Angels And Spiritual Warfare Series

Angels & Spiritual Warfare

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” - Ephesians 6:12

For the last two weeks, we have been meditating on the angels of God, God’s holy messengers, God’s unseen servants, and how these angels minister to us as the children of God, as believers in Christ. The Scriptures teach us that angels assist us in spiritual warfare against the forces of Satan and evil.

We know from Ephesians 6, that we are in a battle, and that the battle is not against people. We are all in a spiritual battle, and we are fighting against spiritual forces of wickedness, the power of Satan and evil in this world. But the Scripture says that we do not need to be afraid. As strong as these forces of evil may seem, they are no match for God and His heavenly host. We are surrounded, and we are helped by a powerful army of angels; angels who assist us in that warfare against the forces of Satan and evil. We meditated upon this last week. The angels of the Lord encamp all around us to protect us and rescue us. Dear children of God, today let us meditate on how the angels are helping in our spiritual life. Angels strengthen our weakness and watch over us.

I. Spiritual Warfare: Strengthening, guardian

There are a number of illustrations of this in the Scriptures about the warfare against the forces of Satan and evil. One comes in Daniel chapter 10. The Scripture here gives us an idea of how the angels operate. In this particular case, Daniel had been praying to God for three weeks. God had sent an angel to deliver a message to Daniel, the answer to Daniel’s prayer. The scriptures say, “But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia” (Daniel 10:13). For twenty-one days, the angel, messenger from God was resisted and detained by fallen angels. Satan’s agents withheld that angel of God from getting the message to Daniel for twenty-one days.

Now, Daniel continued to pray the whole time. Have you ever found yourself praying for something for a long period of time, maybe for a financial situation, maybe for a child, maybe for a job situation; and you have prayed and prayed for many days? Maybe for you it is not just twenty-one days. Maybe it has been almost twenty-one weeks or twenty-one years, but there has been no message from God. But Daniel chapter 10 gives us a hope that God does hear our prayers. God is working in the heavenly realms to send the answer and to fulfill His purposes. We don’t know what the answer will be, or in what form God will send it, or when it will arrive. But that is why, during a spiritual warfare, it is important that we persevere in prayer, that we should not give up before God has sent His answer.

The passage continues in Daniel 10 as the angel finally gets to Daniel, and he explains that for twenty-one days he had been trying to deliver this message, and finally, Daniel 10:13, God sent the angel Michael—Michael was called the archangel, the chief angel—to help this nameless angel who was trying to deliver a message to Daniel. In this case, two angels were involved in assisting in this matter of the spiritual warfare that was going on in the heavenly realms , a warfare Daniel was not even aware of, because humans only see the visible reality.

Sometimes we are conscious and know that we are battling against the forces of evil and the powers of darkness. We can sense when we are being attacked by something supernatural. But, many times, we are not even aware of what we are dealing with, because we cannot see it. But God knows. He knows, and He sees what is going on in the heavenly realms, and He is in control over it. Even those fallen angels cannot do more than what God allows them to do. They are under His control and under His power. God often sends angels to assist in our spiritual warfare against the forces of Satan and evil.

For this is another way that angels minister to our lives. The Scripture teaches that angels minister to us or serve us, and they provide strength and sustenance for us when we are weak.

II. Spiritual Strengthening

The Scriptures have numerous illustrations of this angelic ministry. Turn with me to 1 Kings 18 when the prophet Elijah won a great victory on God’s behalf. Elijah went to Mount Carmel and stood up for God against 850 false prophets. Elijah believed in the power of God, and he knew that the false gods these false prophets served had no power at all. So he took on a challenge. He confronted the powers of evil and darkness, and God won a great victory and glorified His name and His power.