When Esther learned of Haman’s plot to destroy the Jews of Persia, she sent a message to her people… “Gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so I will go in to the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16).
Today is the remembrance of the Fast of Esther. Fasting is always accompanied by prayer. For three days and nights no food or drink was enjoyed while the Queen of Persia, along with all the Jews of Persia, prayed for guidance and help. God heard, answered, turned the tables on Haman, and guided Esther to save her people.
Three days and nights are prophetic. When all hope seemed lost, Esther was three days and nights in prayer before victory. Jonah was three days and nights, praying in the belly of the whale, before being vomited out to share the message of life with Nineveh. And like Jonah, Jesus was three days and nights in the heart of the earth – scourged, crucified, buried, and guarded - before resurrection triumph.
If it feels like we’re in a “night season,” it’s because we are. But our own “resurrection morning” is coming. Esther was in place, by God’s design, five years before Haman’s genocidal plans. Jonah made it to Nineveh in time to see the entire capital city of Iraq won to Christ. And Jesus has been seated at the Father’s right hand for two prophetic “days” waiting to descend to our rescue when the morning of our third day comes. Our job is to pray – God-sized prayers, assured of victory in Christ, come morning.
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