Do the angels pray?

Angels are intelligent, moral, and spiritual beings created by God. Their primary functions are to worship God in heaven and to execute His purposes on earth. While a few early Christian writers and church fathers believed that angels do pray, the Bible provides no direct evidence of angels praying as humans do.

Tertullian, a second-century church father, wrote, “The angels all pray; every creature prays” (Bray G. L., and Oden, T. C. eds., We Believe in One God, vol. 1, Ancient Christian Doctrine, IVP Academic, 2009, p. 131). This observation reflects a theological understanding of prayer as a natural expression of a created being’s relationship to God. Clement of Alexandria, the fourth-century church leader, suggested that believers participate in a form of prayer that aligns with angelic worship: “The spiritual person prays along with the angels. . . . He is never out of their keeping, because even when he prays alone, the holy ones are standing there beside him” (ibid., p. 132).

Scripture itself offers no examples of angels engaging in prayer. Angels are depicted as a vast multitude of heavenly beings who praise, worship, and glorify God around His throne in heaven (1 Kings 22:19; Psalm 103:21; 148:1–14; Isaiah 6:1–6; Revelation 4:8). Worship and praise are not identical to prayer in the strict, traditional sense; however, they are forms of communication and devotion directed toward God and could be interpreted as prayer.

Besides worship, another primary function of angels was to minister to Christ, the incarnate Son of God. During Jesus’ earthly ministry, angels showed increased activity, predicting and announcing His birth (Luke 1:26–33; 2:13), protecting Him as an infant (Matthew 2:13), strengthening Him after His temptation and in Gethsemane (Matthew 4:11; Luke 22:43), rolling back the stone from His tomb (Matthew 28:2), and announcing His resurrection (Matthew 28:6).

God commissions angels to help His people (Hebrews 1:14), guard and deliver them from danger (Daniel 6:22; Psalm 34:7; 91:11–12), and transmit messages and important announcements to them regarding His purposes (Daniel 9:21–23; Luke 1:26–38; 2:8–14; Matthew 1:20–21; Acts 10:3–6). In Scripture, angels are involved in carrying out answers to human prayer (Acts 5:19–20; 12:6–11), providing encouragement during perilous circumstances (Acts 27:23–24), caring for believers at the time of death (Luke 16:22), assisting other angels (Daniel 10:13), and even contending with evils spirits on behalf of humans (Jude 1:9). Michael the archangel served as guardian of Israel (Daniel 12:1). Likewise, angels will be involved in administering God’s judgment on the nations of the world during the tribulation period (Revelation 8:1–13; 9; 16).

Often in Scripture, God used angels as His agents to strike down or drive out His enemies (2 Kings 19:35; Isaiah 37:36; Acts 12:23; Psalm 35:5–6) and to mete out judgment and discipline on His people (2 Samuel 24:15–17; Psalm 78:49). When Adam and Eve sinned and were expelled from the garden, God placed an angel to bar their access to Eden.

Nowhere in the Bible does it mention intercessory prayer as an occupation of angels. God created angels to serve and glorify Him. They are “mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word . . . who do his will” (Psalm 103:20–21). Angels are God’s instruments rather than supplicants. They are subordinates rather than independent agents who make their own requests. Their nature and specific ministry function mean they operate within a different spiritual framework than humans and therefore do not need to petition God for their needs.