How to Activate Angels: 6 Types of Angels and How They Work in Your Life

We position ourselves for angelic assistance by aligning ourselves with God’s will and Word.

But how do we diminish our chances of benefiting from their intervention?

Believing and understanding are critical. If we misunderstand God’s intent, are ignorant of His Word, or see the ministry of angels incorrectly, we risk forfeiting what God has provided. For example, if I see angels purely as an army of spirits fighting for God, I can miss the fact that they are also called to minister for me as an heir of salvation. What I believe will dictate my expectations and determine whether or not I have faith in God’s angelic provision for me. If I don’t expect angelic help, I am unlikely to experience it.

Hebrews 11:6 says that it is impossible to please God without faith. Living a wholly fulfilling life without faith is also impossible. Some people don’t expect angelic aid because they deny the existence of the supernatural realm and don’t believe angels exist. They not only miss out and fail to please God, but they also overtly offend Him. God is not “touchy,” but to deny the full extent of His kingdom operation is to doubt Him and call Him a liar.

Those of us who believe God’s Word and understand the angelic assignment can still miss out, by the way, through our passivity. Whether it is toward angels or something else, passivity neutralizes faith. We don’t receive God’s promised benefits unless our faith actively engages them. And when we are passive, we don’t even realize that we are missing out!

Angelic Roles

Our biblical examples of angelic assistance show the amazing specificity of angels’ assignments. Angels’ roles are specific, too, but can encompass multiple activities. These are highly versatile creatures that wear multiple “hats” when executing their duties. This is certainly true of humans; it can only be truer of angels.

If I can be a pastor, a teacher, a husband, and a parent, I believe a single angel can be a messenger, a protector, a warrior, and more, when necessary.

Lucifer is a cherub and not an angel in our strict sense of the word, yet he is a good example of what I mean. Prior to his fall, he was assigned to lead Heaven’s worship. However, in his rebellion, he applied his leadership skills to a new venture: the organizing of an alternative kingdom. Now, instead of pointing the host of Heaven toward God in worship, he drew a third of them away and captured their adulation for himself. The new CEO of the kingdom of darkness also functions as his kingdom’s logistics and military strategist.

Angels have certain characteristics in common, whatever their roles. The Hebrew word malak essentially means “messenger,” and is also interpreted as “angel.” All angels are messengers in the sense that their work speaks of the Almighty, His intent, and His kingdom, and some angels, such as Gabriel, are specifically commissioned as messengers. In order to fulfill certain assignments, however, they must overcome fallen angels and other demonic obstacles. So sometimes a messenger has to put on his military “hat” and help take out some enemies!

Angelic Messengers

Messenger angels specialize in delivering divine notifications. Because Gabriel was assigned to bring messages of great importance, I suspect that he is a leader (possibly the leader) with authority over other angelic messengers. Scripture does not overtly state this; I am basing my biblical assumption on clues the Bible provides. Whatever his position in the celestial hierarchy, he exemplifies the work of angelic messengers.

The first time we see Gabriel named is in Daniel 8, when he interpreted the vision of the ram and the goat for the prophet. Gabriel’s assistance no doubt brought comfort to Daniel during his intense experience of seeing unexplained mysteries in the spirit realm.

Comforting or not, messenger angels tend to have the same effect on humans as other angels—they intimidate them! In Daniel 8:17, Daniel fell to his face at the sight of Gabriel. In Daniel 9, Gabriel went on to explain the meaning of his 70 weeks vision, and also brought these words of comfort: “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand. At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved…” (Daniel 9:22-23).

The next mention of Gabriel is in Luke 1, where he told Zacharias that his barren wife, Elizabeth, would bear a child. He also delivered a message of supreme consequence to the virgin girl, Mary, informing her that she would bear the Messiah. Both Zacharias and Mary were afraid of Gabriel; verse 12 says that “fear fell upon” Zacharias, and in verse 30, Gabriel told Mary, “Do not be afraid.”

Angelic Warriors

Michael is the military angel most mentioned in Scripture. Although warrior angels have varying levels of authority, Michael’s high-level example provides a sharp picture of the overall military role in the celestial hierarchy.

When Michael joined the battle against the prince of Persia (Daniel 10), the battle shifted, freeing up the unnamed angel who was on his way to Daniel’s aid. Michael’s combat with the prince of Persia was no sparring contest—it was war! The fact that Michael was brought in as a kind of equalizer tells me he is one bad dude. This mighty warrior and commander of a celestial army is “the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people [Israel]” (Daniel 12:1 NASB1995). Nobody wants to mess with Michael!

The battle with the prince of Persia would eventually resume, and be followed by conflict with the prince of Greece, which means it was prophetic of a celestial and global changing of the guard. Michael participates in these significant events, presumably due to his rank. Revelation tells of yet another shift in celestial power that demands Michael’s skills:

War broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him (Revelation 12:7-9).

Obviously, Michael operates in the highest military echelons. Leading “his angels” in direct battle against the devil and the fallen angels and casting them out of Heaven is a major mission. Notice the interesting choice of words: it doesn’t say Michael led God’s angels (although they were, of course, God’s angels); it says, “Michael and his angels.” This does not minimize God’s authority but emphasizes Michael’s level of responsibility and shows that numbers of angels are firmly under his command.

Scripture shows that Michael’s role is multifaceted. Jude 9 reveals that he was assigned to argue with the devil over the body of Moses. This bit of “diplomacy” confirms his high rank and shows his diversity of roles. It might also reflect his larger assignment as “the prince who stands guard” over Israel (Daniel 12:1 NASB1995).

Another biblical example involves unnamed warrior angels who countered the threat against Israel from powerful Assyrian forces. Sennacherib’s messengers warned King Hezekiah that the Assyrians were unbeatable, and they attempted to goad Hezekiah into distrusting God’s commitment to His people. Feeling the pressure, Hezekiah turned to God in prayer and asked Him to save His people (Isaiah 37:16-20).

Because of Hezekiah’s prayer, Isaiah received from God a word of judgment against Sennacherib (Isaiah 37:21-35), and an angel was commissioned to take care of business:

Then the angel of the Lord went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses—all dead. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went away, returned home, and remained at Nineveh. Now it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Then Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place (Isaiah 37:36-38).

This angel protected God’s people by destroying an outstanding enemy force. Sennacherib, who chose to defy God and attempted to taint His reputation, was met with swift judgment!

Angelic Reapers

Scripture reveals that angels are involved in reaping a variety of harvests, including the ultimate harvest—of souls. In the following passage, Jesus explains the parable of the wheat and the tares, which represent the righteous and the unrighteous, respectively.

He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 13:37-42)

Because this account is presented in the chapter’s larger context of sowing God’s Word (which involves the salvation message, all the promises of God, and the entire principle of sowing and reaping), I believe the angels are also involved in other types of reaping. Because our words and actions are seeds, godly seeds birth harvests of finances, favor, and other forms of blessing. Angelic reapers are clearly scriptural; therefore, I believe God’s angels reap our harvests of blessing, while Satan’s angels reap unbelievers’ harvests of wickedness and death.

In another example of souls being reaped, John the Revelator saw the reapers’ work and described it metaphorically:

Another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, who had power over fire, and he cried with a loud cry to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, “Thrust in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe.” So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God (Revelation 14:17-19)

This angelic work is not restricted to the final harvest, mind you—angels have escorted the dead to their abodes throughout history. Jesus talked about the ushering in of Lazarus to Abraham’s bosom: “So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom…” (Luke 16:22).

Angelic Protectors

The apostle Peter said God’s people “are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:5). Peter knew God’s protection firsthand. When Herod threw him in jail, an angel countered the injustice by setting him free and keeping him from harm (Acts 12).

Angels clearly protect, but certain angels and other heavenly creatures are protectors by assignment. Cherubim, for example, guard high-value assets. They are represented guarding the mercy seat and are stationed at the Tree of Life (Exodus 25:18-20; Genesis 3:24). God’s throne is surrounded by heavenly creatures, too—the seraphim are above it, while the cherubim are below it (Isaiah 6:2; 2 Samuel 6:2; Psalm 99:1).

According to Psalm 91:11-12, God commissions angels to guard us. In Genesis 19, the angels who visited Lot protected him and his family from the wicked Sodomites, and also provided guidance for their safe departure. In Matthew 18:10, Jesus mentioned the angels assigned to children, saying, “Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.” The fact that these angels always see the face of the Father suggests to me their work of protecting.

The term guardian angel does not appear in Scripture, but the examples of angelic guarding suggest it, in my opinion. The angels assigned to the little ones, the angel that protected Peter, and even the angelic protection described in Psalm 91 give the sense of particular angels being assigned to guard particular people. Because God shows no favoritism, I propose that He provides specific guardian angels to each and every one of His children.

Recording Angels

Did you know that books are kept in Heaven? These books contain billions of life stories and will be opened at the great white throne judgment for the unsaved. The apostle John describes the scene:

Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works (Revelation 20:11-13)

Not all of the books in Heaven are opened to incriminate sinners. There is a book of remembrance, which commends the faithful:

Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard them; so a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on His name (Malachi 3:16)

Notice that “the Lord listened and heard,” but who did the writing? Because angels are God’s servants and “worker bees,” I believe an angelic sect is commissioned to write and keep records. This concept is not a new idea, either, but is held by many in the rabbinic tradition.

Angelic Watchers

You already know about the watchers who went down in infamy—the angels who engaged in sex with human women and are now imprisoned in Tartarus, the deepest part of the abyss. Not all angelic watchers break bad, however. Good watchers are mentioned in Daniel 4—a single angelic watcher in verse 13, and a group of them in verses 16-17. They are mentioned in the context of Nebuchadnezzar’s visions and his search for an interpretation. In verse 13, Nebuchadnezzar is speaking; in verses 16-17, one of the watchers pronounces the king’s judgment:

I was looking in the visions in my mind as I lay on my bed, and behold, an angelic watcher, a holy one, descended from heaven (Daniel 4:13 NASB1955)

Let his mind be changed from that of a man and let a beast’s mind be given to him, and let seven periods of time pass over him. This sentence is by the decree of the angelic watchers and the decision is a command of the holy ones, in order that the living may know that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, and bestows it on whom He wishes and sets over it the lowliest of men (Daniel 4:16-17 NASB1995)

Angelic watchers are assigned to—you guessed it—watch. But as we learned, the Genesis 6 angels did more than just watch.

They acted outside of their mandate, and they made a mess of the human race in the process. One commentary on verse 13 confirms the existence of both good and wicked watchers, refers to the heavenly creatures that are covered with eyes, and makes a connection between angelic watchers and recording angels. It is food for thought:

Only one angel is intended, and he not one of the bad, but of the holy angels. Called a “Watcher,” because ever on the watch to execute God’s will [JEROME]…. Compare as to their watchfulness, Rev 4:8, “full of eyes within … they rest not day and night.” Also they watch good men committed to their charge (Ps 34:7; Heb 1:14); and watch over the evil to record their sins, and at God’s bidding at last punish them (Je 4:16, 17), “Watchers” applied to human instruments of God’s vengeance. As to GOD (Da 9:14; Job 7:12; 14:16; Je 44:27). In a good sense (Ge 31:49; Je 31:28).

God can watch all things all by Himself, yet He chose to commission watcher angels. Whatever their roles and tasks, God ordained the angels’ existence. He assigns them as He sees fit, looses them to do important work, and uses them to minister to His heirs of salvation.

Angels are real and ready for action. Some of what you are praying for involves their ministry. So activate your faith, speak God’s Word, raise your level of expectation, and watch what angels will do on your behalf. They are our unseen allies in the unseen battle! And He has given them charge concerning you (Psalm 91:11).