On that night, the king could not sleep. Esther 6:1
In the book of Esther in the old testament, we see how God used her to save his people. Esther was queen when an edict of death was issued against the Jews in the time of King Ahasuerus. You can read the whole story but here are a few points for the context:
It was in the time of Ahasuerus who reigned from India to Ethiopia over 27 provinces. During his reign, Queen Vashti fell out of favor in the eyes of the king because she had disobeyed by refusing the command of the king to appear in his presence to show her beauty to the peoples and the princes.
It was then decided that Vashti would no longer appear before King Ahasuerus and that the king would give the dignity of queen to another who was better than her. This is how Esther was chosen as queen among other beautiful young virgins.
After these things, for reasons you can read in Esther 3, an edict of death was issued against all the Jews in the kingdom, under the influence of Haman, the favorite official of the King. And in every province, wherever the King’s command and his decree reached, there was great mourning among the jewish, with fasting and weeping and lamenting.
Mordecai, Esther’s uncle, had Esther told what was happening to the Jewish people. He gave her all the information needed for her to grab the seriousness of the situation and commanded her to go to the king and ask him for mercy in favor of his people. Esther was afraid and she hesitated because what Mordecai was asking from her could cost her her life. She told to Mordecai: “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law – to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live. But as for me, I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days”.
Mordecai tries to convince Esther by putting her in front of her responsibilities:
“Do not think to yourself that in the King’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the Kingdom for such a time as this ?” Esther 4: 13-14.
Mordecai words’ overcome Esther’s resistance, who decides to intervene. She accepts to take the risk, but she would fast for 3 days first. She asked Mordecai to have her people fast for her and with her and her servants for 3 days.
Can you imagine those 3 days? It was the end for the Jewish people. Death was coming to them speedily and there was no salvation in view. I can see Esther on her knees, crying to the Lord for her people. You know, those prayers from which depend life or death. Fasting for and by the Jewish people started in Chapter 4 of the book of Esther, but it’s not until Chapter 7 that the situation shifted for the Jewish. However, before even any change in the situation of the Jewish people, three things happened that show once again the power of prayer:
- Esther came out of the fasting with strength and confidence to brave the law and present herself before the king without any invitation from him.
- Esther came out of the fasting with a strategy: the feast.
- God moves the king’s heart in favor of Mordecai before he knew Esther’s wish! On one night, he couldn’t sleep and rather, found out in the book of memorable deeds that he owes honor to Mordecai, the same who, in another shot, is good for hanging.
Long story short, Esther pleaded for her people and obtained favor from the King, and her people escaped extermination. I encourage you to go and read the book of Esther and see by yourself how prayer makes a difference and how it turns things around. God bless us.
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