People who pray sincerely and earnestly to God obtain the help of angels in time of trouble. Jesus Himself set the example and scripture reveals that they were active in His life, ministering to Him in times of physical weakness. The Lord Himself revealed one of the most compelling truths about the relationship between angels and prayer when He was arrested prior to His death:
“Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matt 26: 53).
HOW MANY ANGELS ARE THERE IN A LEGION?
According to the Blueletterbible.org, a legion of soldiers was comprised of about 6826 men. Jesus said that His Father could send Him more than 12 legions. Therefore, He would have easily hadmore than 81,912 angels at His disposal. Since the scriptures teach that God has an innumerable company of angels, Jesus our Lord could have been referring to the fact that His Father could easily send Him millions of angels without breaking into a sweat. Maybe the US Government needs to enlist angelic help for the wars that they are fighting against terror.
THE SPEED OF AN ANGEL’S RESPONSE
Jesus revealed to us that He would not have to wait for eons in order to have the troops deployed to His assistance. He told those arresting Him that he could pray and His Father would respond IMMEDIATELY.
We learnt from Daniel’s life that Chief Prince Gabriel “flew swiftly” (Dan 9: 21) as the prophet prayed and repented on behalf of His people. Think of the prophet’s experience in the den of lions. Angels must have already been present on site to prevent Daniel from coming to harm. Alternatively, they would have flown speedily to prevent those teeth from tearing him apart.
Persons have reported seeing angels flying from heaven to earth in visions and dreams. If you hear an angel say, “I’m coming”, they are there or at least with you almost immediately.
ANGELS AND YOUR WORDS
Believe it or not, angels take our words when we pray and respond in several ways. Chief Prince Gabriel told Daniel:
“… Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words” (Dan 10: 12).
The Angel of the Lord was waiting to respond to Daniel’s words. In fact, angels were always on the edge of their seats waiting for Daniel’s words, because he was a man of prayer and faithfulness to God. This explains the reason why Chief Prince Gabriel referred to him three times as a man who was ”greatly beloved” by God and His angels (Dan 9: 23; 10: 11; 10: 19). We learn in Daniel 9: 23 that God had commanded the Angel of the Lord to go to his assistance swiftly from the time that he began to pray.
WHAT DO ANGELS DO WITH YOUR WORDS?
They
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carry them to God and those prayers are offered up as sweet sacrifices in the temple of God in heaven (Rev 8: 3-4)
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carry out vengeance against our enemies as a result of our prayers and also praises. In Rev 8: 5, the angel punished the earth as a result of the prayers that had been offered up to God.
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teach the understanding of mysteries (Dan 9: 22,23; Dan 10: 12, 21).
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bring answers to prayer, telling you exactly what to do (Acts 10: 3-7; Acts 27: 21-26).
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provide protection (2 Kings 6).
Psalm 68: 18 teaches that a great multitude publishes the words that God speaks. Based on Daniel’s experience (Dan 9: 23), God gave a command when the prophet prayed and Chief Prince Gabriel was sent forth with the response. Think of the multiplied effect and the multitudes of angels that are released to our aid when when multitudes of God’s people pray earnestly.
My own personal experience is that angels are released when we pray. Change comes into geographic regions when angels are released. We therefore need to pray earnestly to enlist this help that comes from the sanctuary, according to Psalm 20: 2. Blessings!