, which is a bright white sparkling mineral. His face was like lightning.

His eyes were like flaming torches. His arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze and his voice like the sound of a multitude. Here was this unusual man that was glorious in his appearance. He was human in form, but he was clothed in pure white linen. He had gold around his waist. He was a lovely white color. His eyes were like torches.

His arms and his legs like bronze. He had a mighty voice. Now, because of the similarities of this person to the vision that John saw in Revelation chapter 1 of the risen Christ, many commentators have suggested that the man that Daniel saw here was actually Jesus Christ, a theophany. A theophany means God appearing to man in human form. However, I don't think that that's indeed right because it says in verse 13, and we'll talk about it when we get there, that this messenger had been sent from God but had been hindered from coming to Daniel and for three weeks had been in a battle and had not been able to get there, which does not seem to be the kind of a statement you would make about deity. And he says the only reason he was able to get there at all is because Michael, the archangel, came and helped him and that's how he was able to make it. I don't think Jesus would need Michael to help him with anything.

And so I don't think we're really talking here about God at all. I think we're talking about an angel, but nevertheless an angel who was so glorious in his appearance that he looked very similar to what the risen Christ looked like when John saw him. Verse 7, and I, Daniel, was the only one who saw the vision. The men with me did not see it, but such fear overwhelmed them that they all ran away and hid.

A little bit like Paul on the road to Damascus where he says, I was the only one who saw Jesus. The other people heard the voice speaking, but they didn't see anybody. Here, those people didn't even see anything, but they sensed something was wrong. There was fear. There was terror. They didn't know why they were afraid, but they ran away anyway.

They sensed something was unusual. Verse 8, and so I was left alone gazing at this great vision and I had no strength in me. My face turned deathly pale and I was helpless. Then I heard him speaking and as I listened to him, I fell into a deep sleep, my face on the ground. In the presence of this angel, all of Daniel's strength left him. He collapsed to the ground. He was weak. He was helpless.

He could hear the angel's words, but he couldn't respond. It's like he had just suddenly been sapped of all his energy and all of his strength. It's very interesting to me that this is the common response of man when he goes into the presence of holiness. You know, this was exactly what happened to John when he saw the risen Lord on the island of Patmos in Revelation chapter 1. And it happened to Daniel once before where all of his strength left him in the presence of holiness.

And I believe that if the godly prophet Daniel felt so corrupt and so weak, if all of his strength left him and he was totally prostrate in the presence of just an angel, just think how the average person is going to react when they stand in the presence of an all holy God. I'm always amused when people say, well, you just wait before when I stand before God. When I stand before God, I'll give him a piece of my mind. I'll tell him what I think of what he did of this and what he did of that.

Come on. When you stand in the presence of God or I stand in the presence of God, we're not going to be in the position to give God a piece of our mind or anything else. I mean, Daniel wasn't even in the presence of God and all his strength left him. This was just an angel. Just think what it's going to be like in the presence of Almighty God.

The holiness of God, even as reflected through an angel, is so awesome that it humbles and abases everything around it that is not holy. Believe me, no human being that does not know Christ and is not covered with the blood of Christ will say one word to God when he faces him. He won't be able to speak.

He won't be able to stand. And praise God. Thank God that we can be in Christ. Thank God that we can be covered with the blood of Jesus Christ because otherwise we would have no hope of ever facing God. His holiness is so awesome that man in his presence is totally sapped of all his energy and strength. So awesome is the holiness of God. But thank God those of us who know Christ, we don't have to worry about that because we are covered by the righteousness of Christ.

So we'll be able to stand. Now, verse 10. And a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. And he said, Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I'm about to speak to you and stand up, for I've been sent to you.

And when he said this to me, I stood up, trembling. The angel touches Daniel now and gives him the strength that he needs to stand up and face God. And as one commentator said, only God can grant the strength needed to face God.

I like that. Only God can grant people the strength that's needed to face God. And God did that for him. Verse 12. And then he continued, Do not be afraid, Daniel, since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before God, your words were heard.

And I have come in response to them. Now, that was three weeks ago. That was three weeks ago.

So what held him up? Does it take three weeks to get from heaven to where Daniel was? Listen, but the prince of the kingdom of Persia resisted me for 21 days. And then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to me and helped me because I was detained with the king of Persia.

So now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future for the vision I'm going to give you concerns a time yet to come. This is a fascinating statement that this angel makes to Daniel. Do you understand what he says? He says, Hey, three weeks ago, when you started to pray, God called me in and said, See, Daniel, down there, I got a vision I want you to go give him. Now get down there and give it to him. But he says, On the way down, the prince of Persia met me, resisted me, and for three weeks I've been fighting with him trying to get here.

And only because Michael came and helped me was I able to finally fight my way through and make it to you. Now, who is this prince of Persia? Well, many commentators suggested Cyrus, the human king of Persia, but I think that's impossible. How could a mere mortal, an ungodly one at that, successfully resist an angel for 21 days when Daniel, the most righteous man on the face of the earth, couldn't even stand up in his presence?

No, that doesn't make any sense. You say, Well, then who is it? Well, I believe the only reasonable, the only biblical explanation is that the prince of Persia is some kind of evil angel, some kind of evil demonic force that is under the direction of Satan himself. And if that's true, and I'm confident that the prince of Persia is an evil angel, then if that's true, look what we're being told by this passage of Scripture. We're being told that Persia had an evil angelic force behind the scenes that was empowering Persia and directing Persia. And it's interesting if you look down in verse 20 that the angel says that there's also a prince of Greece, some angelic force, an evil angel that is also directing the kingdom of Greece. And in verse 21 it says that Michael the archangel is Daniel's prince, meaning that he is Israel's special angelic defender.

What this would lead to is a logical conclusion. And the logical conclusion is that every world empire, every nation of the world has some angelic force behind it and that world history is more than it appears on the surface, that world history is not just one nation taking on another nation, that world history is not just the saga of one people taking on another people, but that behind the scenes world history is really the unseen struggle between holy angels and fallen angels, between good angels and evil angels fighting it out for their own purposes with the nations merely being pawns in this angelic game of chess that's being played. Now thank God that His angels and thus His will always end up victorious.

But that's not to say that there is not a tremendous spiritual conflict that occurs in the process. Remember, the prince of Persia resisted God's angel for three weeks and only by enlisting the help of Michael was that angel even able to get to Daniel. Leupold the commentator said this, and I quote, Bad angels are without a doubt referred to here. These demonic powers gained a very strong influence over certain nations and the government of these nations. They became the controlling power of these nations and they used whatever resources they can muster to hamper God's work and thwart His purposes. This passage gives us a rare glimpse behind the scenes of world history. There are spiritual forces at work that are far in excess of what men who disregard revelation would suppose.

These forces struggle behind the struggles that are written on the pages of history. End of quote. Verse 15. Once again, Daniel's weakness overtakes him. While he was saying this to me, I bowed with my face towards the ground and was speechless. And then one who looked like a man touched my lips and I opened my mouth and began to speak. And I said to the one standing before me, I'm overcome with anguish because of the vision, my Lord, and I'm helpless. How can I, your servant, talk with you? My strength is gone.

I can hardly breathe. And again, the one who looked like a man touched me and gave me strength and said, Don't be afraid, O man highly esteemed. He said, Peace, be strong now, be strong. And when he spoke to me, I was strengthened. And I said, Speak, Lord, since you've given me strength.

So he said, Do you know why I've come to you? Soon I will return to fight against the prince of Persia again. And when I go, the prince of Greece will come. But first I will tell you what is written in the Book of Truth. No one supports me against these princes except Michael, your prince.

And in the first year of Darius the Mede, I took my stand to support and protect him. The passage concludes here in chapter 10. And remember, we haven't even gotten to the vision yet.

This is just the introduction. The vision comes in chapter 11. But the chapter concludes by the angel saying, Look, I've come here to deliver a message to you. And when I finish delivering it, I got some more fighting to do. I'm going back to fight the prince of Persia some more. And when we finally get through with him, we've got the prince of Greece looking at us and we're going to have to fight with him. And the only one that stands with me in this fight is Michael, your prince, the prince of the nation of Israel. And then this angel goes on to deliver the prophecy that we're going to find in chapter 11 and chapter 12.

And I think the implications here are pretty clear that if Persia had a prince and Greece had a prince and had evil angels directing them, that probably every Gentile nation and empire that has come since probably has their princes as well. And there is this huge angelic conflict going on behind the scenes. You can't see it.

I can't see it. But God pulls back the curtain here for just a rare glimpse and shows us what's going on behind the scenes in world events. Now, that leads us to ask the question, so what?

Yeah. And I think that you all understand what we need to talk about. We need to talk about spiritual warfare. Because above everything else, that's what this chapter reveals to us, the enormous spiritual conflict that's going on in the world that we can't see but is so real. Ephesians chapter 6, if you turn there. Ephesians chapter 6 in the New Testament. And it says in Ephesians chapter 6 verse 12, for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against authorities, against powers of this dark world, and against spiritual forces of evil in heavenly realms. Now, I don't know about you, but I read that lots of times and you've probably read it lots of times.

And I think most of us tend to pass that over and we really don't give it a lot of thought. But God tells us that this is so. And in our passage from Daniel tonight, we have seen the reality that this really is true. That behind the scenes there is spiritual conflict, spiritual warfare that is going on. Many times those of us who take these verses to heart take these verses to heart with regard to our own personal lives. And we say, yes, I know that I'm fighting against all kinds of demonic forces who would like to take me and destroy me.

And I need the armor of God. That's true. But what Daniel tells us in Daniel 10 is that this is not only true of you and me on a personal level, it is also true of world events and international politics. That we have a struggle going on between evil and good forces, between evil angels and the angels of God. And I believe that the nations are merely the pawns in the struggle.

They are not really the key to the struggle. The key to the struggle is what's going on behind the scenes in the heavenly realm. We know from Revelation 13 that the antichrist who will take over the world and create the greatest empire man has ever known on the face of the earth. Revelation 13 tells us that he is energized and empowered and controlled by Satan himself.

There's another case where it's obvious there's more going on than meets the eye on the face of things. And this explains how the antichrist can capture the worship of the world and the allegiance of men the way he does. And knowing this suddenly explains to us how Hitler could have done what he did. He was just a pawn. How Nazism could have done what he did, what Nazism did.

It was only a pawn. And who knows how evil that angel was that controlled those forces as well as the forces down through history. We have to grasp that all of this is spiritual warfare.

That the things that we see happening around us in the world, that the functions of these things are not based on what men think or what men want to do. But behind the men, behind the empires, there is spiritual warfare going on. There's spiritual warfare going on over Supreme Court nominations. There's spiritual warfare going on over Supreme Court decisions.

There's spiritual warfare going on over international politics and wars and treaties and the rise and the fall of empires behind it all. There is a spiritual struggle that we only get a glimpse of in Daniel chapter 10. Now I'm not saying we should be afraid. God doesn't want us to be afraid. We as Christians have angels to protect us. Hebrews chapter 1 verse 14 says every one of us has an angel to protect us and Daniel did. No doubt the prince of Persia, whatever that evil angel was, he was certainly out to get Daniel.

But whether it's the lion's den or everything else that happened to Daniel, he couldn't do it because God had sent an angel that was mightier to protect Daniel. So there's no reason to fear, but there is a reason to pray. Would you look, Paul goes on to say verse 18, he says, And we should be praying in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be on the alert and always keep praying for the saints and pray for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words might be given to me so that I can make known the gospel.

Pray that I should declare it fearlessly the way I ought to. You see, I believe that Paul in telling us that we struggle against heavenly forces of evil, Paul is giving us weapons and many of us know the defensive weapons. We have the breastplate of righteousness. We have the helmet of salvation. We have the shield of faith. Those are all defensive weapons.

We're only given two offensive weapons. One is in verse 17, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Most of us don't realize it, but the second offensive weapon is prayer. In fact, Paul says that we should pray at least four times. He tells us to pray, to pray, to pray.

Why? Because our struggle is not against flesh and blood. It's against evil forces in heavenly places. And how can we have a role in seeing them defeated? How can we play a role in affecting world politics and international events? On our knees, in prayer, just like Daniel did.

I believe that we need to be serious about prayer for our loved ones and ourselves, but we also need to be serious about fighting on our knees for international and national events in light of what's going on behind the scenes. We need to understand that the real enemy is not Saddam Hussein. He was just a pawn. And the real enemy won't be the antichrist.

He's going to be a pawn. The real enemy are the people behind the scenes, the angelic forces behind the scenes that Daniel 10 has given us a glimpse of. So let me ask you this evening, how's your prayer life when it comes to this? I mean, when was the last time you or I got on our knees and really prayed fervently and powerfully in this regard?

Most of us, when we get on our knees, isn't it true? Many times we just drop to our knees and say, oh, God, I need help with this. Oh, God, I need help with this.

I got a flat tire. Please make my car run right. Lord, help things go good at my job today.

Oh, Lord, help me win the publisher's clearinghouse. Oh, God. Isn't that what we normally pray like? I mean, our prayers are so narrow.

They're so they're so they're so meager. When you think about what we could do in prayer, if we really understood what was at work in this world and how prayer can touch it. And even those of us who go through acts, you know, adoration, confession, that's the ACT, Thanksgiving and supplication.

Yeah, that's better. But when was the last time you got on your knees and said, now, God, I understand that's what's going on in the Middle East right now is not a function of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Egypt. It is a function of the angelic forces behind those nations. And I understand their agenda. Their agenda is the same as Satan's agenda has always been. And that is to wipe out the people of God, to wipe out the nation of Israel.

That's what their secret agenda is. And, Lord, I'm on my knees and I'm going to beseech you through your power to deal with those forces and set them at bay. That's praying the way Paul told us to pray. And for missionaries in countries around the world, we think that the enemy of these missionaries are departments of interiors and ministries of interiors who won't let them come in and won't give them visas and won't allow them to preach the gospel. Those people in the ministry of the interior are just the pawns. They're not the real forces behind this. It's angelic forces behind them trying to keep the spread of the gospel from going around the world.

They're the real enemy and they simply use these people as pawns. And we need to get on our knees and not pray for some ministry of the interior. But we need to pray that God, by His own mighty angels, would set these evil angels at bay and would give open doors to the preaching of the gospel around the world. We can affect the world on our knees if we know how to pray. But we've got to be willing to pray in light of what God teaches us about the real events that are driving what you and I see happening. Because what we see happening is not really what's driving it.

What's driving it are the forces behind it. And just think what we could do in prayer for our own nation. Just think of the unbelievable struggle that must be going on behind the scenes over the nation of America.

Just think of how the fight must be going on even now over abortion and over the Supreme Court and over decisions that are being made in Congress and over gay rights issues and all these other things. Just think of the struggle that must be going on in the heavenly places where there are angels working today to rip down America because America has been the greatest light for the gospel in the history of the world. Just think of the victory that Satan would love to have in bringing America down and defeating America and placing us under the judgment of God. When was the last time you got on your knees and prayed for America but you prayed for the heavenly conflict that was going on? I believe God has a lot in store for us if we're willing to pray. It can affect world events but we've got to pray right. And so let me challenge you in your prayer life. The next time you get on your knees tomorrow, Tuesday, tonight, whenever it might be, pray but pray intelligently. Don't pray for the wrong people. Don't pray for ministers of the interior. Pray for the angelic forces behind them. Don't pray for your Supreme Court nominations but pray for the movement spiritually behind those who would stop nominations and stop decisions. Pray that they be put at bay.

Dear friends, I believe we can touch the world through our prayers if we pray intelligently the way God has shown us. Spiritual warfare, is it happening? You bet. Is it happening in your life? You bet. But is that the only place it's happening? Oh no.

It's happening internationally. And I believe God wants us praying for that. May God help you do that. May God make us people who affect the world from right on our knees.

Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this chapter from Daniel. We thank you, Lord, for pulling back the curtain and revealing to us a little bit about how the world really works. Lord Jesus, thank you for teaching us that spiritual conflict is not limited to just us fighting with our own passions and with our own temptations. But Lord Jesus, spiritual warfare affects geopolitical events. It affects empires.

It affects wars and treaties and politics all over the world. And Lord Jesus, teach us to pray in light of the truth of your word. Teach us to get on our knees and to pray with power, dear God, for the spiritual warfare that's going on behind the scenes. And to pray, Lord, in such a way that it will enable you to have that much greater an effect upon our nation and our world.

Lord Jesus, make us warriors in prayer because we've learned a little bit better how to pray tonight. And Lord Jesus, I want to pray that you would, in our nation right here in America, that you would fight and have victory over those evil angels that are working in the gay rights movement, that are working in the feminist movement, that are working in the liberal political movements, that are working through our media and in so many other ways to bring this nation down. And Lord, to destroy it and turn it away from being the beacon for the gospel that you've made this land and that you've kept this land to be. Lord, I want to pray that you would set those evil forces at bay, that you would demand that they must lose and Lord, you would defeat them in their attempts to take this nation down the tubes to the judgment of God. Lord Jesus, whether it's Clarence Thomas' nomination, whether it's the overturning of Roe versus Wade in the Supreme Court, Lord, whether it's the movement of God to prevent homosexuality from becoming accepted and condoned in America, Lord Jesus, in all these and in many of the other issues facing us, I pray that you would send all the angels necessary to defeat those that would turn this nation away from you. And God, that you would allow America to turn back to you and to continue to stand as a gospel lighthouse for this world. Lord Jesus, make us as your people faithful for praying for our land and for praying for lands around the world that the enemy would be set at bay and the gospel would have the freedom to spread. Make us warriors in prayer, Lord, and honor our prayers by allowing the gospel to have free course and be glorified in our world. We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen. Amen.