“So the king and Haman went to Queen Esther’s banquet, 2 and as they were drinking wine on the second day, the king again asked, ‘Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be granted.’3 Then Queen Esther answered, ‘If I have found favour with you, Your Majesty, and if it pleases you, grant me my life – this is my petition. And spare my people – this is my request. 4 For I and my people have been sold to be destroyed, killed and annihilated. If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because no such distress would justify disturbing the king.[a]’5 King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, ‘Who is he? Where is he – the man who has dared to do such a thing?’6 Esther said, ‘An adversary and enemy! This vile Haman!’Then Haman was terrified before the king and queen.” NIV

Today, to reinforce the lesson about prayer, I want to add a further comment from the pen of Matthew Henry: ‘If the love of life causes earnest pleadings with those that can only kill the body, how fervent should our prayers be to Him, who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell! How should we pray for the salvation of our relatives, friends, and all around us! When we petition great men, we must be cautious not to give them offence; even just complaints must often be kept back. But when we approach the King of kings with reverence, we cannot ask or expect too much. Though nothing but wrath be our due, God is able and willing to do exceeding abundantly, even beyond all we can ask or think.’

I recently heard Andy Stanley say, on a different subject, that knowing is not the same as doing. You can know/believe certain things are true without it changing your life.

So…let us pray…

PRAYER: Lord, may I not rest content to merely think about prayer, or read about prayer, or listen to sermons about prayer. Help me to pray.