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 s...