In Daniel 10:12 he was given this angelic message: “Fear not, Daniel, for from 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.”

In this verse we are specifically told that God heard Daniel’s prayer. But there’s more. God knew what was happening inside of him. In this verse we are told that God heard his prayer “from the first day that you set year heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God…”

The condition of Daniel’s heart made a difference. His heart wasn’t arrogant or selfish. It was humble. As soon as that happened, God responded.

God values what is happening on the inside of us. Another story that highlights this same truth was when God was speaking to the prophet Samuel about the future king: “For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).

God is not tricked when we use fancy words but don’t have a faithful inner posture. Nor is he fooled when we engage in outward rituals and are only going through the motions. 

To me, this is encouraging. I hope it’s encouraging to you as well. And I hope it shows you something about what God wants from his people. When we come before God—whether in prayer, in worship, or in other times of devotion—we can be sincere and honest. We can humbly admit our failures and needs, and ask him for clarity about things we don’t understand. 

We live in a world of pretenses, showboating, self-promotion and masquerades. But those are not qualities that are helpful when standing (or kneeling) before our Creator and Redeemer.

Let’s be sincere and humble in prayer.

“For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”

---

Notes:

-Bible quotes are from the ESV.