Prayer is a discipline, it is one form of waiting upon the LORD. Faith on the other hand is action, it is the obedience we give to God after we have heard his directions. We are going to be looking at the story of Esther and how faith and prayer working together brought deliverance to her people. If you want to see the hand of God move in your life, then you must have faith and prayer working together in your life.
After Haman made a plot to destroy the Jews, Mordecai went straight to God with the crisis.
Esther 4:1 When Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai tore his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry; Haman made a plot to destroy the Jews, Mordecai went straight to God with the crisis.
Likewise when Esther found out about the plot of Haman and she accepted the challenge to talk to the King, she also immediately went straight to God with the problem, and not only that she sent word through her servant asking every Jew in the land to also fast and pray with her.
Esther 4: 16 Go, 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 will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.
Typically when people come into crisis, the LORD is NOT the first place most people go with their problems. Most people will go right to the people around them and talk about whatever is wrong, and talk, and talk, and talk and talk. Because we feel all this anxiety and stress and pressure and we feel like we need a relief. And TALKING is a stress reliever. Have you ever wondered why it is the quiet people that are always the ones that go off on everyone in mass shootings and things? It is because TALKING relieves stress. You find me someone that just talks and chatters and talks and chatters and talks and chatters and I will show you someone who is OFTEN a nervous wreck. They are talking, talking so much, often saying the same things over and over again because they are a nervous WRECK!
I want you to see the how pointless it is to call and talk and post and text and carry on and on about your crisis. It is because you are taking your burdens to people who can do nothing to help you. You are taking your burdens to people who also have their own problems. You are letting off some steam, but because the anxiety you are releasing is not being replaced with PEACE, more anxiety and stress is building as you talk, talk, talk talk. And the more you talk to people about it, the more you began to realize that no one can or will help you, the more your stress levels go up, and the angrier you get that a HUMAN won't fix your problem for you.
I know people that spend their money FOOLISHLY, (what little they have) and then they call and text and stress everyone and cry and boohoo about not having food, or water bill paid. You walk into their home and they have laptops, tattoos, iphones, expensive video games and systems...and they are all stressed out over needing more money because their check and food stamps don't go far enough. How many times do we create our OWN problems by our unwise choices and then get angry when MANKIND won't give us a hand out.
What would have happened in the story of Esther if she had got on facebook and carried on, and called people, and tisked and tasked and told the KING off in 'her own words' on social media? I promise you she would have went out of the frying pan and into the fire. I think her post would sound something like this: If you can't rule a kingdom without killing innocent people maybe you better turn in the keys to the kingdom before you make a fool of yourself...Uh, that sounds SIMILAR to a lot of people and how they handle their crisis today. We don't have enough brain cells to even know what character and faith look like and yet we get on social media and make idiot comments about all the crisis and strife going on in our lives. It's ridiculous! When you see someone spouting a bunch of non-sense on social media, stay out of that mess. If that person really wanted help they would have taken it to God instead of to the world. They don't want help, they just want a hand out of some kind.
What makes us think that our life is any different. The things we do after we face crisis and trials are the very things that keep our lives wrapped up in endless drama. We create our own drama when we spend more time talking to men about our problems than we do talking to God about our problems.
Why would you look for your help from man? Do you really want to be looking for man to give you a hand out all the time? Huh? If you are in crisis, and your needs are great, obey God and BE STILL, and KNOW THAT HE IS GOD.
We waste valuable time that we could have spent in fasting and prayer talking to everyone under the son about our 'problems'
What does the bible say about gossip? TO NOT TO DO IT. Don't you realize that you are not to gossip about yourself, nor gossip about your family, nor gossip about your boss at work, nor gossip about your spouse...Why not try it God's way. BE STILL and KNOW that HE is God.
But what about the stress and anxiety. We do all that talking about our problems to whoever will listen because we are letting off steam. The bible says to cast all your cares on Jesus, for He CARES FOR YOU.
You see prayer IS TALKING! And when you talk to God in prayer you are releasing stress out of your life, but not only that, but he REPLACES the STRESS with HIS PEACE. But, this seldom happens if you do not make GOD your primary source of where YOU take your problems to. When you chose to obey God and BE STILL (don't run your problems all over town) and you take your problems to GOD and rely on HIM the peace of God fills you up.
When you talk to anyone and everyone about your problems, YOU are just stirring up the problem and the more you stir it up the BIGGER the problem seems, and the more you are filled with anxiety and stress. But when you take your problems to God and then focus your mind upon HIM he gives you His peace.
Esther took her problems right to God in fasting and prayer, she took it to the LORD and left it there and God came through. It takes faith to rely on God, it takes faith to BE STILL. It takes faith to trust God. Faith and prayer working together will bring your miracle every time.
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