Angels

[tGette]

I would like to know what different denominations believe about angels. (i.e. do you believe in Gaurdian Angels, etc.)

I guess my target audience would be Protestants.

Orthodox Christians I am not sure how differently we belief so your response would be helpful also.

Catholics…I already know, but feel free to respond if you know something unique or would want Protestants to know.

Also, I would like Protestants to responsd to this:
Psalm 34:8 (or 34:7 depending on translation) says:
“The angel of the LORD, who encamps with them, delivers all who fear God.”

If an angel is that intimately involved with people…why is it so hard to believe we can ask them to pray for us?

 

[wmscott]

I would like to know what different denominations believe about angels. (i.e. do you believe in Gaurdian Angels, etc.)

I guess my target audience would be Protestants.

Orthodox Christians I am not sure how differently we belief so your response would be helpful also.

Catholics…I already know, but feel free to respond if you know something unique or would want Protestants to know.

Also, I would like Protestants to responsd to this:
Psalm 34:8 (or 34:7 depending on translation) says:
“The angel of the LORD, who encamps with them, delivers all who fear God.”

If an angel is that intimately involved with people…why is it so hard to believe we can ask them to pray for us?

Hi, how about Luke 1; 26-28. You can’t get much more “Touched by an Angel” than that and all of the Christian Bibles has this verse from Luke in them.
26 In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And coming to her, he said, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.”

 

[NDfan]

I would like to know what different denominations believe about angels. (i.e. do you believe in Gaurdian Angels, etc.)

I guess my target audience would be Protestants.

Orthodox Christians I am not sure how differently we belief so your response would be helpful also.

Catholics…I already know, but feel free to respond if you know something unique or would want Protestants to know.

Also, I would like Protestants to responsd to this:
Psalm 34:8 (or 34:7 depending on translation) says:
“The angel of the LORD, who encamps with them, delivers all who fear God.”

If an angel is that intimately involved with people…why is it so hard to believe we can ask them to pray for us?

Tgette I believe in Angels. I think they are so cool and I’m amazed at some of the things we read about them in scripture. I believe GOD can send them to protect us or fulfill whatever purpose HE wants for them to fulfill.

As far as asking Angels to pray for us just remember this. Angels are by definition GOD’s messengers. They deliver GOD’s message to us. They are not our messengers back to GOD. GOD is all-knowing, all-seeing, all-hearing, all-everything. GOD can hear us directly without the intervention of a messenger. Also asking an Angel to pray for us assumes that they can hear us whenever we ask them to intercede. I don’t remember reading anything about Angels being all-hearing, knowing etc. etc.

PEACE

 

[wmscott]

Tgette I believe in Angels. I think they are so cool and I’m amazed at some of the things we read about them in scripture. I believe GOD can send them to protect us or fulfill whatever purpose HE wants for them to fulfill.

As far as asking Angels to pray for us just remember this. Angels are by definition GOD’s messengers. They deliver GOD’s message to us. They are not our messengers back to GOD. GOD is all-knowing, all-seeing, all-hearing, all-everything. GOD can hear us directly without the intervention of a messenger. Also asking an Angel to pray for us assumes that they can hear us whenever we ask them to intercede. I don’t remember reading anything about Angels being all-hearing, knowing etc. etc.

PEACE

I do not think the Angels are deaf to our prayers; take for example the prayer to St Michael

Saint Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;
and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host -
by the Divine Power of God -
cast into hell, satan and all the evil spirits,
who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls.

 

[Mystic_Warrior]

I would like to know what different denominations believe about angels. (i.e. do you believe in Gaurdian Angels, etc.)

I guess my target audience would be Protestants.

Orthodox Christians I am not sure how differently we belief so your response would be helpful also.

Catholics…I already know, but feel free to respond if you know something unique or would want Protestants to know.

Also, I would like Protestants to responsd to this:
Psalm 34:8 (or 34:7 depending on translation) says:
“The angel of the LORD, who encamps with them, delivers all who fear God.”

If an angel is that intimately involved with people…why is it so hard to believe we can ask them to pray for us?

Holy angels exist. They are ministering spirits sent to help mankind. Jesus spoke of the angels that watch over the children (guardian angels). They give and receive messages from humans and God.

There are varying opinions on who this “angel of the LORD” is. I’ve not done a textual analysis to see for myself. Some say it’s a theophany of Jesus. But, given that this was a Hebrew text, I can’t imagine the writers had that in mind.

You have to realize that God has many angels who work with Him. Some he sent to Egypt to slay all those who didn’t have the lamb’s blood on their door. Probably, this angel is actually an angel and not the Lord Jesus.

We have to remember that “angel” is a title - it’s an office that they hold. It doesn’t describe their nature. The name means simply “messenger”. They are, as the author in Hebrews states, “ministering spirits”. They give and receive messages and minister to humans.

Peace…

MW

 

[tGette]

NDfan, (or anyone really)

If we can pray directly to God (which we can) then what is the point of asking another person to pray for us?

Asking an angel (messenger) to pray for us would be akin to asking a mere human to do the same.

 

[Mystic_Warrior]

Tgette I believe in Angels. I think they are so cool and I’m amazed at some of the things we read about them in scripture. I believe GOD can send them to protect us or fulfill whatever purpose HE wants for them to fulfill.

I know for sure that He does.

As far as asking Angels to pray for us just remember this. Angels are by definition GOD’s messengers. They deliver GOD’s message to us. They are not our messengers back to GOD. GOD is all-knowing, all-seeing, all-hearing, all-everything. GOD can hear us directly without the intervention of a messenger. Also asking an Angel to pray for us assumes that they can hear us whenever we ask them to intercede. I don’t remember reading anything about Angels being all-hearing, knowing etc. etc.

PEACE

I don’t see why they are only one-way messengers. Of course God hears and sees all. But, what’s the difference in asking an angel or a saint or the Blessed Virgin Mary to pray for us? They are all close to God.

Angels are spirits. That means they can appear in an instant because their bodies aren’t bound by the limitations that we are in the flesh. Angels aren’t all the omni’s that are qualities of God. However, they are highly intelligent beings with powers given to them to perform His work.

In the Book of Enoch, it declares that angels are given the responsibilities of controlling nature according to God’s will among other things. They have knowledge and abilities that we don’t have and won’t have till our bodies are transformed in Heaven.

Peace…

MW

 

[tGette]

I would like to know what different denominations believe about angels. (i.e. do you believe in Gaurdian Angels, etc.)

I guess my target audience would be Protestants.

Orthodox Christians I am not sure how differently we belief so your response would be helpful also.

Catholics…I already know, but feel free to respond if you know something unique or would want Protestants to know.

Also, I would like Protestants to responsd to this:
Psalm 34:8 (or 34:7 depending on translation) says:
“The angel of the LORD, who encamps with them, delivers all who fear God.”

If an angel is that intimately involved with people…why is it so hard to believe we can ask them to pray for us?

 

[tGette]

I forgot to mention; we also do believe in guardian angels. Angels are on duty constantly to attend to God’s children and are aware of things in our lives. Sample passages would be these: Genesis 19:10,16, 28:12, 1 Kings 19:5,7; 2 Kings 6:17; Psalm 34:7, 91:11,12; Daniel 6:22; Luke 15:7,10; Hebrews 1:14.

What we are not able to say with certainty is if each one of us has a specific guardian angel assigned to us or whether one specific angel is designated our guardian angel all our life. Perhaps we have many angels serving us at the same time. The Bible doesn’t provide that kind of detailed information, nor is it necessary.

Luke 16:22 refers to the work of angels in bringing the believer to heaven after death. This is similar to the work of angels as described in Matthew 13:41, where they will also weed out unbelievers and separate them from believers.

 

[tGette]

Originally Posted by tGette forums.catholic-questions.org/images/buttons/viewpost.gif
*I am going to post this quote in the other thread too.

Given what you say here though, if Angels are that aware of things going on, why can we not ask them to pray for us?

No…angels are directed by God and are sent to minister to us. They don’t respond to our prayers but they do respond to God’s direction in answer to our prayers to God; they also do many things for us without us even being aware of it or even asking for it.

I know of a story that I read about M. Angelica, when she was a child, being picked up out of the way of a moving vehicle.

I also know of a story a pastor friend of mine told. When his wife was pregnant, she walked across the street to drop something in a mailbox and on her way back wasn’t paying attention when she crossed and was almost struck by a truck. She states she felt something grab her collar and pull her up on the sidewalk and even the driver, in the police report, said she stepped into the street and suddenly yanked back almost as if she was pushed or pulled back out of her control.

Praise God!
Though this still boggles my little brain as to why this same Angel can not be asked for prayers.

I think I might be anal about the thread derailing policy

 

[TriuneUnity]

Praise God!
Though this still boggles my little brain as to why this same Angel can not be asked for prayers.

I think I might be anal about the thread derailing policy

Well…really, what I think it comes down to is that we are not directed to ask them for prayer. From the few instances in Scripture when they interact with humans, they refuse any form of honor or reverence and tend to rebuke those who do. They seem to exist to fulfill the will of God completely and do what He tells them to. As long as we are praying to God in faith we can be assured His elect angels are watching over us constantly.

I think it’s unfortunate that Western and American society has cutesified angels. With the pink cheeks and the wings, childlike, blah blah. Angels are powerful beings and terrifying when they manifest themselves visibly.

 

[tGette]

Well…really, what I think it comes down to is that we are not directed to ask them for prayer. From the few instances in Scripture when they interact with humans, they refuse any form of honor or reverence and tend to rebuke those who do. They seem to exist to fulfill the will of God completely and do what He tells them to. As long as we are praying to God in faith we can be assured His elect angels are watching over us constantly.

I think it’s unfortunate that Western and American society has cutesified angels. With the pink cheeks and the wings, childlike, blah blah. Angels are powerful beings and terrifying when they manifest themselves visibly.

Definitely!

In the Book of Daniel, isn’t that one instance of this?

That would be great if someone came out with a line of “real angel” figurines.

I’m sure we Catholics would have a hard time kneeling to that sucker! LOL!

 

[TriuneUnity]

Definitely!

In the Book of Daniel, isn’t that one instance of this?

That would be great if someone came out with a line of “real angel” figurines.

I’m sure we Catholics would have a hard time kneeling to that sucker! LOL!

Yeah, something with four faces, six wings, enclothed in light. Not exactly a Hallmark moment. The first thing angels HAVE to say when they manifest themselves, and you can see this in the case of the shepherds in the field outside Bethlehem, is “Fear not!” Why? Because the shepherd were probably having heart attacks!

 

[tGette]

Yeah, something with four faces, six wings, enclothed in light. Not exactly a Hallmark moment. The first thing angels HAVE to say when they manifest themselves, and you can see this in the case of the shepherds in the field outside Bethlehem, is “Fear not!” Why? Because the shepherd were probably having heart attacks!

Sweet little Mary was probably the bravest of all those who ever saw an Angel!
She was more confused than scared!

My friend sometimes says how he wishes he could have an experience like that, so then he knows his faith could never be shaken.

All I think about is the great responsibility that would follow!