Joshua 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
So now that we have established from the Bible that the use of force by angels is off the table as pertains to decision-making, we must investigate what other tools or avenues angels have at their disposal to try and get us to think and decide along a preferred line of thought. In the battle that had unfolded between the angel Gabriel and satan, they had to use other means and methods, to try and sway the mind of the King Cyrus either this way or that way, so, we ask the question:
What ways and means do angels use to procure the preferred outcome? This leads us to the second rule of engagement: [2] As a general rule, both good and evil angels are barred for the most part from appearing to persons in their true form, as this could cause individuals to make decisions out of fear, and/or intimidation.
There are rare exceptions to this rule that are found in the scriptures, such as when an angel was given the command by God to appear directly to stubborn Balaam, who had to be forced into saying the things that he would not have otherwise chosen to declare because his actions could have adversely affected God’s people.
Numbers 22:24 But the angel of the Lord stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side. 25 And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall: and he smote her again.
May The Lord add His blessing to the study of His word. God bless!