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No study of prayer having an eye to contemporary practice is complete without specific consideration of the ministry of angels in bringing answers to the prayers of believers. The Greek angelos can denote either a human or a heavenly “messenger.” In the New Testament, however, it is used almost exclusively for heavenly beings (exceptions are Luke 7:24; 9:52; and possibly Rev. 1:20). These supernatural beings serve at God’s command. In heaven their mission is to praise and worship God (Rev. 4:11–12). They give themselves without reservation to doing His will (Ps. 103:20); in fulfilling that will on behalf of those God loves, they “always see the face” of the Father (Matt. 18:10).

Angels are neither imaginary nor mythical. Though they participate in the mystical, they are not unreal. Though they appear mysteriously at times in dreams and visions (see Matt. 1:20; 2:13), at other times they become tangible beings in the physical, human world. Because God is the Creator and because He alone can create, He is able to give them physical bodies for the sake of temporary appearances to people. In their encounter with Lot (Gen. 19:1–4), angels ate as ordinary men and even prepared to sleep. Sometimes, as in the instance before us here, the one to whom the angel appeared did not know if he had seen a vision or a physical being until after the angel was gone.

Angels are sent from heavenly realms; yet their ministry to men and women often transpires unrecognized. We may suspect their intervention in supernatural protection and provision, but then hesitate to claim angelic visitation because we do not fully understand how the invisible realm intermingles with the physical.

Nor do we need to understand completely the means that God uses to bring answers to our prayers. Just to know that there are angelic messengers who carry out the bidding of the Father, often in answer to prayer, is sufficient substance on which our faith can stand firm. Though the expression of prayer has a very human and physical aspect, communion between the believer on earth and the divine God of the universe reaches from the lower realm to the higher and links heaven and earth.

It should be noted that nowhere in Scripture are believers exhorted to pray for angelic intervention; nor are we instructed or allowed to pray to angels (Rev. 19:10). Angelic intervention is strictly at God’s initiative. We are not to demand activity by angelic beings but simply to recognize that such may happen as we engage in earnest prayer. Some will experience this form of an answer to prayer;¹ others will not. Yet the prayers of all believers are heard. “If we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him” (1 John 5:15). God does not show partiality in how He sends the answer to prayer, but He knows that what may be helpful to some is totally unnecessary for others.

Whenever people seek to understand and explain the mysteries of the supernatural world, caution must be exercised and the study restricted to the biblical record. While it is important to give proper recognition to the possibility of angelic intervention when prayer is offered, it is equally important to avoid extremes that are the fruit of human imagination or the by-product of erroneous biblical interpretation.

The ministry of angels on behalf of God’s people is affirmed in the Book of Hebrews: “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” (Heb. 1:14). Angels are involved in God’s providential ordering of human affairs (Dan. 12:1). They are extremely active in the divine work of preparing the way for sinners to be reconciled to God (Acts 10:3–4). They declare God’s word (Luke 1:26–28) and do His work on earth (Matt. 13:41). They participate in bringing God’s salvation to humanity: They were present during Christ’s birth (Matt. 1:20–24; 2:13, 19–20; Luke 1:26–38; 2:9–15), ministry (Matt. 4:11; Mark 1:13; Luke 22:43), resurrection (Matt. 28:2, 5; John 20:12), and ascension (Acts 1:10–11). They will play an important role in end-time events (see, for example, Matt. 24:31; Rev. 9:15) and will return with Christ at His second coming (Matt. 25:31).

The dispatching of angels is heaven’s prerogative and benediction. They are fully obedient to the God who sends them forth. Some interpreters have erroneously taught that the believer may dispatch angels, but there is no biblical authority to support the claim.

Our principal concern in this chapter is to discover how angelic intervention may occur in response to prayer. We understand that angels do function apart from human praying, but our focus here is their function as it relates to prayer.

Angels and Prayer in the Old Testament

There are many instances of angelic intervention in the Old Testament. However, only a limited number of them are directly related to prayer. Rather than speculate on the other episodes featuring the presence of angels, we will confine ourselves to those clearly marked by prayer.

Praying is not uncommonly related to spiritual warfare, but we generally understand spiritual warfare to be with forces of evil. However, Jacob contended with “a man,” that is, an angel (Gen. 32:24). Whether the man was an angel dispatched by the Lord or the Lord himself in human form may not be as easy for us to decide as it appears to have been for Jacob, who said of his experience, “I saw God face to face” (Gen. 32:30).

So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”

But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

The man asked him, “What is your name?”

“Jacob,” he answered.

Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.”

Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”

But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there. So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared” (Gen. 32:24–30).

It is not important that we discern between God and His angelic messengers, except when we worship (Rev. 19:10). For Jacob, the confrontation was of great consequence. He recognized that the being he wrestled was capable of blessing him, and in his particular circumstance he understood he could not survive without that blessing.

At the same time Jacob wrestled with the angel, it seems the angel also struggled with him—or possibly Jacob wrestled with himself. His great problem was more within himself than in gaining mastery over the angel, for the angel was God’s messenger for his blessing. But Jacob was too “strong” to receive that blessing. Until he could yield, he was not prepared to be blessed. The obstacle to be overcome was Jacob: the deceiver, the supplanter, the devious one.

The angel wrestled long and hard, for he was there to minister to Jacob. All night the battle raged. Not until Jacob’s hip, the symbol of his human strength, was wrenched ² did he finally yield to the angel. The moment Jacob broke—and it took a long and anguish-filled night to get to that point (v. 26)—he gained the desired blessing: “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome” (v. 28). “Overcome” whom? The angel? God? No. Jacob had overcome Jacob; and to that end he had wrestled with the angel. If need be, God may still dispatch His angel to wrestle with us and impart a blessing. The Jacob in us, deceiving and devious, may tend to dominate our lives and make us victims of our old Adamic nature. Lord, send your angel!

Jacob responded with his own query, “Please tell me your name” (v. 29). This should not seem strange, for who, after such a revolutionizing encounter, would not want to know the identity of the mysterious being with whom he had struggled? Jacob’s question was met with the angel’s question, “Why do you ask my name?” As much as a human can comprehend the divine, his name was already evident in what had taken place. Jacob needed nothing more. This was no ordinary angel (v. 30); Jacob had met the Angel of the Lord. He showed that he understood, for he named the place Peniel, “the face of God.” The struggle of intercessory prayer always tells us more about ourselves than about God. It brings us to the point of recognizing our sinfulness, our spiritual weakness, our lack of any merit of our own. Paul understood this truth and wrote, “When I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:10).

Moses was the leader of the Israelites as they trekked through the wilderness on the way to the Promised Land. But there was another guide. Moses had no question about who that guide was. Having come to Kadesh, Moses asked the king of Edom to let Israel pass through his country. Though the request was denied, it contains a testimonial to God’s faithfulness in sending an answer to prayer: “ ‘When we cried out to the LORD, he heard our cry and sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt. Now we are here at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your territory’ ” (Num. 20:16).

It is probable that Moses purposely used an expression which might be understood as either angel or messenger, because he could not explain to the king of Edom the true relation of the Lord to his people. At the same time it was in the deepest sense true (cf. Exod. 14:19; 32:34), because it was the uncreated angel of the covenant, which was from God, and yet was God (cf. Gen. 32:30; Josh. 5:15; 6:2; Acts 7:35), who was the real captain of the Lord’s host.³

The point of the Numbers 20 passage for our interest is the fact that the angelic intervention was in response to Israel’s prayer: “We cried out to the Lord.” When the people of God find themselves in bondage to governments dominated by evil men, their prayers are most certainly heard; God will in His own wisdom and time intervene, even to the extent of employing angels to effect the necessary deliverance. In later years, when the Israelites were again dominated by another group of people, this time the Philistines, God again heard their cry. The prayer for national deliverance was to begin to have an answer through a God-sent child: Samson.

The record of Samson’s birth as an answer to the heart cry of a barren wife contains several miraculous elements, including an angelic announcement of a special child to be born. God was at work on behalf of His people, and the appearance of the Angel of the Lord was confirmation of the fact.

Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, so the LORD delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years. A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was sterile and remained childless. The angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, “You are sterile and childless, but you are going to conceive and have a son. Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean, because you will conceive and give birth to a son. No razor may be used on his head, because the boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart to God from birth, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines.” Then the woman went to her husband and told him, “A man of God came to me. He looked like an angel of God, very awesome. I didn’t ask him where he came from, and he didn’t tell me his name. But he said to me, ‘You will conceive and give birth to a son. Now then, drink no wine or other fermented drink and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite of God from birth until the day of his death’ ” (Judg. 13:1–7).

While the biblical record does not explicitly indicate that Manoah and his wife prayed for a child, the implication is there; the burden of barrenness in a Jewish home would quite naturally provoke prayer (cf. Gen. 25:21 and 1 Sam. 1:10–11). In this instance God sent His angel not only to assure Manoah’s wife that He would heal her barrenness, but to give her specific instructions about her time of pregnancy and the kind of life her son was to lead.

The description of the angel by the mother-to-be is noteworthy. “ ‘A Man of God came to me. He looked like an angel of God, very awesome’ ” (v. 6). “Awesome” is a translation of the Hebrew nora’, a passive participle meaning “to be reverenced,” “held in honor,” “held in awe.” Encountering an angel, especially the Angel of the Lord (cf. Ex. 33:20; Acts 7:38), was indeed an awesome experience, requiring the utmost reverence. Gideon’s experience was similar: “When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the LORD, he exclaimed, ‘Ah, Sovereign LORD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!’ But the LORD said to him, ‘Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die’ ” (Judg. 6:22–23).

The ministry of the angel who visited Manoah’s wife was twofold: (1) to convey God’s promise to her—“You are going to … have a son,” and (2) to give specific instructions regarding the son who was to be born—“No razor may be used on his head, because the boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart to God from birth.”

While it is implied that the angel visited Manoah’s wife in response to prayer, there being no direct statement, there is no doubt about the second angelic appearance coming in response to prayer. Manoah entreated the Lord to send again “the man of God” that he might give further instruction on rearing the child that had been promised. Manoah may not have believed his wife had seen an angel. Angels are not men, for they are identified as “spirits” (Heb. 1:14) and spirits do not have flesh and bones (Luke 24:39). Yet when they appear to people, angels can appear as either ordinary or extraordinary men. That angels can appear as humans is evident in both Testaments (cf. Heb. 13:2).

Manoah prayed to the LORD: “O Lord, I beg you, let the man of God you sent to us come again to teach us how to bring up the boy who is to be born.”

God heard Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman while she was out in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her. The woman hurried to tell her husband, “He’s here! The man who appeared to me the other day!”

Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he said, “Are you the one who talked to my Wife?”

“I am,” he said.

So Manoah asked him, “When your words are fulfilled, what is to be the rule for the boy’s life and work?”

The angel of the LORD answered, “Your wife must do all that I have told her. She must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, nor drink any wine or other fermented drink nor eat anything unclean. She must do everything I have commanded her.”

Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “We would like you to stay until we prepare a young goat for you.”

The angel of the LORD replied, “Even though you detain me, I will not eat any of your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the Lord.” (Manoah did not realize that it was the angel of the LORD.)

Then Manoah inquired of the angel of the Lord, “What is your name, so that we may honor you when your word comes true?”

He replied, “Why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding.” … And the LORD did an amazing thing.… As the flame blazed up from the altar toward heaven, the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame. Seeing this, Manoah and his wife fell with their faces to the ground. When the angel of the LORD did not show himself again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realized that it was the angel of the LORD (Judg. 13:8–21).

Even after considerable conversation with the angel who appeared as a man, Manoah did not realize that it was the Angel of the Lord. The encounter had been much like the encounter of one man with another. So Manoah asked him to stay and enjoy the hospitality of a special meal that he would provide. The angel refused to eat their food, however, suggesting rather that they prepare a burnt offering to the Lord. This should have let Manoah know that there was something unusual about this angel, but he still looked at him as a “man of God” (that is, a prophet) and asked his name, “so that we may honor you when your word comes true” (v. 17). Fulfilled prophecy was one of the authentications of a true prophet (Deut. 18:21–22; 1 Sam. 9:6). Manoah clearly did not have as much discernment as his wife did (v. 6).

In one sense Manoah’s request was denied. In another it was answered, for “beyond understanding” (v. 18) is from the Hebrew pel’i, meaning “wonderful,” “marvelous.” It is a form of the same word used by Isaiah in his prophecy of Jesus: “He will be called Wonderful [Heb. pele’]” (Isa. 9:6). Then when Manoah obeyed and made an offering to the Lord, all doubt about the identity of this “angel” who had appeared in answer to Manoah’s prayer was cleared away. For we read, “The Lord did an amazing thing while Manoah and his wife watched. As the flame blazed up from the altar toward heaven, the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame.” Thus, the Lord and the Angel of the Lord are identified (vv. 21–22).

This is another Old Testament indication that the special manifestations of the Angel of the Lord were preincarnate appearances of the divine Son of God. He is the one Mediator between God and humankind (1 Tim. 2:5). Manoah and his wife may not have fully understood this, but his wife did understand the Lord had accepted their sacrifice and was the One who had shown them all these things.

Daniel also had encounters with angels. They usually appeared to him during times of intense prayer and waiting upon God. Their mission each time was of monumental consequence, since they consistently relayed to him a revelation concerning the end times. We will not deal with the content of the visions and the understanding given to Daniel, but we will rather note some significant facts concerning the heavenly messengers who visited him during his times of prayer.

While I, Daniel, was watching the vision and trying to understand it, there before me stood one who looked like a man. And I heard a man’s voice … calling, “Gabriel, tell this man the meaning of the vision.” As he came near the place where I was standing, I was terrified and fell prostrate. “Son of man,” he said to me, “understand that the vision concerns the time of the end” (Dan. 8:15–17).

Daniel had been praying for understanding of a vision which had come to him. In response to his prayer he testified, “There before me stood one who looked like a man.” A voice spoke identifying the man as the angel Gabriel, “hero or strong one of God.”⁴ As was commonly the case in Old Testament angelic appearances, Daniel felt an awesome fear, and with good reason, for he was confronted by a being only a little lower than God. He knew that no human being could see God and live.

While I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. He instructed me and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the message and understand the vision” (Dan. 9:21–23).

Again Gabriel appeared as a “man,” or as a “person,” as the Hebrew ’ish may mean. As in the first appearance, his mission was to “give … insight and understanding.” Though the angel that came to Daniel brought divine revelation and new truth, angelic appearances today would be for other purposes. Whether it be Moroni of Mormonism, or another angel who claims to add to or take away from the revelation of Holy Scripture, he is to be denounced and rejected. The apostle Paul declared it boldly, “Even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned” (Gal. 1:8). Satan, who himself “masquerades as an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:14), still employs his evil angels to hinder and destroy the work of God.

At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks.… I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of the finest gold around his waist. His body was like chrysolite, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude.

I, Daniel, was the only one who saw the vision; the men with me did not see it, but such terror overwhelmed them that they fled and hid themselves. So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision; I had no strength left, my face turned deathly pale and I was helpless. Then I heard him speaking, and as I listened to him, I fell into a deep sleep, my face to the ground.

A hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. He said, “Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up, for I have now been sent to you.” And when he said this to me, I stood up trembling.

Then he continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come” (Dan. 10:2; 5:14).

The final angelic appearance to Daniel, as in each of the earlier instances, followed prolonged and earnest fasting and prayer. Daniel’s description of the heavenly being has parallels with the “son of man” John saw (Rev. 1:13–15). Whoever Daniel’s messenger was—whether the Lord himself or more likely Gabriel, who had already appeared twice—he was a messenger with news from another world (cf. Heb. 1:14).

The experience of Daniel’s angelic visitor, as he was coming in response to Daniel’s prayer for understanding, holds a weighty meaning. In answer to earnest prayer, God may dispatch an angel immediately. Yet even angels must combat unseen forces which confront and withstand God’s messengers of mercy. The existence of extremely powerful evil beings is real. In this case, one was called “the prince of the Persian kingdom” (v. 13). So powerful was he that he delayed the answer to Daniel’s prayer for twenty-one days, during which time a second angel, Michael, was dispatched to help get the answer through to Daniel.⁵ With Michael taking up the conflict, Gabriel was able to fulfill his God-ordained mission to Daniel. Humans have little or no idea of the conflict in the heavens concerning earthly events and persons. It is probable that Paul was referring to such conflict when he wrote, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph. 6:12).

Angels and Prayer in the New Testament

Angelic intervention is not confined to Old Testament appearances. In fact, the reports of angelic intervention were remarkably common in the New Testament era. An appearance often occurred as a direct result of prayer, while at other times angels were sent on a special mission apart from any prayer by saints, for example, the angels who appeared at Jesus’ empty tomb (Luke 24:4–5).

Angels are never occupied with trivia. When they do appear, it is with high purpose. “When the time had fully come, God sent his Son” (Gal. 4:4). But there was much more to the advent of the Messiah than a mere statement of the event. There was prophecy and preparation. A forerunner for the Savior was part of the great salvation plan, and an angel played a part in announcing that.

In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah … [and] his wife Elizabeth.… Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commandments and regulations blamelessly. But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years.

Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen … according to the custom … to go into the temple … and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.

Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord.… He will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”

The angel answered, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news” (Luke 1:5–15; 17:19).

It cannot be positively said that the praying of Zechariah, or even the praying of the people, precipitated this angelic appearance, though there is no question that prayer set the stage for the supernatural happening. The people were praying outside the Holy Place (v. 10) while inside Zechariah was offering incense (a form of prayer) in fulfillment of his priestly role in the temple. The angel who appeared to Zechariah was Gabriel (v. 19), who identified himself without any request that he do so. He had been sent by God on a special mission to announce “good news” (v. 19). To Zechariah he revealed, “ ‘Your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John’ ” (v. 13).

The nature of Zechariah’s prayer is uncertain. Was he praying for a son (vv. 6–7), or was he praying for Israel’s redemption (vv. 16–17)? In any case, the birth of John was an answer to both prayers. According to Scripture, believers are surrounded by angels, sent by God to watch over them (see Ps 91:11). But in our usual condition we do not perceive their presence. Zechariah and other saints of Holy Scripture possessed that sensitivity and receptivity, which come only through earnest engagement in prayer.

Jesus received the ministry of angels. In Gethsemane, on the threshold of His sacrificial death for our sins, our Lord prayed the most intense and agonized prayer of His earthly mission. He was facing the unmeasured agony of being made sin (the word “sin” in the Heb. also means a sin offering, cf. Isa. 53:10) for us (see 2 Cor. 5:21), a burden beyond human ability to bear. Believers have the promise, “God … will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it” (1 Cor. 10:13). In the face of Christ’s almost unbearable burden, He too was tempted, but not beyond His endurance. God made a way to bear it. He sent an angel to strengthen Him: “[Jesus] withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, ‘Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.’ An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him” (Luke 22:41–43). What encouragement this is for us when we confront life’s impossibilities! Surely we can count on God to send His angels “to serve those who will inherit salvation” (Heb. 1:14). At the moment of our greatest need, prayer brings a strength beyond human ability, whether it comes in the form of an angel or through the ministry of the blessed Holy Spirit.

Even after the Holy Spirit had been given as a special help to believers, God did not cease to use angels. Should we consider it strange then when such experiences still happen? Certainly not!⁶

Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” Then Philip ran up to the chariot (Acts 8:26–30).

While it is not stated that Philip’s encounter with the angel was preceded by prayer, it is reasonable to believe that Philip, like all active witnesses in the Early Church, was a man of much prayer who constantly sought God’s direction. Visible angelic intervention is certainly the exception rather than the rule. In Philip’s case, however, it was probably necessary because of the prevailing circumstance. The Spirit-prompted Samaritan revival no doubt occupied Philip’s time and attention. Yet in God’s broader perspective, it was of more consequence to the Kingdom that the Ethiopian eunuch receive the gospel (before he returned to his homeland) than that Philip remain in Samaria. Therefore God dispatched an angel with a specific command: “Go south.”

Of special interest in this passage is the role of the angel and the Spirit in giving direction to Philip. The angel captured Philip’s attention and gave him instruction to head out into the desert between Jerusalem and Gaza. When he was obedient to this direction, the Spirit gave further instructions. When an angel of the Lord directs in a specific way, the result is a meaningful and productive ministry (see Acts 8:30–38).

Another case of guidance from an angel and obedience on the part of people took place at Caesarea. Cornelius was “devout and God-fearing,” regular in his prayers. As he prayed, he most certainly expressed his strong and continuing desire for divine direction in his quest for God.

At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius.… He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!” Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it Lord?” he asked. The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea (Acts 10:1–6).

God did not dispatch an angel to Cornelius to preach the gospel to him; nor is it the ministry of angels to do so. That is the responsibility laid upon men and women. Angels may have a related ministry, but not evangelism itself. They may set the stage for evangelism, they may guide toward salvation, but they do not do the actual evangelism.

The purpose of the angel’s message to Cornelius was twofold: (1) to assure him that he had an audience in heaven and (2) to direct him to send men to Joppa. What assurance must have come to Cornelius as he heard the angel say, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a remembrance before God” (v. 4)! Gabriel conveyed a similar message to Zechariah: “Your prayer has been heard” (Luke 1:13). A similar assurance has been confirmed to many devout believers after earnest prayer. When people seek God with all earnestness of heart, God responds, even using His angels if necessary. “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jer. 29:13).

Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists. Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him (Acts 12:5–10).

The praying of the Early Church invited divine intervention. Angels may not always come into one’s life as dramatically as this, but the account is sufficient evidence of the reality of Hebrews 1:14: “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” Prayer may bring angels into the picture, seen or unseen. The lesson for us is unmistakable: In times of dire emergency and extreme confrontation with evil, the Church must pray until God intervenes in His own way, dispatching an angel if need be.

When the deliverance was accomplished, Peter could testify of a miraculous intervention, not because he had caused it to happen, but because he had obediently followed each instruction and leading of the miracle-working angel. Note the activities of the angel who visited Peter:

1. The angel struck Peter, no doubt to awaken him.

2. The angel called on Peter to act: “Quick, get up!”

3. Peter obeyed, “and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.”

4. The angel told Peter to get dressed: Put on your clothes and your sandals.”

5. The angel gave instructions for the escape: “Wrap your cloak around you, and follow me.”

6. The angel caused the iron prison gate to open by itself.

7. The angel led Peter to freedom.

What a testimony of deliverance Peter had to share! Yet he had nothing of which to brag. The heaven-sent angel, in behalf of the One who had sent him, was the prime mover in this supernatural intervention.

An angel appeared to the apostle Paul in a dire situation. Paul was on his way to Rome to stand trial before Caesar. Departing from Crete at a time when safe sailing was highly uncertain, the ship was caught in a wind of hurricane force. The situation became so desperate that all on board gave up hope of being rescued. We must assume that Paul, for whom prayer was a constant habit, was much in prayer during the frightening and horrendous voyage. His epistles are full of encouragements to pray. To the Philippians he declared, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by pray and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Phil. 4:6). To the Thessalonians he wrote, “Pray continually” (1 Thess. 5:17).

After the men had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you’ ” (Acts 27:21–24).

This mighty prayer warrior no doubt wrestled with God in the dark of night, praying for his own safety and for the safety of his shipmates. But even though he had already been assured that he was going to Rome (Acts 19:21; 23:11), as the storm continued raging for many days, Paul, along with the others, “finally gave up all hope of being saved” (27:20). James reminded us that “Elijah was a man just like us” (James 5:17). So was Paul. In the midst of that awful hurricane “northeaster” (27:14), which threatened to destroy both men and ship, even Paul was afraid. Jewish leaders in more than one place had tried to kill Paul. Would the wind and sea succeed where they had failed? Paul, Luke, and all the rest were in despair.

But God was faithful. He dispatched an angel with a message of hope and assurance, even in the midst of almost certain destruction. The Williams translation gets the exact sense of the Greek when it gives the angel’s first words as, “Stop being afraid, Paul.”⁷ Paul would indeed stand before Caesar. More than that, everyone on board the ship would be saved.

We might ask, Why didn’t God simply halt the storm and permit the ship to sail on? Or why didn’t God preserve the ship from the fury of the storm. Or why would God permit His servant such an agonizing experience? Suffice it to say that in everything that happened God was glorified. The sailors learned that they should have heeded God’s servant in the first place. They learned also that Paul’s God was indeed God. The islanders who received the shipwrecked crew and passengers witnessed the mighty power of God and heard the gospel. And Paul, in due time, got to Rome.

Some great lessons in prayer are contained in this account. When trouble overwhelms, pray. When men will not listen to your words, pray. When storms threaten to destroy, pray. When all hope seems gone, pray. No matter how evil the situation, pray. No matter who or what precipitated the problem, pray. Prayer is the proper response to any of life’s vicissitudes.