I love the ending of the book of Daniel… In his final vision of the book, he 
asks the question that all of us want the answer to: “My lord, what will the outcome of all this be?”
Well, God always answers, but it’s not always a straight answer. This certainly doesn’t mean it’s not an honest answer; it just means it’s far too complicated, with infinite twists and turns, for our logical left brains to comprehend. …
“Go your way, Daniel, because the words are rolled up and sealed until the time of the end.” [See Daniel 12:9]
[I] believe there is a universal principle in this passage. Our prayers are prophecies, and God Almighty seals them until their designated time. He’s never early. He’s never late. When the time comes … the prayer will be unsealed and the answer revealed…
His words never return void. Neither do your prayers when you pray the word of God and the will of God. The same God who hovered over the chaos at the beginning of time is hovering over your life, and you never know when His answer will reenter the atmosphere of your life. But you can know this: The Lord is watching over His word to perform it…
–The Circle Maker: Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears, by Mark Batterson
Read part two of this post, “Natural World vs. Supernatural Prayer,” on Zondervan Blog.