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Praying to God
“Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai; Go, assemble all of the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maidens also will fast in the same way and thus I will go in to the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:15-16). Esther had a huge obstacle to overcome because not only is she breaking one of the king’s law, she is also about to expose herself as a Jew. We can only imagine the great amount of fear and anxiety she must have been feeling because Esther realizes that she is putting her very life into the hands of the king.
We need to use Esther as an example when we go before our heavenly King in prayer. When we pray, we are entering into the holy presence of God almighty. Meeting in the presence of God should always be done in a humble manner, but humility is especially important when we pray because that is a time when we make known to God our needs and the needs of others and we ask Him to take action.
Leviticus 10:1-3 tells us the story of Nadab and Abihu, who were the sons of Aaron, but more importantly they were priests appointed by God. They did not take God seriously enough and offered a strange fire to Him; consequently they were consumed by this fire.
Our prayers to God should be simple, direct, and to the point. It becomes harder for us to concentrate when we use repetition and too many words eventually become noise in God’s ears (Matthew 6:7). Jesus teaches us how to pray in Matthew 6:5-8 when He warns against deliberately gaining attention and honor through our praying. Also, in verses 9-13, Jesus lays down an outline of how we should be praying.
Before Jesus came to die there was an unbridgeable, ever-widening gap between us and God because of our sin. It is the blood of Jesus, who is the High Priest, that atones for our sin and it is the love and the grace of God that allows us to be forgiven. Therefore, we must be reverent, brethren, when we pray, and have a humble, servant’s attitude because we are not worthy enough to go before God. Also, be grateful that He has given us one through whom we can go to God in prayer; that is Jesus Christ our Lord (John 14:6).
