The Lord Shall Answer

To fast we willingly give up food and water for a time in order to seek blessings from the Lord and give thanks to Him for things of more value to us than physical comfort. The book of Esther contains a powerful example of fasting. The Jews found out about the terrible decree against them: “And the letters were sent by posts into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a prey” (Esther 3:13). The record tells us that “And in every province, whithersoever the king’s commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.” It appears that the Jews immediately turned to fasting and prayer when they heard of this terrible decree. Mordecai asked his niece Esther, who was the queen, that “she should go in unto the king, to make supplication unto him, and to make request before him for her people.” Even though she was his wife, this was dangerous because “whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live.” Mordecai encouraged her still to go before the king, suggesting that she was “come to the kingdom for such a time as this.” Despite this danger, Esther knew that she had to do it, and she said this to Mordecai: “Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye 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” (Esther 4:3, 11, 14, 16). She asked the Jews to fast with her for three days—that means going three days without food or water—to pray and supplicate the Lord to help them. That’s a very long time to fast, but they did it because what they sought was more important to them than physical sustenance for a few days.    

            The fast of Esther and her people indeed was effective, for their supplications to the Lord were answered and the king “held out the golden sceptre that was in his hand” to her when she came unrequested before him (Esther 5:2). Her life was spared, she was able to plead for her people, and ultimately they were saved from destruction. At least one of the messages of the story is the power of fasting and prayer to obtain blessings from the Lord. For some blessings that we seek, the Lord wants us to humble ourselves and show Him what we truly desire. Fasting is a powerful way to do that, and He suggested that it is sometimes necessary. For example, there was a man that came to Jesus pleading in these words, “Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatic, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.” The Savior was troubled that the disciples had not been able to cure this boy, and He requested that the boy be brought to Him. The account continues, “And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.” When the disciples asked why they had not been able to perform the miracle, He told them they needed faith and then said, “Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting” (Matthew 17:14-21). The story doesn’t say who fasted, but it suggests that for some requests we make of the Lord, He expects us to fast. I think He wants us to show Him that we really want the blessing we are seeking. I love the words of Isaiah that poetically explain the power of fasting, “Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?” Fasting can help us turn away from wickedness, remove heavy burdens and oppression, and overcome the things that keep us down. As we learn to really turn to the Lord for His help, these words from Isaiah will be true: “Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am” (Isaiah 58:6, 9).