Verse 12 confirms that we should not give up in prayer because we do not know what may delay a response to our prayers. The angel tells Daniel he was dispatched the first day Daniel began to pray. The term -withstood- can mean - -be in the way- or -prevent by force.- In essence, the angel was telling Daniel that there was some sort of battle being waged in the heavenly realm between the angel and likely a fallen angel or demon who was fighting against Cyrus to keep God's will from unfolding with respect to Jeremiah's prophecy concerning the end of the 70 year captivity.