Many
of us are familiar with the Biblical story of Esther. It was a historic
account of a young Jewish girl's journey to become queen. The drama
begins when she hides her true identity in order to be chosen. Chosen
she is! The saga sets in when Hammon plots to kill the Jewish people.
Esther is challenged by her cousin Mordecai to speak to the King on
behalf of the Jewish people and ultimately reveal her heritage. It was
customary to request to be summoned, for without an official invitation
into the King's presence one would be killed.
Esther knew the risk of saying something and she knew the risk of remaining silent. Either way it was potential death. Talk about being between a rock and a hard place. Esther made the decision to sacrifice herself on behalf of others and accept what consequences may come. Well, thank God for his intervention. Esther is not killed and saves the Jewish people. Whew...that was close.
We can all applaud Esther’s story. After all it sounds like a good script for a reality T.V. show. While Esther’s story may seem glamorous and even scandalous it is not too far-fetched from many of you. Maybe Esther’s story is not your story. You may not be like Esther at all.
Are you longing for more than a few short spiritual quickies to
soothe your ache or are you in search of lasting love as you deserve?
Esther knew the risk of saying something and she knew the risk of remaining silent. Either way it was potential death. Talk about being between a rock and a hard place. Esther made the decision to sacrifice herself on behalf of others and accept what consequences may come. Well, thank God for his intervention. Esther is not killed and saves the Jewish people. Whew...that was close.
We can all applaud Esther’s story. After all it sounds like a good script for a reality T.V. show. While Esther’s story may seem glamorous and even scandalous it is not too far-fetched from many of you. Maybe Esther’s story is not your story. You may not be like Esther at all.
Perhaps, you don’t have a
squeaky clean background. Maybe you don’t have a record of faithfulness or
purity. Maybe you’ve been the harlot, the absent mom, the rejected woman, the
wounded friend. Maybe your past causes you to shrink back into the shadows of
yesterday and hide in the crevices of rejection
The Bible is
full of stories after stories of women just like Esther and even women just like
you and me. Women who are in desperate need of more than an experience…we need
a night. We need a night that will change who we are. We need a night of hope,
healing and restoration. We need an need of complete invasion of our souls. Would you agree? Being
in the King’s presence if life changing. No one is the same.
What brings you into the
presence of a KING?
· Problems?
· Complaints?
My answer to you - is yes, because for
most of us this is the only time we come to the King. The King’s role is to
provide solutions to our issues and our problems but we limit ourselves and we
limit what the KING can do in our lives. So while problems and complaints may bring us into the King's presence, they will not usher us into His chambers.
The more intimate space is reserved for those women who know who they are and spend time in communion with the King in prayer and is willing to sacrifice for others. Anything outside of this is simply a one-night stand.
The more intimate space is reserved for those women who know who they are and spend time in communion with the King in prayer and is willing to sacrifice for others. Anything outside of this is simply a one-night stand.
Intimate
conversation is the tool to entering into the secret place of God.
Prayer is the key that opens the King's heart. Do you O’ King
Seeker believe
that your prayers will bring you into God's presence? Don't you want
your prayer life to bring you into the
King’s chambers? If Esther had
not had intimate moments with the King, she would have been destroyed.
Psalm
45:11 declares, “the king is enthralled
by your beauty, honor him”. If I had a man that was enthralled with my
beauty, there wouldn't be much this world had to offer that would make
me want to leave his presence. Yet, because of past abuse and
experiences, we fail to see ourselves as beautiful and we hide from the
one who loves us.
See, for many of us we believe that God will do great things
for others and we will even so much as walk others into His presence,
but
when His gaze turns towards us we are filled with shame and we disappear
from
the King’s presence.
We
hide because we feel that we are not beautiful; that we are not loved
and that we are not worthy of his approval. I want to take you to a
place where you can accept yourself just as you are and learn to honor
the King.
What
brings honor to the King? Esther did three things that honored her King
and changed her nation. Esther submitted herself to God; prayed for
God to turn the situation around and lastly, Esther acted on the word of
God.
Esther's role as queen was to empower and
encourage her people to go deeper into the Lord’s presence and that only happens when
you go deeper in your prayer lives. A prayer life is something we often talk
about but how many of us really do spend time in prayer and actually see the
results of our prayer life. It’s often been said:
· Little Prayer—Little Power
· Some prayer --Some Power
· Much Prayer –Much Power.
See, prayer
is not about what we can get. It is about who we are becoming. Prayer is God’s
instrument of fellowship that causes change.
Let me ask you,
are you looking for an intimate lifetime encounter with the Lover of your soul
or are you just looking for a One NIGHT Stand?
