An eternal perspective on answered prayer

So, I not-so-randomly opened the Bible to Daniel 9 and read it. His prayer focused on the immediate situation of the Israelites in exile. He was wondering when God would restore Jerusalem. He understood that God was disciplining the nation for its sin and that the exile was done for them to turn back to Him.

The answer God gave Daniel surprised me a lot. God told him about the coming Messiah, the end times, and how Jesus would defeat the Antichrist. If I was Daniel, I would be looking for a type of answer that went like this: "Ok, here's how this works. You'll be in exile until such and such king gives the decree for you to go back, you'll fix up the downtown / business / Temple district by such and such time and get your main sources of commerce up by this time." However, God gave none of those specifics. In essence God said "Daniel, your hope is in Jesus coming back and how He will ultimately restore Israel."

That made me think a lot. When I pray, do I look for immediate or eternal answers? Earlier this week I had somewhat of a breakdown because the immediate answers to prayer seemed to be no due to some limitations I face. However, my Summitview pastor helped me see that my prayers had to be focused on eternal things and not solely on immediate answers. Like Daniel, I could focus on immediate results such as getting a stable job, marriage etc, just like he was focusing on having the nation of Israel back in the land and Jerusalem as the capital re-established. However, God tells both of us that Jesus is the ultimate answer to all our prayers.

God I pray You help me focus on the eternal ultimate answer to my prayers who is Christ and may I ask for You to show Your character in the situation, not just fix the circumstance. Daniel had to wait - actually, I think he lived the rest of his life in Babylon. He didn't get to see the Israelites go back into Jerusalem. But he held onto the knowledge that You would bring your Messiah into the land to ultimately restore Your people. I pray that I focus on how my Messiah can be my ultimate source of security, trust, love, and provision. He, my atonement propitiation for my sins, so that my hope can be going to You and being there in glory. Amen