Let's Give It 21 Days

While I would tell you hands down that David is my favorite Bible character. He was so relatable to me. I mean I wrote a book about him, and he inspires me to journal prayer. Daniel, though, he led the most convicting life. Daniel’s commitment to prayer blows my mind.

My favorite story in the Bible about Daniel has nothing to do with the Lion’s Den or any of the normal Sunday school stories about his time in the Persian Empire. It’s hands down the story found in Daniel 10 which I encourage you to read in its entirety for yourself.

I’ll summarize here for the sake of time:

Daniel had been fasting and praying for three weeks (21 days). Then on day 24 an angel appeared to him. He calls Daniel, “man greatly loved” and then explains that he has been on his way to Daniel since the moment he started praying. His words are so beautiful:

“Fear not , Daniel, for form the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words.”

He goes on to explain that even though he was dispatched as soon as Daniel prayed, he was held up by spiritual forces for twenty-one days. It was so intense that Michael , “one of the chief princes”, had to come and help him get through. If you haven’t read this story, get your Bible and go check it out. I’ll wait here.

If we’re honest, we pray maybe two or three times and then we try to manipulate the situation ourselves, or we pray and then we run 1 million scenarios in our head of how it could go wrong, or we pray not believing at all that God will actually do anything but because we think we’re supposed to.

Rarely do I pray and wait expectantly. I feel like I can sweepingly apply that to all of us, so if you are offended at this point, feel free to stop reading.

Twenty-one days isn’t a magic number; it doesn’t unlock the secret to getting your prayers answered. I am not going to lie. I have been praying hard for two separate things, and I’ve committed to pray for twenty-one days and then prayed again and again. There are some things I am still praying where I haven’t seen much movement, but just because I don’t see it, doesn’t mean God isn’t moving. What if our prayers are in fact working, but we quit before we see it.

Hebrews 10:35-36 instructs us not to, “throw away our confidence because it has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised”. Sometimes we need to flex that muscle of endurance in prayer.

The question we need to ask is not what do we want from God, but how do we set our heart to understand?

How do we humbly see what Good wants?

Twenty-one days is a good place to start. My challenge to you isn’t to just pray the same words for twenty-one days, it’s to bring your heart to God every day with the faith that He knows what You need and the confidence in Him to place it in His hands again, and then again with your expectation set on God not the outcome you imagine.

This prayer from David is the perfect benediction for all my prayers. I am creating the habit of ending my prayers with this perfect reminder:

But as for me, my prayer is to you, O LORD.

At an acceptable time, O God,

in the abundance of your steadfast love

answer me in your saving faithfulness.

Psalm 69:13

Steal this prayer today:

God, what is the setting on my heart? Is it understanding or is it getting what I want? Thank you that we are safe to bring all of our requests and even our big feelings to you anytime. Help our prayers become more than just that. As we really seek You not just answers, give us more of Yourself. Let prayer produce character, endurance and then hope in us filling our hearts with Your love(Romans 5:4&5).