Today, I am reading and commenting on  Esther 4-7.

When the Jews in Susa, and then later in other parts of the Persian Empire, learned of the edict against them they went into mourning by fasting, weeping, and wailing.  Then, before Esther takes the risk of going before the king without being summoned, she asks Mordecai to have all of the Jews in Susa fast for her.  Nowhere in the Book of Esther does the writer mention God, or prayer.  Yet, I find it hard to believe that the writer did not mean to imply that the Jews were praying to God for deliverance when they mourned and fasted.  I am also convinced that when Mordecai told Esther that deliverance would come from somewhere else if she did not act that the writer meant us to understand that Mordecai was expressing his faith in God.  My main point is that deliverance came to the Jews because they fasted and prayed.  We live in a nation facing great problems brought upon us by those who rule over us.  As Christians within this nation, we need to fast, pray, and pour out our hearts in mourning before God for the wickedness around us and ask for His deliverance.  There is much more to this passage than this, but this is what calls out to me.  I fail to pray as I ought and fasting has rarely been part of my spiritual discipline.  I feel called out by this passage today to change that.  Perhaps it is time for Christians to fast before God in prayer, seeking His guidance in the face of the terrible violence which occurs around us.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.