Esther: The Humble Queen (Part Five)
In our final entry about the life of Queen Esther we reveal the most important keys to her success. These are the weapons this righteous queen utilized to protect her people from annihilation, weapons available to all of us no matter what dire circumstances we wad through.
Prayer and fasting.
When Esther discovered the second in command, Haman, coaxed her husband, King Xerxes, to sign an order to wipe out the Jews, she realized the only way the situation could be reversed is by the hand of God Almighty himself. Because the King sealed this order with his signet ring, it appeared irreversible. But Esther knew all things are possible with God and prayer and fasting would open a door already shut.
The Queen of Persia instructed her cousin Mordecai to gather all the Jews in Susa to fast and pray for three days. She said she and her attendants would do the same. Even though the King had not called for her for thirty days, she would enter his room, a no-no in the rules of the Kingdom and could lead to instant death. Esther was willing to risk her life to save the Jews and bravely said, “And if I perish, I perish.”
Do you need a mountain moved in your life? A breakthrough?
With “pray” being my word for this year, the Lord has shown me the only way to overcome the trials of life is through spending longer periods of time in his presence.
He directed me to this passage in Psalm 92:12-13, “The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God.
After researching further, I found out palm trees and cedars of Lebanon live for hundreds of years. Cedars of Lebanon grow to over one-hundred feet tall and stretch wide. The word is telling us we should strive to be like these long-growing trees that plant themselves in God’s presence for great lengths of time. That is where we will flourish.
Esther realized she needed to plant herself in God’s court before she went into the king’s court.
She understood that without prayer and fasting, the situation was hopeless. So after three days in God’s court, she put on her royal robes, went into the inner court of the palace and the prayers opened the door. The King welcomed her. She invited the king and the second in command, the prideful Haman to a banquet, which they both attended.
Then she invited them both to another banquet the next day.
Haman thought he was “it.” The pride bubbled up. He thought, Not only does the King love me, I also have the favor of the queen. In between banquets, he ran into Mordecai again, who didn’t rise or show fear in his presence and that rage brewed again. He went home, told his wife and friends about it and they suggested he set up a tall pole and ask the King to impale Mordecai on it.
But Psalm 16:7 says, “God counsels us in the night“ and that’s what he did with King Xerxes. One night, the king couldn’t sleep. He asked for the records from his reign in office and found the report about Mordecai exposing a threat on his life. He never honored him for saving his life so when Haman came to him with a plan to impale Mordecai, before he get to it, the King asked Haman generically how he should honor a man.
Haman, drowning in his pride, thought he was the recipient of this honor, so he told the king to have this man wear one of the king’s royal robes, ride the kings horse and lead him through the streets proclaiming, “This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor.”
“Sounds good!” “So go do this for Mordecai the Jew.” Haman’s face probably fell so hard it shattered on the ground. “Pride comes before the fall.”
God detests pride. In Proverbs 6, it is one of the six things the Lord hates. In Proverbs 29:23, it says, “A man’s pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor.”
So you know the story. Esther held the next banquet. Her fervent prayers were answered. She exposed Haman’s wicked plot and he was impaled on the same pole that he set up for Mordecai’s death. The King signed an edict allowing the Jews to defend themselves from the onslaught that was earlier decreed.
Haman’s estate was given to Esther and Mordecai not only ran the estate, but this humble man was elevated to a position of prominence in the kingdom.
To this day, the Jews still remember how Esther, through her humility, her prayers and reverence for the LORD God was used for such a time as this to save her people. They call it Purim, and it is a time of joy, celebration and thankfulness.
Do you need rescuing?
Is there a situation that seems impossible to overcome?
Then learn from Esther and pull out the greatest weapons you have, prayer and fasting. We are all sons and daughters of the King, and all have the right to enter his courts. That is where breakthrough resides.