Warrior Angels on Assignment: How Prayer Unleashes God’s Protection Over Your Life

Cody is an autistic “seer” who has learned to navigate life with an unusual sensitivity to the unseen spiritual world.

His descriptions come not from imagination but from what he actively perceives in the spirit realm.

The word mountain is Cody’s way of describing a large number of individuals (or angels) massed together.

It calls to mind verses mentioned earlier, when Elisha the prophet prayed for his servant’s eyes to be opened to see the angels available to protect them from a foreign army: “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” After Elisha prayed, the young servant saw “the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha” (2 Kings 6:15-17 ESV). There were many angels prepared to fight!

So, how many angels exist in God’s creation? We do not know, of course, but it is probably far more than we would guess or can imagine. The following are some Bible verses describing the number of angels in different scenes:

…a thousand thousands served him [God], and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened (Daniel 7:10 ESV).

Ten thousand times ten thousand would be 100 million, in addition to the other “thousand thousands.” The number is probably not meant to be literal but rather to express a number so large that it could not be described any other way. This is not the only reference in the Bible to millions upon millions of angels. We see the same description and number, “ten thousand times ten thousand,” in Revelation 5:11-12 (NIV).

Interestingly, Cody has not only seen individual angels close by but also a very large number of angels in the distance. Why are they there? To receive orders and fight on behalf of God’s children and His Kingdom. While angels are messengers, they also appear as warriors when called upon by God. There are not a large number of references to this in the Bible, but those present give a sobering picture. In one story, a man (named Balaam) is described as having the power to “curse” people.

Against God’s instructions, Balaam accepts a commission from a local king to come and attempt to place a curse on the people of Israel, who are journeying toward the Promised Land. But his trip is interrupted when his donkey refuses to travel through a narrow pass. The angry Balaam climbs down and begins beating his donkey, and then an angel appears and opens Balaam’s eyes. The angel rebukes Balaam and praises the donkey for turning away, and then says, “If she had not turned aside from me, surely just now I would have killed you and let her live” (Numbers 22:31-33 ESV).

King David had an unpleasant experience as a result of his sin against God in ordering a census of Israel. The story is told in 1 Chronicles 21, where David’s punishment includes an angel sent to Jerusalem “to destroy it” (1 Chronicles 21:15). We also see angels executing judgment against people on the earth throughout the book of Revelation. And in 2 Kings 19:35 (ESV), we read that a single angel, sent by the Lord, “went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.”

This casts sobering light on the incident of Jesus’s arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane when He says, “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:53 ESV).

If one angel could destroy 185,000 soldiers in one night, let your mind wander a little on what those legions could have done had Jesus asked.

A few other points can be made here. First, according to Cody, angels are always waiting for battle. We cannot understand this with certainty, but it leaves the impression of angels constantly poised to fight for God’s children, awaiting orders from God. Cody seems to equate this with our prayers: when we pray, God answers, and the answer may involve spiritual warfare (literally—warring angels fighting demons).

The war is against demonic forces who are trying to get people to doubt God. Unfortunately, many peoples’ perspectives on demons are shaped by movies and popular culture. Horror films portray frightening, sometimes gruesome images of demonic beings rampaging. Perhaps there is something much more subtle involved in this. It may be that the primary role of demonic spirits is disrupting or destroying a life by attacking a person’s faith in God.

Jesus, the Good Shepherd, says in John 10:10 (ESV), “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” Because Jesus came to give us abundant life, the demonic realm aims to destroy that abundant life. It is a destruction of the good God desires to do, and destroying faith is the foundational attack. If people can be made to doubt God’s goodness, love, and mercy, a demonic spirit has made inroads.

But our prayers are real and powerful petitions. The Bible says we are to “confess our sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (James 5:16 ESV).

Love is also a powerful spiritual weapon. Our friend Houston said, “You (his mom) are my absolute hero. I sound foolish if I say Satan. His devils are everywhere. All I’m paying attention to is God’s power in love through you ... I am never going to let myself be discouraged.”

Indeed, angels are God’s provision for us—ministering spirits sent for our benefit—and to fight on our behalf. On another occasion Houston described watching an angel fight an evil spirit, saying, “The angel is destroying the devil. Do pray now. Your prayers give angels power.” After this, he would say that prayer in Jesus’ name is the key to fighting, especially with titles of Jesus like the Prince of Peace. He would add that speaking the Word (of God) slows down evil, along with names like Immanuel, Adonai, Good Shepherd, Savior of the World, Chosen One, Alpha and Omega…Lamb of God, Lion of Judah, Son of David, Root of Jesse, (and) Jesus the Name Above All Names.2

Wow. There is not much we can add to that.

Remember, earlier Houston told us that “(i)t would house the world to give every angel a room.” The spellers say that one of the jobs of these many angels is protecting children. With so many children in the world, it would seem many angels are needed for the task. This lines up with Jesus’s teaching on angels and children: “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 18:10 ESV). On one occasion, Houston marveled at this and said, “I must tell you this––the angels of children see the face of God. He rallies to hear their prayers.”

For all the spellers, the idea of prayer and angelic help are clearly linked. Houston’s mom tells a story about a time she and her son were about to pray, when she felt a choking sensation. Houston quickly told her it was a demonic attack and that they had forgotten to pray. Both immediately stopped spelling and prayed, and Houston said, “Good work. The angels said they love you so much.” When his mom asked how many angels were present, he replied, “So many to really count would not be possible.”

The Scriptures and church history are filled with this understanding of many angels and their activity in response to prayer. Here is a small sample:

Angels are the mighty ones who intercede for us and carry our prayers to God. They delight in the prayers of the saints and present them before the throne of the Almighty. –Saint Augustine (354-430)

Innumerable are the multitudes of angels who are around the Almighty; and with them, the spirits of the just. These, rejoicing in our salvation, join their voices in prayer with those who call upon God in truth. –Saint Clement of Alexandria (150-215)

And for good measure, and a more modern commentator, C.S. Lewis gives the same perspective in his classic Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer:

The angels of heaven do not stand idle while we pray. They are present, not as passive observers, but as active agents in the great drama of redemption, taking part in the communication between God and His children.

Though we don’t know how many warrior angels there are that respond to God’s orders, there seem to be enough to cover every human being (with plenty to spare). Their activity is tied to prayer, as all our spellers affirm. All of this points us back to the importance of prayer. Cody has said repeatedly that we should not ask him questions about certain things, but that we need to instead read our Bibles, pray, and ask God about them.