I never thought deeply about angels in present day context. I have read about them delivering messages and guarding Eden. Now don’t get me wrong, I know angles are real and even believe I encountered one in college (Heb 13:2). But the truth of the matter is, my understanding of angels, had been limited.
Recently, my attention has been drawn to things in the spirit and spiritual warfare. Reason being: GOD’s word is true, I believe it, but I hadn’t been seeing everything in the natural that was available to me in the super natural. As I talked with my sister about this, she highlighted that there seemed to be a theme across the family. We conversed about the principles and guidance of GOD. The importance of corporate prayer, the importance of the words we speak, and the importance of our corresponding actions by faith. The conversation revived a fight in me. You see, the act of spiritual warfare is not a singular act. It’s not just prayer, not just fasting, not just forgiveness, not just faith, not just reciting the WORD…it is ALL of that. It is the full armor that we are to put on to fight this fight. (More about the full armor later).
So the day following my conversation, the LORD reminded me of a vision. The night prior to this vision, my hubby and I were talking about being members of a local assembly of believers (aka church). We discussed how our perspective should be more about what we bring versus what we could get from being at the church. We prayed and went to bed. The following morning, the LORD has given my husband a dream that gave insight into how we could be helpful to our church. There was a spiritual battle at play that the LORD had given my husband insight on. As we drove to church that morning, the vision I could see was 4 angels in each corner of the sanctuary. They stood there with swords but were not moving. The LORD said, “they are waiting for your command.” As I prayed in the Spirit, the angels started swinging their swords (which were very long) and they were guarding the atmosphere and removing hinderances and demonic activity. They were clearly the barriers so that the WORD could go forth and the people of GOD could receive what they needed. (If you are wondering, church was on fire that day and I may have ran a few laps around the church).
So bringing us back to the point, I learned a couple of things as the LORD had me reflecting on all of this:
- Angels are a part of the army of the LORD. And the people of GOD are given authority and rank in that army. Thus, through the power of the Commander (by the Holy Spirit), we can dispatch angels to fight against spiritual wickedness that is trying to bombard the people of GOD and dominate the earth. Spiritual wickedness that tries to keep the Kingdom of GOD from being the authority on the earth.
“Therefore, angels are only servants—spirits sent to care for people who will inherit salvation.”
Hebrews 1:14 NLT
“Don’t be afraid!” Elisha told him. “For there are more on our side than on theirs!” Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!” The Lord opened the young man’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire.”
2 Kings 6:16-17 NLT
- We have angels. Now I have heard this from my grandmother on more occasions than I can count but I am still digging into this. We see in the words of JESUS to the disciples in Matthew 18:10, “Beware that you don’t look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father. (NLT). We also see that when folks were praying for Peter to be released and he showed up at the door, this was their response, ““He knocked at the door in the gate, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to open it. When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that, instead of opening the door, she ran back inside and told everyone, “Peter is standing at the door!” “You’re out of your mind!” they said. When she insisted, they decided, “It must be his angel (Acts of the Apostles 12:13-15 NLT).” There is lots to unpack here and I would love to talk with someone who has it unpacked but what we can see is that there is an angel on your behalf that stands before GOD. AND this is why what you say matters. Speaking consistent with the WORD of GOD and being persistent in what you say is important. When declaring something by faith, don’t be rattled by what happens and don’t change your profession. Your words put things into action in the spirit. Imagine if a commanding officer tells their troops to go to a city and bring back food. The troops are on their way and bringing the food but it takes longer than the commander is expected. So the commander sends a message to the troops and tells the troops a different order. Even though the troops were fulfilling the initial order, they now have to stop and engage the most recent order given. Are you with me? In the same way, when we declare something but get weary, sometimes we stop being persistent in the WORD we are declaring or we start saying things contrary to what we first believed. Your words out things in motion in the spiritual realm. Do you not know how powerful you are because the SPIRIT OF GOD is in you? Angels are moving based on your words so don’t send conflicting orders. Now Let me be clear, YOU MUST be sensitive to the orders of the highest COMMANDER of the whole army. So if GOD gives you different instructions, you align your words with what HE is saying and be in tune with the HOLY SPIRIT to make these shifts as the SPIRIT OF GOD leads. Scripture Reference: “But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.” James 1:6-8 NLT
- We got to get together on this warfare. Y’all remember when I said the adversary tries to put us in silos so we don’t connect or share? That we needed to forgive one another. The adversary tries very subtly to get in between relationships to demobilize us. I SAY NO MORE! We have got work to do for the Kingdom of GOD. The things that are trying to bombard our lives are distractions so that we don’t focus on advancing the kingdom of GOD. WE declare that all hinderances and distractions be resolved. All prayers, healings, houses, jobs, vehicles, open doors, and breakthroughs are loosed in the earth NOW. And everyone needs to get on board with praying. If you don’t know what to say in English, prayer in the SPIRIT. If you don’t know what to do, start reading scriptures repeatedly OUT LOUD regarding the situations.
Scriptures:
““I tell you the truth, whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven. “I also tell you this: If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.””
Matthew 18:18-20 NLT
Examples of unified prayer and results
- Scripture above regarding Peter
- “Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off!” Acts of the Apostles 16:25-26 NLT
- “As soon as they were freed, Peter and John returned to the other believers and told them what the leading priests and elders had said. When they heard the report, all the believers lifted their voices together in prayer to God: “O Sovereign Lord, Creator of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them— you spoke long ago by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, your servant, saying, ‘Why were the nations so angry? Why did they waste their time with futile plans? The kings of the earth prepared for battle; the rulers gathered together against the Lord and against his Messiah.’ And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness.” Acts of the Apostles 4:23-26, 29-31 NLT
https://www.kcm.org/real-help/faith/learn/5-ways-put-your-angels-work?language_content_entity=en-US