The Audacity of Prayer 3.0

a willingness to take bold risks../daring

Esther 4:11–17 NKJV

11 “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that any man or woman who goes into the inner court to the king, who has not been called, he has but one law: put all to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter, that he may live. Yet I myself have not been called to go in to the king these thirty days.” 12 So they told Mordecai Esther’s words. 13 And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: “Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. 14 For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” 15 Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai: 16 “Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!” 17 So Mordecai went his way and did according to all that Esther commanded him.

You have been invited to speak to the God of the universe, the Almighty. Not just the mightiest, but the all-mighty. All power is his, and under his control. And he is the one who made you, and keeps you in existence.

This God, the one God — almighty, creator, rescuer — speaks to us to reveal himself, that we might genuinely know him, but he doesn’t only speak. In one of the great wonders in all the world and history, this God listens. First he speaks, and bids us respond. Then he pauses. He stoops. He bends his ear toward his people. And he hears us in this marvel we so often take for granted, and so flippantly call prayer.

What Comes Before Prayer

The wonder of prayer might lead us to rush past a critical reality before we start “dialing up” the God of heaven. There is an order to his speaking and listening, and to ours. He is God; we are not. Mark it well every day, and forever. He speaks first, then listens. We first listen, then speak.

“He is God; we are not. Mark it well every day, and forever. He speaks first, then listens. We first listen, then speak.”

Prayer is not a conversation we start. Rather, God takes the initiative. First, he has spoken. He has revealed himself to us in his world, and in his word, and in the Word. And through his word, illumined by his Spirit, he continues to speak. “See that you do not refuse him who is speaking” (Hebrews 12:25). His word is not dead and gone but “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

And in his word, and by his Word, he extends to us this stunning offer: to have his ear.

Golden Scepter

When Esther learned of Haman’s plot to destroy the Jews, a great barrier stood before her. Mordecai directed her “to go to the king to beg his favor and plead with him on behalf of her people” (Esther 4:8).

Easier said than done.

Esther knew these were life-and-death stakes, not just for the Jews but for her: “If 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.” And she knew the threat that lay before her: “But as for me, I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days” (Esther 4:11). Yet in the end, in faith and courage, she resolved, “I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16).

One does not simply saunter into the presence of a great king “without being called.” And all the more with God Almighty. Not simply because it’s a great risk, as with an earthly king, but with God it’s not even physically possible. He is no man on earth, that one might slip past the palace guards and approach him. He is utterly unapproachable — “without being called.”

Yet in Christ, the throne of heaven has taken the initiative, and now holds out the golden scepter.

Why We Can Come Near

The two great bookends (4:14–16; 10:19–25) of the heart of the epistle to the Hebrews (chapters 5–10) make clear why we can draw near and how.

Hebrews is set against the backdrop of God’s first covenant with his people, through Moses. What Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers say about “drawing near” or “coming near” to God is sobering. For one, the tabernacle, and the whole system of worship given at Mount Sinai, taught the people of their distance from God, with barriers between them, because of their sin. The people must stay back, lest God’s righteous anger break out against their sin (Exodus 19:22, 24).

First, Moses alone is permitted to come near (Exodus 24:2), and then Moses’s brother, Aaron, and his sons, serving as priests, may “come near” (Exodus 28:43; 30:20). No outsider may come near (Numbers 1:51; 3:10), nor any priest with a blemish (Leviticus 21:18, 21). Only the ordained priests may “draw near to the altar” to make atonement for themselves and for the people (Leviticus 9:7) — and only in the way God has instructed, as memorably taught in the horrors of Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10) and Korah’s rebellion (Numbers 16; also 17:13; 18:3–4, 7, 22).

“It is almost too good to be true — almost — that we have access to God.”

But now, in Christ, “we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God” (Hebrews 4:14). In him, “we have a great priest over the house of God,” a priest who is ours by faith, and so we “enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh” (Hebrews 10:19–21). Not only does Christ enter God’s presence on our behalf, but he welcomes us in his wake. He is our pioneer, who blazes our trail. We now may “draw near” to God, “come near” to heaven’s throne of grace, because of Christ’s achievements for us, in his life and death and resurrection.

How We Can Come Near

Then, to add wonder to wonder, we not only draw near to God himself in Christ, but we are invited, indeed expected, to do so with confidence — with boldness and full assurance. Since we have such a high priest as Christ, “let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).

In him, “we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus” (Hebrews 10:19). Not by our own value, status, or achievements, but his. We “draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith” (Hebrews 10:22), a faith looking outside ourselves to ask not “Am I worthy?” to approach God’s throne, but “Is Jesus worthy?”

Wait No Longer

It is almost too good to be true — almost — that we have access to God (Ephesians 2:18) and “access with confidence” at that (Ephesians 3:12). In Christ, the King of the universe holds out the golden scepter. The question is no longer whether we can come, but will we, and how often?

We have access. God expects us to take hold on his Son by faith, and approach his throne with confidence. Our God listens. He hears our prayers.

What are you waiting for?

Let my enemies make mistake that would catapult me to the palace of my destiny, in the name of Jesus.Every Vashti sitting upon my throne, be unseated by fire, in the name of Jesus.Divine ushers of perfection, usher me to my throne this month, in the name of Jesus.Arrows of contempt and wrath fired against my rising stardom, BACKFIRE!!! in the name of Jesus.Every Vashti wrongly occupying my royal estate, be flushed out now! in the name of Jesus.My royal estate, locate me by fire! in the name of Jesus.Thou power of divine favour, trigger a vacuum and provoke a need for my promotion to the palace of my destiny, in the name of Jesus.From the queue of those seeking Your favour, O God arise and promote me speedily by your loving-kindness, in the name of Jesus.That best and special position that God wants me to be, I claim you by fire! in the name of Jesus.I obtain grace and favour from the King of Kings and Lord of lords to ascend my throne of destiny, in the name of Jesus.My royal crown of destiny, locate my head now and set me apart from the multitude this year, in the name of Jesus.Power of dark conspiracy plotting against my turn-around breakthrough, be exposed and receive the judgment of fire!!! in the name of Jesus.The royal feast that would herald my promotion to the palace of my destiny, I declare you open, BEGIN NOW!!! in the name of Jesus.Ancestral strongman assigned to perpetuate my enslavement, I hang you with the gallows of fire!!! in the name of Jesus.Thou power of generational hatred against my life and family, DIE! DIE!! DIE!!! in the name of Jesus.Every modern Amalekite assigned to kill me before my enthronement, hear the word of the Lord: DIE!!! in the name of Jesus.Every descendant of Agag, assigned to cut me off before reaching the palace of my destiny, your time is up! DIE! in the name of Jesus.Every earthly power in charge of my favour and promotion, I withdraw your peace, I withdraw sleep, I plague you with insomnia, until you favour and promote me, in the name of Jesus.In this season of favour, O God arise and turn the tables against my haters, in the name of Jesus.Every gallows prepared for me, hear the word of the Lord: HANG YOUR OWNERS!!! in the name of Jesus.Every competition sponsored to outshine my stardom this season, PALE INTO OBSCURITY!!! in the name of Jesus.

Give thanks to the Lord for these revelatory prayers that will lead to your elevation. Appreciate Him for His uncommon favour this season.

SPIRITUAL ASSIGNMENT: There are minimum 40 prayer points in the 9 chapters of the book of Esther. Meditate on those chapters and ask the Holy Ghost to show you the rest that are necessary for your promotion and enthronement in the palace of your own destiny this season, in Jesus name. You must not enter January as a slave, your royal redemption and priesthood must shine forth with glory in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Esther 5:2 NKJV

2 So it was, when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, that she found favor in his sight, and the king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther went near and touched the top of the scepter.