John 14:14
If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

Dick Eastman says in his book Living And Praying In Jesus Name, that doing so "is to step into each new day in the power of who Jesus is." John later says that "if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us; and if He hears us we have what it is we have asked of Him." (1 John 5:14-15). It is my desire to walk in the power of Jesus. It is my desire to know His will so that my prayers are in agreement with what He is wanting to do or is already doing.

Lord, I must confess a little frustration because there seems to be so many petitions that seem to remain unresponded to. I'm OK with "yes," "no," or "wait." What is really hard is "hold." but I do trust you. and I am confident that you hear my requests. My heart is to know Your will, and to align my life according to what You are doing in me and around me. So I will continue to press into You and press on. And I will see Your hand at work, ask I ask of You in alignment with Your will.

1 Peter 4:7
But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers

I would have to admit that I have a lot of improvement to do in when it comes to having a designated time for prayer. I find many moments throught the day to converse with the Father, but I want to be more disciplined in a structured time. I'm challenged to do so by this reminder that we are moving ever closer to the return of the Lord.

Be serious. I'm sensing that the need for more time in disciplined prayer is an important matter. What transpires through God's people humbling themselves and partnering with Him has eternal significance. People's problems seem bigger thn ever before. The state of our world requires heavenly intervention. Life is a serious matter. It's time I got a little more serious about my responsibility o the KoG.

Be watchful. I desire to be a man who understands the times and the seasons. The world needs Daniels to whom God will reveal his secrets to so that they would know the thoughts of thier hearts (Daniel 2:30).

Lord, I will be a man of greater seriousness when it comes to prayer. I will be a "watchman on the walls" for my family, my church, my city, and my world.

Daniel 10:12
Then he said to me, "Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words..."

What does it mean to "set your heart to understand?" The angel that appears to Daniel states that his words spoken to heaven were heard. In fact, he has appeared to Daniel in response to his prayers. There are two keys to answered prayer that Daniel has engaged.

The first is that "he set his heart to understand." There is something about prayer that is about god revealing his heart to us. My first priority then should be learning to understand the heart of God. This is a process; not a skill that is automatically adapted, but on that requires attention and discipline. In 10:1 it states that Daniel understood that message and vision that God gave him. In 9:23, Daniel is directed to "consider the matter and understand...". Even at the beginning of Daniel's story, he was found to be 10X better than King Darius' advisors when it came to "matters of wisdom and understanding." (1:20) One of Covey's Laws of Highly Successful People is to "seek first to understand, then to be understood." Never is this more true than when it comes to the practice of prayer.

Also, Daniel's humility before God allowed his words to be heard. Always calling on God's nature and not on his own "qualifications," Daniel knew how to approach the throne of God. And his approach allowed his prayers not only to be heard, but to be responded to.

Lord, help me become a man of understanding and to walk humblywith You.

Proverbs 15:8
The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, But the prayer of the upright is His delight.

It would be an interesting study to find all the things that delight the Lord. It's my assumption that it wouldn't be all the things I give so much of my time to. Instead, It's likely that it is the simple relational things that bring pleasure to Him. Like prayer.

God's not impressed by all my hard work and "sacrifices." (One day I'm gonna learn that.) What gives God pleasure is consistency. What brings Him pleasure is communication. What pleases Him is when I am concerned for others, bring them and thier needs before the Father to invite His interaction and intervention. I need to be constantly reminded about this because I want to be a delight to Him.