32. Fasting Prayer

32. Fasting Prayer

 

Esther 4: 13-16

 

13 Mordecai sent this reply to Esther: “Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed.

14 If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”

15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai:

16 “Go and gather together all the Jews of Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will do the same. And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must die, I must die.”

 

▣ Esther, a Jew who lived in captivity in Babylon, lost her parents early and grew up in the house of her uncle Mordecai.

Mordecai served as a gatekeeper in the palace of King Ahasuerus.

Esther grew up and she became the new queen of King Ahasuerus.

 

Among the Babylonians, a man named Haman was favored by the king and ascended to a high position.

Every time he went in and out of the castle, he ordered everyone to bow down to him.

But Mordecai did not bow down.

Haman was displeased with this and plotted to kill all the Israelites.

Mordecai, realizing the danger to the nation, turned to Queen Esther for help.

Esther decided to seek God's help only.

Esther and the Jewish people fasted and prayed for three days.

Haman was a person who had the power of the king on his back.

But when Esther and her whole nation pray with a fast, God works and Haman is punished for her.

 

Fasting and prayer work wonders.

Haman was a Babylonian and had power.

On the other hand, she said that Esther was an Israeli and had no political power.

Esther said she only prayed and fasted three days with the Jewish people.

But Esther's prayer was answered, and Haman, who wanted to torment her Jewish people, was destroyed.

The fasting and prayers of Esther and the whole nation were given the power of heaven.

Praying with fasting reveals power.

 

1. Praying with fasting moves people's hearts.

 

1 On the third day of the fast, Esther put on her royal robes and entered the inner court of the palace, just across from the king’s hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne, facing the entrance. 2 When he saw Queen Esther standing there in the inner court, he welcomed her and held out the gold scepter to her. So Esther approached and touched the end of the scepter.

3 Then the king asked her, “What do you want, Queen Esther? What is your request? I will give it to you, even if it is half the kingdom!” (Esther 5:1-3).

 

Esther was forced to inform the king of her Haman's plot.

However, if the king does not call, the queen cannot go before the king first.

 

11 “All the king’s officials and even the people in the provinces know that anyone who appears before the king in his inner court without being invited is doomed to die unless the king holds out his gold scepter. And the king has not called for me to come to him for thirty days.” (Esther 4:11).

 

After 3 days of fasting, Esther prepares for her death and goes before the king to reveal Haman's plot.

It is when the king has not called Esther for a month.

Queen Esther went before the king without notice.

The king looked upon her queen Esther with her loving heart (Esther 5:2).

God moved the heart of the king.

The king was so delighted that he even told Esther that he would give her half of the kingdom.

In the end, Esther was able to invite the king to the feast as planned.

 

4 When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven. 5 Then I said, “O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love with those who love him and obey his commands, (Nehemiah 1:4-5).

 

The power of fasting and prayer is also revealed in the book of Nehemiah.

When Nehemiah heard that the walls of Jerusalem had fallen, he fasted and prayed before God and said to the king

 As they proceeded, the king showed mercy to Nehemiah.

When we pray with fasting, God moves people's hearts like this.

 

2. When we pray with fasting, people's thoughts move.

 

That night the king had trouble sleeping, so he ordered an attendant to bring the book of the history of his reign so it could be read to him. 2 In those records he discovered an account of how Mordecai had exposed the plot of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the eunuchs who guarded the door to the king’s private quarters. They had plotted to assassinate King Xerxes. 3 “What reward or recognition did we ever give Mordecai for this?” the king asked. (Esther 6:1-3).

 

After receiving Esther's invitation, the king returned from the feast and could not sleep.

He called his servants to read the royal annals.

At the same time, he found out that Bigdana and Teres, the king's eunuchs, had plotted against King Ahasuerus, but failed because of Mordecai's accusation and that Mordecai was not rewarded.

 

King Ahasuerus summoned Haman from the palace and asked what kind of reward he would like to give to the person he wanted to reward.

Then Haman knew that it was for her, and said that it would be good for her to dress in the king's clothes and ride the king's horse for a walk through the castle.

Eventually, Haman rode Mordecai on his horse and walked through the city.

Haman wanted to kill Mordecai, but he ended up serving Mordecai.

 

The reason that the king could not sleep, and that he was able to read Mordecai's work in the Annals of the Royal Court, was because God moved the king's thoughts.

When we pray with fasting, God moves people's thoughts.

 

3. When we pray with fasting, the will of a person moves.

 

5 “Who would do such a thing?” King Xerxes demanded. “Who would be so presumptuous as to touch you?” 6 Esther replied, “This wicked Haman is our adversary and our enemy.” Haman grew pale with fright before the king and queen. 7 Then the king jumped to his feet in a rage and went out into the palace garden. Haman, however, stayed behind to plead for his life with Queen Esther, for he knew that the king intended to kill him. (Esther 7: 5-7).

 

On the second day, Esther also invited the king and Haman to a banquet.

The king is in a good mood and asks Esther to tell her her wish.

Esther accused her Haman of plotting her to kill her own people.

Haman, who was there at that time, heard this and was afraid.

 

In fact, even if Esther said so, Haman could excuse herself and deny her queen, but Haman was afraid of herself.

When Esther fasted and prayed, God planted fear in Haman.

Haman did not even make an excuse and admitted his sin.

 

When you fast and pray, God reveals all the truth.

He is because God asserts the will of man.

 

 6 So they gathered at Mizpah and, in a great ceremony, drew water from a well and poured it out before the Lord. They also went without food all day and confessed that they had sinned against the Lord. (It was at Mizpah that Samuel became Israel’s judge.) (1 Samuel 7:6).

 

10 Just as Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines arrived to attack Israel. But the Lord spoke with a mighty voice of thunder from heaven that day, and the Philistines were thrown into such confusion that the Israelites defeated them. (1 Samuel 7:10).

 

Through the people's fasting and prayer, God moves people and moves the situation, giving His people a victorious life. Amen