Fasting for Breakthrough: How Esther Saved a Nation (Part Two)

Continued from yesterday…

God is never actually mentioned by name in the book of Esther. But throughout the story, we see Esther quietly responding to what I believe must surely have been God’s whispers. I don’t think the Lord would have entrusted the very survival of the entire nation of Israel into the hands of a teenager unless he knew she would listen and obey.

Training our heart to hear God’s voice is one of our most important jobs as believers. We do this primarily through reading God’s Word and spending time in prayer. But for some reason, fasting helps us depend on God and sharpens our hearing.

As we saw yesterday, Esther was devastated by the news of the king’s edict to destroy the Jews. But she was even more terrified by the request made by Mordecai. He asked her to appear before the king and beg for mercy. The risk for Esther was huge. Everyone throughout the palace courts knew the rule: If someone went to the king without being summoned, it was an automatic death penalty—that is, unless the king extended his golden scepter. It had been 30 days since Esther had last been summoned to appear before the king.  Mordecai challenged Esther with these now famous words: “Who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14).

Esther found strength from the Lord. She told Mordecai to have all the Jews gather for three days of fasting. She and her maids would do the same. When this was done, she assured him, “I will go to the king, even though it is against the law” (v.16). Then she uttered words that are among the most stirring declarations in the entire Bible: “And if I perish, I perish.”

At that point, Esther broke the back of the adversary. The fasting and prayer with God’s people set the stage for a miraculous and strategic series of events that brought about the salvation of the entire nation. Through her courageous faith, wisdom, and ingenuity, she exposed Haman’s wicked plot. The enraged king sent Haman to the very gallows he had built to hang Mordecai.

The story of Esther is thrilling and full of suspense. Good triumphs over evil. And in the end, Esther influenced her husband, a pagan King, to deliver the Jews. The king promoted Mordecai to second in command in all the Persian empire. Esther ruled as queen. An ordinary teenager who dared to step out and obey God. She risked her life, and in turn, saved a nation. Fasting and prayer were part of the arsenal she used to make herself strong.

Esther must have learned to hear and obey God during her years under the watchful eye of Mordecai. Perhaps that is where she also grew to appreciate the power of fasting and prayer. Somehow, she managed to remain surrendered to God, even while serving as queen. Her dramatic three-day fast put her in a place of utter dependency. In the end, it brought great power to her petition for the deliverance of her people.

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For more inspiration on fasting from the story of Esther, check out Woman of Valor, Discovering the Courage & Strength God Gave You by Marilynn Chadwick. Simply click here to order your copy.

Fasting for Breakthrough: How Esther Saved a Nation (Part One)

by Marilynn Chadwick

God’s people owe their very existence to a young Hebrew girl named Esther. It’s true. God chose to work out his plan of deliverance for Israel through the courageous actions of an ordinary teenager. Sometimes I think we underestimate the power of a young person who loves God.

Esther’s story didn’t start out pretty. The Jews had been taken from Jerusalem into captivity years earlier by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon (Esther 2:5-7). Babylon was then defeated by Persia. When we first meet Esther, she’s among the Jews living in the Persian empire. They were a displaced people longing for home.

Esther was raised by an older cousin named Mordecai. Described as “lovely in form and features,” her name had been changed from her original Hebrew name, Hadassah, to the Persian name Esther, or “star.” Scholars believe it was connected to the Babylonia goddess Ishtar.

Even today, when a people group is captured, the conquering nation often strips away every form of national identity. We saw this firsthand during a missions trip to South Sudan prior to its independence in 2011. Throughout 20 years of civil war, the Arab extremist Islamic government in the north had attempted the genocidal extinction of Christians in southern Sudan.

Roughly two million people died and millions more were displaced. One of the North’s many dehumanizing practices was to strip South Sudanese children of their Christian identity by giving them new Arabic names. They were forced to attend schools in which they learned to speak and read only in Arabic. Like the Jews of Esther’s time, this was part of a targeted attempt to erase both their heritage and religion.

Esther was around fourteen when her story began. Life as a Jew in exile was all she’d ever known. That is, until she became the Queen of Persia. This startling turn of events happened after King Xerxes of Persia banished his previous queen, Vashti, for embarrassing him in public. The king’s advisors came up with a plan to bring beautiful young women from every province in the Persian Empire to the king’s palace. During her year of preparation, Esther won the favor and respect of all who knew her. The king was so impressed with Esther’s beauty and grace that he selected her to be his new queen. What the king did not know was that Esther was a Jew.

Esther kept her Jewish identity a secret. We see her character and humility through her obedience and loyalty to Mordecai. In time, a sinister adversary rose up. Haman, the king’s highest-ranking official, despised both Mordecai and the Jewish people. He manipulated the king into signing an edict to slaughter every Jew in the Persian empire, which, at the time, stretched from India to Ethiopia. This move would wipe virtually every Jew from the face of the earth.

When Mordecai learned of Haman’s genocidal plot, he pleaded with Esther to beg for mercy from the king. By this time, Esther had been queen for several years and was around twenty years old. Life as queen was no doubt more comfortable than life as an exile. But she had never lost touch with Mordecai or her people.

To be continued tomorrow…

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For more inspiration on fasting from the story of Esther, check out Woman of Valor, Discovering the Courage & Strength God Gave You by Marilynn Chadwick. Simply click here to order your copy.

Fasting for Breakthrough: The Swarm

by Marilynn Chadwick

The story is told about a group of Texas fifth grade school children who figured out a way to stop bullying in their classroom. Whenever a fellow student was being bullied, the other classmates would gather around the victim and simply stand without saying a word. This show of solidarity stopped the bullies dead in their tracks every time. The students nicknamed their tactic "The Swarm."

I think we can learn a lesson about prayer and fasting from those school children. Let's be like “The Swarm” as we gather with brothers and sisters in the body of Christ. I believe our swarm of prayers and fasting can have a powerful impact, especially in the spiritual realm.

If you want to stand strong, don't fast alone. I encourage you to get a family member or friend to fast with you. Share your prayer and fasting experience with your small group. What if we agreed to fast and pray together as a “swarm” for persecuted believers? Or what if we prayed specifically for the release of the remaining Israeli hostages? Every day of prayer and fasting can have purpose.

During my first experiments with fasting several years ago, a friend and I would pray and fast on the same day. We would often trade prayer requests and sometimes we'd go for a walk to pray for our needs. It was good to have someone else in the boat. Plus, I discovered it helped to confess my own sin God had revealed to me and get that into the light. Remember, confession is a valuable part of fasting.

Jesus was clear about the power of "a swarm" of believers in prayer. He promised that when we are gathered in his name, even just two or three of us, he is there with us. “Truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven” (Matthew 18:19-20).

The Greek word for agree is symphone (from which we get symphony), meaning “together with the same voice.” This word can also be translated as “music.”

I wonder if our fasting and prayers in one accord sound like music to God. I can imagine the unified voices of many believers around the country and even all over the world who are crying out to God in fervent prayer on behalf of Israel and especially the Israeli hostages. What could happen if we agreed to stand strong in solidarity with them through our continual swarm of prayer and fasting. Together.