Angels of Humility: A Novel (11 page)

Lord, let me make it four blocks today. I hear that Linda Sprague fell and broke her arm last week; I’d like to make it to her house
. She started down her block, flanked on each side by her unseen intercessory companions. They protected her from hazards and demonic attacks she never knew existed. But, unbeknownst to her, one of the biggest foes she had was right inside the house at 1745 Cypress Drive, and his name was Pastor Paul.

Sarah stopped in front of his house and prayed,
Lord, let him see the truth about this jail. Show him the same way You showed me. Let him have compassion for the prisoners. Draw near to him and bless him; bless his wife and sweet son. Send guardian angels to protect them. Let them be healthy and have enough money. Lord, if it’s Your will that Paul be called as full-time pastor, I pray You
would show the committee in a clear, unmistakable way. Bless Paul today, let him hear Your voice and feel Your love for him. Amen
.

Thanks to Joel and Malta’s assistance, she made it the full four blocks, arriving home in about 90 minutes. She poured a cup of coffee and perused the
Gazette
, which was still using all caps in 82 font to thwart the new jail. She shook her head. “Jesus, please bring Your will to our town. Don’t let anyone, especially the church members, stop it.”
It seems so strange
, she thought,
that the whole church could be standing in opposition to God’s will. Lord, have mercy on our confusion
. She prayed fervently for the church for the next ten minutes.

Then a Scripture reference flitted across her mind, Joel 2:28–29. After a frustrating search for the book of Joel, she gave up and looked in the index, page 1245. She shook her head as she thought, I
wish I knew my Bible better; I wish I’d grown up reading it
.

And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days
.

She noticed the cross reference, and turned to Acts 2:17–18. She began reading,
“‘And it shall come to pass in the last days,’ says God, ‘that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh….”’ How strange
, she thought.
It’s the same verse in the Old and New Testament. It must be really important.”

“Sarah,” said Joel, “praying in the Spirit is one manifestation of the Holy Spirit. It’s a special prayer language, a spiritual gift from God. It’s like a foreign language; you probably won’t even understand what you’re saying. But, it’s your special, sacred love language with the Lord. It’s your own unique, secret song that only you can sing to Him. Jesus says that those who believe in Him will ‘speak in new tongues.’”
²

She began to pray,
Lord, pour out Your Spirit on all flesh; pour out Your Spirit on me. I want to experience Your gift of speaking in tongues
.

Joel drew his brilliant, two-edged sword. The tip was ablaze. He touched the flame to her lips. “Be filled up and overflowing with the fullness of the Holy Spirit.”

Malta played a melody on his flute that washed over Sarah, and she was hit with heavenly joy. She began to praise the Lord in English, and to her surprise, a flood of unintelligible words rolled out. It was as if her tongue had tripped or suddenly had a mind of its own. Sounds were still coming out, but she couldn’t understand any of them.

For the longest time she prayed and sang in tongues, interspersed with laughter. She had read about speaking in tongues in Paul’s writings
³
and in Acts.
⁴
She’d never heard teaching against it or knew it was considered controversial by some so she entered into the experience with wild abandon. Joel and Malta led a full-fledged worship service and Sarah followed along. She raised her hands, she cried, she paced, and she danced with unseen angels as much as her failing body would allow. These treasured petitions in Sarah’s own prayer language were received with great joy by the Father and were echoed by multitudes of angels through His throne room.
⁵

After 15 minutes she flopped down on the couch, physically exhausted.

“Get in the habit of praying in the Spirit all the time. Even if it doesn’t feel anointed, it’s powerful because the Holy Spirit is praying His prayers through you. He prays His perfect will. It’s not tainted by your opinion, preference, or prejudice,” said Malta.

“Also,” said Joel, “since there is no time or distance barriers in the Spirit, you may be praying for people and situations on the other side of the world, things you’d have no way of knowing about. Praying in the Spirit shakes the devil’s kingdom and thwarts his plans.”

Joel turned to Malta, “Because of her obedience, Sarah will do many good works for the Lord. By the time He matures her as an intercessor, she will be armed and dangerous to the enemy’s kingdom. She’s halfway there already.”

“This sweet little woman doesn’t know the devil sees her as a dangerous warrior in the Spirit.”

“Nor does she realize how badly he’d like to take her out.”

In addition to taking their regular beating from Sarah’s prayers during the next day’s prayer walk, plotting against Sarah was more frustrating than ever for the demons.

“Great, just great,” moaned Depression, “She’s got her prayer language. The Spirit of God prays through her now.”

“Shut up! I know what that means. You don’t have to talk about it,” whined Discouragement.

“Can it get any worse?” asked Lying. “We have no weapons that can overcome that.”

They tried several low-level physical attacks—placing twigs on her path or steering her toward cracks on the sidewalk that she could trip over, but these were not even challenges for Malta and Joel.

The three demons crouched behind a rose arbor in a neighbor’s yard. “I just unlatched the gate,” snickered Lying. “When Sarah rounds the corner that Rottweiller will be on her before she knows what hit her.”

Joel sensed something wasn’t right in his Spirit. He paused for a moment and then offered a prayer. “Father, send a spirit of slumber to Rex.” Immediately, Rex trotted to the porch, turned around several times, laid down, and fell asleep. Discouragement and Depression prodded and yelled at him, but he would not be roused. Lying shook Rex’s body violently up and down to no effect.

As Sarah and the angels strolled by the open gate, Joel nudged Malta and then called out with a big smile on his face, “You know what I always say, ‘Let sleeping dogs lie.’”

After her walk, Sarah relaxed on her porch swing, thinking about her prayers.

I know that one reason we pray is to develop intimacy with the Lord Himself. I love those times each morning when I meet with Him, but I wonder why we have to pray for things that are God’s will? Shouldn’t those happen by themselves? I know the Bible says it’s God’s will for everyone to be saved
.

“Don’t fall for that old line from the enemy. He’d love to see you quit praying,” said Joel. “God’s plan is for everyone to be saved, but He has commanded believers to partner with Him in this redemptive process. He exhorts all Christians to pray for workers to be sent to the harvest field.
²
Prayer is a mighty weapon that He gives you from His armory to make sure His perfect will is accomplished. Intercessors are the stewards of God’s promises
to the lost, His Church, the nations, and the world. But if Christians fail to pray, God’s full purposes won’t be accomplished.

“Think of all the faithful people in the Bible who prayed until the answer manifested, even though they
knew
what they were praying for was God’s will,” said Malta. “For example, remember Elijah and the drought? God said it would rain, but instead of grabbing his umbrella and dancing home like Gene Kelley, Elijah prayed intensely. I was there! It took seven times before even a small cloud came in the sky. Only then did he quit praying.”
³

“And don’t forget my friend Daniel,” said Joel, jumping to his feet. “In response to his prayer, an angel was dispatched immediately to answer him. He was hindered by a powerful demon spirit. They fought for 21 days while Daniel continued to pray. Finally God dispatched our marvelous comrade, Michael, to help the angel break through.”
⁴
Malta drew his sword, tossed it back and forth between his hands, and then sliced the air so quickly the blade seemed to disappear. “Your prayers are spiritual warfare that help defeat the enemy’s kingdom by releasing warring angels. There is constant spiritual warfare going on against God’s perfect will and plan.”

“Sarah, there are even times when God stated He would do something and people’s prayers changed His actions. King Hezekiah received a prophecy that he would die. He prayed and the same prophet returned and told him the Lord had granted him 15 more years.
⁵
Moses interceded for the children of Israel.
⁶
Abraham bargained with the Lord to not destroy Sodom and Gomorrah if there were only 10 righteous people there.
⁷

Joel sheathed his sword and stepped aside as Wesley Kruger, the mailman, came up the stairs and startled Sarah.

“Here ya go, Sarah.”

“Oh, goodness. I was totally preoccupied with my thoughts. Thank you, Wesley,” she said, taking the mail. “You have a nice day.”

“Oh, I plan to, the autumn and spring are always the best time of the year for me weather wise. I’m just enjoying the cool day.”

Sarah flipped through her mail.
The phone bill and the water bill
. She sighed. George’s pension wasn’t that much, and the savings account was
being depleted more quickly than she’d anticipated.
Lord, help me to trust You with my finances
.

The next letter was from Buchanan County Correctional Facilities Inc.
What’s this about?
she wondered as she tore the letter open. It was the private company that wanted to build the jail. She took a deep breath.
Why would they be writing me?
Her heart pounded as she read:

Sarah didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She and George had farmed that land the first 23 years of their marriage. Then George had taken a job with the fire department and they had leased it to a local farmer. Sarah had no idea what the property was worth. She had always thought she’d just pass it on to her niece, since she had no children.

Oh, my goodness; I’ve got to pray. This seems to be straight from the hand of God, but I have to make sure. S
he went inside and sat on her couch, one of her designated prayer spots. Malta and Joel were right behind her. “Lord, show me what to do. I need to make sure that I hear from You.” After praying for several minutes, she got up and poured a cup of coffee.

“Well, George, how would you feel if I sold our land, the land that we farmed for 23 years, the land that your father farmed practically all his life?” Her voice cracked and her hands began to shake. “Oh, George, I miss you so much. I’m so scared. I don’t know if you ever accepted Jesus.” She released the pent-up tears. How could she stand it if her beloved George was in Hell?

“Don’t talk to George. Turn your anxieties into a prayer and give them to Father,” whispered Malta. “The enemy’s strategy is to run your emotions
ragged. Pour out your emotions, hurts, and fears to Father. Then the Lord has room to fill you up with His peace and love.”

“Give all your worries and stresses to Him because He cares about every area of your life,”
⁸
added Joel.

Oh Jesus, please show me whether George is in Heaven with You. I miss him so much. I’m tired of being alone. Now the whole church hates me, and if I sell the land, the whole town will hate me
.