Streams in the Desert May 16 Daily Devotional

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 the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days (Don.
10:12,13).
We have wonderful teaching here on prayer, and we are shown the direct hindrance from Satan.
Daniel had fasted and prayed twenty-one days, and had a very hard time in prayer. As far as we read the narrative, it was not because
Daniel was not a good man, nor because his prayer was not right but it was because of a special attack of Satan.
The Lord started a messenger to tell Daniel that his prayer was
answered the moment Daniel began to pray; but an evil angel met the good angel and wrestled with him, hindering him. There was a
conflict in the heavens; and Daniel seemed to go through an agony on earth the same as that which was going on in the heaven&
"We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers. . . against wicked spirits in high places (Eph. 6:12, margin).
Satan delayed the answer three full weeks. Daniel nearly succumbed, and Satan would have been glad to kill him; but God will not suffer
anything to come above that we "are able to bear."
Many a Christian's prayer is hindered by Satan; but you need not fear when your prayers and faith pile up; for after a while they
will be like a flood, and will not only sweep the answer through, but will also bring some new accompanying blessing. --Sermon.
Hell does its worst with the saints. The rarest souls have been
tested with high pressures and temperatures, but Heaven will not desert them. --W. L. Watkinson.