Angels on I-40

As a pastor for so many years, I love hearing stories of how God is working in the lives of His people. Whether it’s how He guides us along the paths of life in quiet, subtle ways, or interjects Himself in more obvious displays of His power, as I travel around the world, I hear so many stories of both natures. It is especially significant when I hear the stories from those in my own church, the the people to whom God has called me as shepherd. One such story happened last weekend.

Dana works in the media department of Abba’s House and Ron Phillips Ministries. He is also a long-time musician and worship leader, and as such, had made the decision to attend The Next Step Gathering, hosted by my friend, Ray Hughes. The event was in Asheville, NC, which is about 3.5 hours from Chattanooga. On the final day of the event, it began to snow in Asheville. Due to some previous commitments Dana had made, he felt he could not afford to get snowed-in in Asheville, and decided to head back early to Chattanooga. He posted his story on social media, and I’ll share some of it here…

I had been on the road for a little less than an hour when my daughter Maddie felt the urge to pray for me. She went into her room, and began to pray. Within minutes of her prayer, as I came out of a curve on I-40W, I was in the left hand lane, and was merging right when I inexplicably lost control of my vehicle (at first, I thought I had hit a patch of ice, but upon further review, it seems that something in the steering/suspension mechanism of my vehicle may have malfunctioned/failed). I completely lost control, crashed nearly head-on into a concrete barricade, and came to rest on the shoulder of the road about 150 feet from the point of impact. A couple of things of note are the fact that, had I broken through or flipped over the concrete barricade, I would have dropped about 150-200 straight down into the river below. Also, the front right of the vehicle basically folded up under the chassis. I am completely puzzled as to how the vehicle managed to roll another 150 feet. I am also amazed that, in spite of moderate traffic, no other vehicles were involved.

I walked away without a scratch.

Wow! So why would a daughter nearly 200 miles away inexplicably drop what she was doing and pray for her father at almost the exact moment he was in trouble? How does someone lose control of a vehicle, crash into a concrete wall at nearly 50mph, and walk away without so much as a scratch?

We serve a God that operates and communicates with us through the power of His Spirit. It was the prompting of the Holy Spirit that directed Dana’s daughter in how to pray. When she acted in obedience to the Spirit, angels of protection were dispatched to that place on the highway to put a hedge of protection around her father. The prayers of His people are a sweet aroma in the nostrils of a Holy God. A simple prayer offered in faith is all it takes to activate angelic power in our lives.

‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’ ~ Jeremiah 33:3

God is not looking for the smartest, biggest, strongest, or most talented. God is looking for obedience. He is looking for those who will be the Joshuas and Gideons of this generation. He is looking for the ones who will operate in “ridiculous obedience” to achieve the impossible.

The angels of Heaven are available to us as ministering spirits, and offer us guidance, protection, strength, and assistance. When we activate their presence through the power of prayer, great, mighty, and miraculous things can happen.

Pastor Ron