11And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright… (Daniel 10:11)

Often I describe prayer as indicating “dependency on God," and in keeping with that, this chapter broadens it and says it is "intimacy with God." Prayer is the very essence of communion with God. The more you pray, the more you will know Him, and more importantly, the more He will know you; because, with whomever you spend a lot of time, you take on something of their likeness. I think this designation of Daniel as a man “greatly beloved” says just that.

We know the intimacy of which the term “beloved” speaks. In the New Testament, we are acquainted with the “Beloved Disciple”, John. John is known as the disciple that laid his head upon Jesus' breast. Praying is to lay your head in the bosom of God: a place of dependence, a place of trust, a place of affection, a place of comfort and a place of care. I think the quality of this is captured when Peter says "Cast your cares on Him for He cares for you." Isn't that where we all want to be. Yes the POWER of prayer is that God is ABLE. Moreover, the COMFORT of prayer is that God HEARS us. He hears our heartbeat. He knows our heart-rate, and He shares our heartache. He knows exactly what we are saying. He knows exactly what we are feeling. He knows exactly what we are going through, and He never fails to give us what we need in that very hour of prayer.

Daniel is a man that has made prayer home base. If I can bear out the baseball analogy, Daniel always comes up to swing with the bat of prayer. Prayer should not be our last resort, but our first resource. Prayer should not be all we can do is pray, but what we must do is pray.

This phrase, "a man greatly beloved" is used of Daniel twice in this chapter. God means for Daniel to know His disposition toward him. So God not only called Daniel “a man greatly beloved,” but God encouraged and rewarded him by giving him that title. Three things that stand out in Daniel's life that I believe merited him this blessed designation.  He always had a concern for the people of God. He had a constant and persistent life of prayer. He had a continual plea for understanding God’s will, work, way, and word. None of these things were flippant or passé to Daniel. They were his meat day and night.

Yuri Solomon holds degrees from Gospel Ministry Outreach Theological Institute and the College of Biblical Studies. He is author of the book Biblical Masculinity. More info @ www.wordtalkonline.org