During the minister's prayer one Sunday, there was a loud whistle from

one of the back row seats. Little Gary's mother was horrified. She

pinched him into silence and, after church, asked, "Gary, whatever made

you do such a thing?"



Gary answered soberly, "I asked God to teach me to whistle, and He just

then did!"



You have to admit the boy believed in prayer!



But I wonder sometimes if we believe in it as much as we say we do.



We're still in the series on the book of Esther, and this week we're

going to see that Esther not only believed in prayer - she believed in

prayer WITH FASTING.



God is indeed at work in my life, as we’ve been observing throughout

Esther's story, but His work is intensified and magnified when I pray

AND FAST! Prayer with fasting is one of the most powerful but perhaps

one of the least used spiritual success tools in the life of the

average Christ follower.



Fasting is going without food voluntarily in order to give your self

more attentively to God and to prayer. You can fast by skipping one

meal and spending that time in prayer, or you can fast for an entire

day, or, in some serious cases of need, several days. This is what

Esther decided in response to Haman's plot to have all the Jews in the

Persian Empire murdered. When she found out about the plot from her

adoptive father Mordecai, he challenged her to speak to the king on

behalf of her people.



15 Then Esther sent this answer to Mordecai: 16 "Go and get all the

Jewish people in Susa together. For my sake, fast; do not eat or drink

for three days, night and day. I and my servant girls will also fast.

Then I will go to the king, even though it is against the law, and if I

die, I die." 17 So Mordecai went away and did everything Esther had

told him to do. Esther 4:15-17



Esther asks her fellow Jews to specifically go to God for her in prayer

and fasting since she has decided to accept Mordecai's counsel to go

before King Xerxes uninvited. She asks them to go beyond the ordinary

types of fasting. She asked them to abstain from food AND DRINK. Normal

fasting is just abstaining from food. She also requested 3 days. A

normal fast for a Jew would have been from sundown one day until

sundown the next. She was calling for an extraordinary fast for an

especially difficult case.



Remember; the Persian king was an authoritarian ruler. If you came

before him without an invitation and he didn't hold out his royal

scepter to you then you would automatically be executed. Esther decided

to risk her life to plead for the lives of all her fellow Jews in

Persia. But first she wanted a three-day-period of fasting and prayer

to ensue.



What is it about fasting with prayer that the ancient Jews knew, and

Christ followers today know, is so powerful? Why did Esther consider

this the best possible preparation before taking a great step of faith?





From a human point of view, everything was against Esther and the

success of her mission. The law was against her, because nobody was

allowed to interrupt the king. The government was against her, for the

decree said that she was to be slain. Her sex was against her, because

the king's attitude toward women was worse than chauvinistic. The

officers were against her, because they did only those things to

establish good favor with Haman. In one sense, even the fast could be

against her; for going three days without food and drink would not

necessarily improve her appearance or physical strength.



But if God be for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31 (KJV)

[Say that out loud!]



That is the power of prayer and fasting! That's why Esther utilized it.

Through prayer and fasting we position ourselves where God can most

possibly bless us!



When you have a situation facing you, the solution of which seems to

have no human answer - then prayer and fasting is a great resource for

you!



Esther was about to take a stand before the king. Before she took a

stand before the King - She was going to take a stand on Her Knees.



Last time we talked about the importance of taking a stand. We have to

get involved. We've got to get in the game. God has SHAPED each one of

us, "for such a time as this." He blessed us to be a blessing. God did

not create us to be spectators when it came to ministry and mission!

He's not a spectator! God get's involved in our lives! And He expects

us to get involved in the lives of others!



How effective is prayer and fasting in helping us take our stand? Let's

look at what happened AFTER Esther and the Jews fasted for three days

and BEFORE she went before the king uninvited.



Esther 5:1 - On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood

in the inner courtyard of the king's palace, facing the king's hall.

The king was sitting on his royal throne in the hall, facing the

doorway. [Esther didn't just appear before the king; she appeared

boldly! She positioned herself directly in his line of sight!] 2 When

the king saw Queen Esther standing in the courtyard, he was pleased. He

held out to her the gold scepter that was in his hand, so Esther went

forward and touched the end of it.



3 The king asked, "What is it, Queen Esther? What do you want to ask

me? I will give you as much as half of my kingdom."



What a positive response to the prayer and fasting of Esther and her

friends! Not only did the king hold out the golden scepter, sparing

Esther's life, but he offered as much as half of his kingdom to her!

This response tells us that prayer with fasting - especially if you can

get your friends to join you - is extremely powerful!



What is so great about prayer with fasting? What does it do for us? A

lot of things - but we're only going to emphasize two this week.



1. PRAYER AND FASTING INCREASES INSIGHT.



During the three days of prayer and fasting God had been giving Esther

a plan. God always has a plan but we don't always get it. Prayer and

fasting helps us understand God's plan.



The king could see Esther's confidence because she and others with her

had been intensifying their efforts at knowing God's will. So the king

asks her what's on her mind. Her stand has aroused his curiosity. What

is so important to her that she has risked her life for it?



4 Esther answered, "My king, if it pleases you, come today with Haman

to a banquet that I have prepared for you." (Circle that word,

"prepared." That's one of the things prayer and fasting does. It

prepares us. God's already prepared! God already wants to bless us! We

don't pray and fast to change God. We fast and pray to prepare our

selves for the blessings that God is going to pour out!)



5 Then the king said, "Bring Haman quickly so we may do what Esther

asks."



So the king and Haman went to the banquet Esther had prepared for them.

6 As they were drinking wine, the king said to Esther, "Now, what are

you asking for? I will give it to you. What is it you want? I will give

you as much as half of my kingdom." [Prayer with fasting is so powerful

that the king is tripping over his royal robes to give Esther as much

as half of his kingdom!]



7 Esther answered, "This is what I want and what I ask for. 8 My king,

if you are pleased with me and if it pleases you, give me what I ask

for and do what I want. Come with Haman tomorrow to the banquet I will

prepare for you. Then I will answer your question about what I want."

[I would say something here about how women try to manipulate men but

not only would that get me in trouble, because, of course, men also try

to manipulate women, but also because I don't think this was

manipulation on Esther's part. I don't think she's being coy. I think

she was employing that characteristic of TIMING that we talked about in

earlier chapters. Mordecai counseled Esther that there was a time to

refrain from telling the Persians that she was Jewish - and later there

was a time to speak up and let her ethnic origin be know.]



9 Haman left the king's palace that day happy and content. But when he

saw Mordecai at the king's gate and saw that Mordecai did not stand up

or tremble with fear before him, Haman became very angry with Mordecai.

10 But he controlled his anger and went home. Then Haman called

together his friends and his wife, Zeresh. 11 He told them how wealthy

he was and how many sons he had. [What a braggart!] He also told them

all the ways the king had honored him and how the king had placed him

higher than his important men and his royal officers. 12 He also said,

"I'm the only person Queen Esther invited to come with the king to the

banquet she gave. And tomorrow also the queen has asked me to be her

guest with the king. 13 But all this does not really make me happy when

I see that Jew Mordecai sitting at the king's gate."



14 Then Haman's wife, Zeresh, and all his friends said, "Have a

seventy-five foot platform built, and in the morning ask the king to

have Mordecai hanged on it. Then go to the banquet with the king and be

happy." Haman liked this suggestion, so he ordered the platform to be

built.



Haman is this incredibly insecure, hate-filled, sardonic dude. He comes

home crying like a spoiled brat that Mordecai still doesn't respect

him.



Pause for a moment to ask yourself, "Is there someone in my life who's

approval I seek to an unhealthy degree? Is there someone I want to

notice how important I am and it just ticks me off that they don't give

me the attention I want?" We're not talking about healthy attention

here. We all need healthy affirmation. We're talking about a co-worker,

or a neighbor or perhaps someone who is friends with one of our friends.



Do you ever find yourself wanting to say, "You can't be friends with

her/him, cause she's/he's my friend."



You can expect that kind of behavior out of junior high students. But

it shouldn't be normal for adults. And yet there are a lot of folks

like Haman. Here's a good piece of advice. QUIT BLAMING OTHERS FOR YOUR

UNHAPPINESS.



Be honest with yourself about your insecurity, jealousy, envy or

unhealthy competition for attention. You may have the same problem

Haman had. I want to talk well write to you next week on how to defeat

this next week.



You say, "Haman was an Agagite. He hated all Jews because of his

background." That's right. And this attitude was racist and it was

wrong.



But Haman had a particular, a specific hatred, for Mordecai that

transcended his disgust with all Jews. Mordecai was an important man in

the capital city. He sat at the gate, which was a sign of influence and

importance. Haman wanted to be "more important" than Mordecai. Be

careful of wanting to be "more important" than everyone else.



His wife should have said, "Get over your self Haman." But she knew his

insecurities better than any one and she had mothered him too long. Now

she tells him just what he wants to hear. "Build a gallows so big that

everyone will see it and hang Mordecai on it!"



Is that what you want your friends to do? When you whine and complain

and carry on about how someone wouldn't play your game do you want your

family and friends to escalate matters by foolish suggestions? Do you

want them to tell you what you want to hear? Remember we learned

earlier in Esther that we need people who tell us what we need to hear

not what we want to hear.



Why does the Bible give us these insights into the heart and mind and

life of Haman? Because God wants us to see others insightfully. He

wants us to have insights into our own thoughts and emotions. PRAYER

WITH FASTING HELPS US OBTAIN SUCH INSIGHTS.



Prayer and fasting not only INCREASES INSIGHT. Prayer and fasting had

provided a safe audience for Esther with the king. But now Haman's plot

against Esther's adopted father Mordecai intensifies the stress for

Esther - which highlights another great by-product of prayer and

fasting.



2. PRAYER AND FASTING REDUCES STRESS.



Esther was living in a very stress-filled environment. And so are we.



"With today's constant media barrage of bad news, people feel bad

enough already and don't want anything that makes them feel worse, says

anthropologist-turned-brand-strategist Cheryl Swanson. With all the

info coming at us 24/7, We are processing information at 400 times the

rate of our Renaissance ancestors. This is a new human task that we

haven't had time to adapt to yet - physically or mentally. That's why

we're getting tech-related health problems like carpal tunnel, and

maybe even mental and neurological problems like attention-deficit

disorder. Naturally our attention is fraying - we are whipsawed by

stimuli!



"Moreover, with that 400 times more information did not come 400 more

hours in a day. So, we steal that time from sleep, both deliberately

(by working late into the night) and not (by being too wound up to

drift off). Hence another big trend: The growing sleep industry, with

new pills, pillows, all trying to help us get the ZZZ's we need.



"Another byproduct of trying to pack too much into the day is the

erosion of dinnertime. This, of course, is nothing new. In the 60's,

dinner was (supposedly) 45 minutes long. By the 90's, it had shrunk to

15 minutes. As Swanson's investigators traveled the country, dropping

in on real families, they found the sit-down dinner had evaporated

almost entirely. It is now basically five minutes, says Swanson. And

it's not even sitting down.



"Families (or chunks of them) eat standing up around the kitchen

counter. When parents are not available, kids prepare themselves

"latchkey dinners." (Advertising Age 11/13/07, via Church Leaders

Intelligence Report)



And there's this brief article.



"Mark Earley recently observed: From Starbucks, to Red Bull, to No-Doz,

Americans are showing signs of addiction to caffeine. Sixty percent of

us drink a cup of coffee a day. On average we drink 52 gallons of soda

a year. And Starbucks - they get a whopping $5.3 billion of our

collective dough.



"Whether we are chemically stimulated because we do not get enough

sleep, or whether the caffeine itself is depriving us of precious rest,

we also are sleeping less than ever before. Americans get an average of

six and a half hours of sleep a night, a 25% drop since the early

1990's No wonder we are stressed. (Breakpoint, 1/17/08)



There are all kinds of suggestions floating about on how we can

effectively handle our stress-filled lives. I read an article the other

day, "Stress Management Tips," that recommended everything from

switching to decaf to scheduling "worry time." I don't think those are

bad things but I do believe there is something even better - something

that will not only help us manage our stress but help us to conquer it!



Prayer and fasting made Esther calm and even able to wait on the Lord's

timing one more day. It turned out that one last day was when God was

going to set the stage completely for His answer to the prayers of His

people. In fact, prayer and fasting is a great habit when you have a

big decision to make in life. Don't get in a hurry and go off

half-cocked.



The Bible intentionally showcases Haman's pride and anger (remember how

we saw in chapter one that the two are entwined) beside Esther's cool,

calm and collected demeanor. Esther is walking closely with God so she

is able to conquer stress, while Haman is unstable, unwise and on the

brink of a foolish disaster.



Last week we saw that even Jesus said that we're going to have stress.

It's a given. Every life is going to have stress. Prayer and fasting is

a great way to respond to and be prepared for it.



Prayer and fasting helps you walk more closely with God and you begin

to see that stressful times may actually produce positive results.



We remain calm in conflict through prayer and fasting because as we

walk with God we see how He is at work even in the midst of tough

times! The Hamans of this world and all the conflict they stir up can't

persuade us. Instead of anxiety, fear and worry we maintain an attitude

of confidence, faith and optimism! We know that God is going to do

something good even when times are hard!



PRAYER WITH FASTING INCREASES our INSIGHT and REDUCES our STRESS.



That's only part of the incredible power you get from prayer and fasting!