The Book of Revelation shows us that we must be careful how we deal with angels. John was shown wondrous things when the Lord called, “Come up here.” He fell down at the feet of the angel and worshiped him...
Then said he to me, See you do it not: for I am your fellow servant, and of your brothers the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God. (Revelation 22:9 AKJV)
We should never pray to or worship anything but God. He alone deserves our adoration, and He alone can answer our prayers. The hosts of Heaven are the servants of God and include the army and “angels” which literally means messenger. This includes Michael, Gabriel, or even lesser angels.
The New Testament warns us about such and how we treat heavenly beings:
Nevertheless in like manner, these dreamers also corrupt the body, scorn and reject authority and government, and revile and libel and scoff at [Heavenly] glories (the glorious ones). But when [even] the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, judicially argued (disputed) about the body of Moses, he dared not [presume to] bring an abusive condemnation against him, but [simply] said, “The Lord rebuke you!” (Jude 1:8-9 AMPC)
And particularly those who walk after the flesh and indulge in the lust of polluting passion and scorn and despise authority. Presumptuous [and] daring [self-willed and self-loving creatures]! They scoff at and revile dignitaries (glorious ones) without trembling, whereas [even] angels, though superior in might and power, do not bring a defaming charge against them before the Lord. But these [people]! Like unreasoning beasts, mere creatures of instinct, born [only] to be captured and destroyed, railing at things of which they are ignorant, they shall utterly perish in their [own] corruption [in their destroying they shall surely be destroyed]... (2 Peter 2:10-12 AMPC)
The word “glories” in the Amplified version and “dignitaries” in the King James Bible translates into the Greek word doxa, which can mean “of the angels.” We know this is the right translation because it goes on to give an example of Michael not condemning Satan but asking the Lord to do so. This is an example of how we are to act, and it occurred after Jesus had risen. Those who are presumptuous and rebelling against authority seek to command angels.
Satan came to tempt the Lord in the wilderness when He was hungry. Jesus didn’t curse him or even speak disrespectfully to the leader of the rebellion in Heaven. He was respectful when addressing Satan and quoted the Word of God to combat what the enemy was doing. This is the rightful use of the sword of the Spirit, we use it to decide what we should do and how to respond to situations in front of us. We don't use the sword of the Spirit to attack principalities.
Another example we should look at when dealing with angels is the time when Gabriel struck Zacharias, the high priest, mute because he spoke presumptively and questioned what the angel told him:
And Zacharias said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.”
And the angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings. But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time.” (Luke 1:18-20 NKJV)
If we can’t even question angels, why do we think we can speak presumptively to command celestial beings? There is a very popular but incorrect teaching out that we can “command our angels” to do things. I believed this for many years. However, when someone asked me what verse I was standing on, I searched many books by well-known ministers to see where their Biblical support was. This was all I found:
Are not the angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation? (Hebrews 1:14 ESV)
This seems to say angels are our servants. When we examine this in the Amplified version, which goes back to the original text to give a fuller meaning, this is what we find:
Are not the angels all ministering spirits (servants) sent out in the service [of God for the assistance] of those who are to inherit salvation? (Hebrews 1:14 AMPC)
This makes it clear that our angels are in God’s service to help us. They are not our servants to command. Doing so would be another type of unauthorized authority. There is a woman minister who has been declaring that we can release or command the heavenly host to tear down strongholds. She quotes this verse:
Bless the Lord, you His angels, who excel in strength, who do His word, heeding the voice of His word. (Psalm 103:20 NKJV)
However, if you listen carefully to her video on this topic, she has changed a couple of words to say, “The angels hearken to YOUR words.” This is not what the Bible states. It is clear that the heavenly host heeds God’s words, not man’s! This is also why we should not pray to them. They are listening to what God is saying, not us. When we pray to God, He will tell them what He wants them to do.
When Jesus was being arrested, He said:
“Do you suppose that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will immediately provide Me with more than twelve legions [more than 80,000] of angels?” (Matthew 26:53 AMPC)
If our Lord had to ask His Father to send angelic help and wasn’t commanding them, what makes us think we can command instead of asking?
Beware that you do not despise or feel scornful toward or think little of one of these little ones, for I tell you that in Heaven their angels always are in the presence of and look upon the face of My Father Who is in Heaven. (Matthew 18:10 AMPC)
The Bible also tells us that the angels are God’s servants, and the ones assigned to the “little ones” have their faces turned toward God awaiting His instructions. Angels are commanded by God the Father, not us.
Consequences of Unauthorized Authority
Discovering the consequences of wielding unauthorized authority was a bit painful. A few years ago, the Holy Spirit urged me to take up my duties to intercede for my nation’s leaders. I did this, as He urged, then I took the next logical step which He didn’t tell me to do. I took authority over all those spiritual rulers in high places. I knew that the spiritual king of Tyre had impeded God’s messenger in the Book of Daniel, so I figured I would take them out of commission so that they wouldn’t hinder God’s plan.
A couple of months later, God sent me across the country on a three-and-a-half-week mission. The moment I stepped off the plane, my throat began to ache. For the first twelve days I was plagued by a sore throat and fever that wouldn’t go away.
Usually, when sickness comes upon me, I spend a few hours in prayer, worship, and meditation of God’s Word and my symptoms vanish. By day eleven I had enough. I curled up in my bed and put on Christian TV programs to bolster my faith.
My fever spiked. Nausea and dizziness overcame me each time I stood up. “What is going on?” I thought. “I’ve researched the word, I know my authority; this sickness is trespassing!”
I lay in bed, feeling like I could lose consciousness at any moment. I refused to give up. I knew something was wrong and I needed to fix it. The next show I played on the DVR was talking about the authority of God. It quoted the verse about the Heavens being the Lord’s. Then the host, let’s call him Mike, talked about a time when three pastors called him about things that were going on in their church:
Five women had miscarried in the same month last year; four other pregnant women were spotting blood and would soon miscarry in that same month.
Two pastors either had a child who had run away or one who went missing.
While seeking an answer, Mike was sent a dream to explain what was happening. When he called the pastors back, sure enough, each one had been leading their congregation against the spiritual powers influencing their region. Once the pastors repented for trespassing on God’s authority, their situations were resolved within 24 hours:
All four women stopped spotting and had full-term pregnancies.
Both missing children called their parents and returned home.
After pulling up the Bible app on my phone and reading the entire chapters that were quoted, I realized I had violated the structure of authority that God had put in place. Since I had illegally attacked the enemy, he now had the legal right to attack me. Of course, Satan waited until I was away from my home base and working for God to retaliate.
I didn’t waste any time. “Mighty God, I am so sorry I overstepped my authority and came against the enemy in the heavens. I won’t ever do that again! I plead the blood of Jesus over this sin and I thank you that it is blotted out of all records in Heaven. Father, I thank you that the enemy has no more legal right to assault me.”
The quiet knowing in my spirit came. I knew that by morning I would see the attack broken and be restored to health by the end of the next day. It came to pass exactly as the Holy Spirit brought it to me. I went from having a high fever and barely able to stand, to being completely healed in 24 hours.
This was a lesson I likely won’t ever forget. I will never again try to take authority over spiritual rulers in heavenly places. It's like giving the enemy a wild card that he can play to attack whenever we start making progress for the Kingdom of Heaven. Search the scriptures and see if there is even one example of a human being attacking things in the spiritual realm. I looked and found nothing. If I don’t see it in the Bible, I can’t presume to think I can do it.
In an intercession appointment, the Holy Spirit gave us the word Archangel. When asked the person, they admitted to commanding Michael to come and fight. This was the first time we had heard that word, but we have heard it over and over again since then: Each time, the person had commanded Michael into battle or angels in general. These are common items in many Catholic prayers, if you have recited them, you will need to confess, repent, and plead the blood over these actions.
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