Angels of Humility, a Review

Angels of Humility
by
Jackie Macgirvin


The book promises to be overtly Christian themed and it really delivers, almost too much. The characters include humans, of course, but also angels and demons. The book reads the same as the early Frank Peretti novels about angels and demons. That is, there are two separate worlds coexisting side-by-side, the visible world we live in and the invisible spirit world. Demons, with names like Pride, Gossip, Deception, Lying, Discord, etc. are constantly hovering around people and whispering their foul suggestions to them, tempting them to sin.

Here's a typical example:

“Deception rubbed up against Paul’s face like an affectionate cat then turned and sunk his jagged talons into Paul’s skull.”

Many sentences about the demons trying to influence people start out with phrases like: “Lying croaked out”, “Gossip whined”, “Deception snickered”, etc.

Christians are portrayed as having two guardian angels, one is protective, the other worships. (The book claims this is scriptural, yet no scripture is given.) Yes, this imagining of the invisible world with demons and angels is kind of hokey, but it works in the context of the story. Actually, “story” might be a generous description of this book. It’s more like an extended sermon on humility and the power of prayer. The plot is tissue thin and could be summarized in two sentences. The plot only exists to show what being humble and praying can accomplish and how it torments the unseen demons.

Sarah Edwards became a Christian at age 71 after her husband died. She develops a gift for praying and being an intercessor for other people. She goes on prayer walks in her neighborhood, prays for strangers she sees on the street, people she sees on billboards and on magazine covers. She prays for missionaries, people that are on airplanes flying overhead, people that might die in the next 24 hours. Truly, she prays without ceasing. One thing I noticed—she doesn’t pray for government leaders. As her health deteriorates she remains faithful, finding ways to praise God instead of becoming angry with Him.

Paul, 26 years old, is an interim pastor that has a grandiose five year plan for growing the church Sarah attends. It happens that Paul’s church growth plans conflict with God’s plan for him and also Sarah’s burden for the lost and what she perceives as God’s will for her life. Paul, blinded by the demons Pride and Ambition, plows ahead with his plan for growing the church, bringing glory to himself and not to God. Under his leadership, the church does grow, and Paul gleefully check marks the items on his five year plan. His plan ultimately requires building a bigger church at a different location. This splits the church membership and the behind the scene machinations of the membership cliques provides some of the more entertaining portions in the book.

The book is about the conflicts between Sarah and Paul, Sarah and demons, Paul and demons. Theologically, it’s written from the perspective of Pentecostalism. Sarah prays in tongue, for example. Praying in tongues is held up as the most effective method of prayer. Sarah is also gifted with prophetic sight, meaning she hears from the Lord certain things about people she’s never met so she can pray for them.

The book describes a method of prayer called praying in the Spirit. This is depicted as being able to pray with your subconscious mind while doing something else, like watching television or reading a book. The next step in edification, according to Sarah’s two angels, is to be able to pray in the Spirit in tongues, while doing something else. An excerpt:

“After having a snack Sarah turned on the news and prayed in the Spirit. My goal is to pray in tongues all the way through this program.”

Subsequently, Sarah subconsciously prays in tongues when she’s driving somewhere, when she’s grocery shopping, and during other activities. I’ve never heard of this method of prayer, and am kind of dubious.

Near the end of the book the author imagines the judgment of God on Christians upon their death. It visualizes how 1 Cor 3:9-15 might play out in Heaven. This is emotionally written and highly fanciful.

Each chapter starts out with a quote about prayer, the dangers of pride, the rewards of humility, or some other aspect of Christian life. The segments read like a devotional, and some are quite effective. There are plenty of footnotes that reference scripture throughout the book. The writing is not very sophisticated, maybe at a junior high level.

I have mixed feelings on the book. As a fictional story it fails, there are very few characters, scant character development, and the demonic characters come close to being cartoonish. But as an inspiration to be humble and pray more, it succeeds. It really is like an extended sermon with interruptions for plot points to keep the sermon going.


I guess I’ll give it 3 out of 5 stars.