It was said in the holy Scriptures of Balaam the prophet who had the gift of blessing and cursing. His reputation grew far and wide that the King of Moab, Balak heard of him and decided to hire his services and a very simple service at that. The message was "Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me: peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land: for I wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed."-Num.22v6. The message came and the guy was smart enough to ask the messengers, who by the way are noble men in their country, to wait for him to consult with God, the source of that which he is known for. The reply to his request was not favorable to Balak so he thought it might be that the prophet and his "god" need "motivation", so he sent the second emissaries, this time, more honorable noblemen with the promise that "Oga prophet" will be "Honored" by the King if only he came and did his bidding. Ordinarily, he should have sent them back just as he did the first set but I guess the opulence showed by this set and the "Honor" awaiting him actually worked (being a King, Balak was a master strategist and also wise so I reckon he used one of his war strategies here and it paid off). Balaam told them to wait for him to "Consult God" and the result was pretty much the same, but because of the what he stood to gain, I strongly believe Balaam persisted and disturbed God and maybe after days or even months of persuasion, God granted him a "permissive will", just like the one our parents grant when they know the repercussion of what we have been pestering them for. God's condition was that Balaam was to say only that which he was told to say and like a teenager, he ran out shouting "yes, yes...thank you Daddy" once he heard "Okay you can...." from God. I picture the messengers waiting for him at the window of his city where he sneaked out and they hit the road.
Not long into the journey, God remembered that this chap did not hear the instructions clearly and to avoid a bigger problem, He sent an angel to speak with Balaam. Now the angel was to make sure this super delighted hyper-active and greedy prophet gets the instructions crystal clear and correct, but because his radar and antenna to hear God was blocked by the "honor" promised him by the King, he could not even notice when the angel came, so the angel stood in the way and can you imagine, a donkey of all creatures seeing the glory and awesome presence of an angel before a prophet? An animal became more sensitive to God than man whom God has ordained to bless and curse because that man was blinded by the promise of "honor", he even got angry at the donkey for diverting and delaying his journey to being "honored" thrice in so much that the angel had to open the mouth of an donkey (the only animal to ever speak after the serpent spoke to Eve and the fall of man), to reawaken his sensitivity and reconnect him with God. He got the message and it baffles me how Balaam still went ahead with the journey after such experience but it dawned on me that even Shriek don't listen to his donkey, which I can admit can be a nuisance and a "dumb ass". 
Back to Balaam, we all have gifts and talents entrusted into our hands and because God is God, He does not collect back that which He has given and once He blesses you, you are blessed irrespective of what you do or are doing, it is now in your court to either remain in sync with Him or fall-out. That is why we have a lot of people who HAD a solid relationship with God, whom God has blessed and established around. They are still utilizing the gifts and talents of God and basking in His grace and glory but have lost connectivity and relationship with Him, they no longer wait to hear clearly from Him or have gained His "permissive will" due to their persuasion on issues, they have refused to see the angel blocking their way, they have blocked their eyes and even when a donkey speaks to them, they continue on the journey just because have seen "nobler men" and have been promised "honor" by Balak.
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