Esther 8:3-6
Esther again pleaded with the king, falling at his feet and weeping. She begged him to put an end to the evil plan of Haman the Agagite, which he had devised against the Jews. Then the king extended the gold scepter to Esther and she arose and stood before him. “If it pleases the king,” she said, “and if he regards me with favor and thinks it the right thing to do, and if he is pleased with me, let an order be written overruling the dispatches that Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, devised and wrote to destroy the Jews in all the king’s provinces. For how can I bear to see disaster fall on my people? How can I bear to see the destruction of my family?
You’re saved; you’re sanctified, and you’re filled with the Holy Ghost. Your friends and family are sitting next to you in church. You’re redeemed and you’re free. Everything seems to be going well for you and yours, and your circle is doing just fine. This may be your story, it may not. It may look somewhat like your situation, and it may not. Christians in general seem to be more concerned with the going ons of their inner circle; we seem to be more concerned with those closest to us and with their salvation. This isn’t a bad thing; of course we want to see the ones we love spend eternity with us in heaven, but…
What about the other guys? What about those people? Where does our responsibility lie when it comes to others outside of our group?
Below are some scriptures that refer to praying for others:
If you do a search on BibleGateway.com, you will find several scriptures. From the amount of scriptures that are available, it looks like this is a subject close to God’s heart. We have a responsibility to God and to our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Even after receiving the outcome she was seeking for herself and her cousin, Esther knew her work wasn’t done. She knew she still had a responsibility to her people to petition on their behalf. What a great example of how to live!
How can Esther’s example impact your life?
How can we model ourselves after her?
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This section reminds me of the song by Casting Crowns, Jesus Friend of Sinners.
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Let’s Pray:
Dear Lord
Please open our eyes to see people and situations in need of prayer. Your command to pray without ceasing applies to not only our lives and the lives of those we love, but also to the lives of those we don’t know; to the lives of those we see in the street, those we pass in the workplace. Place on our hearts the desire You placed on the heart of Esther, the desire to see the salvation of our fellow person.
In Jesus’ Name We Pray.
Amen
About Tonya Ellison
Tonya, thank you for this great reminder. You’re right, we must not be satisfied with just our circle. We are striving to be more like Jesus, therefore we shouldn’t want “anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (II Peter 3:9)
I’m looking up the Scripture and getting the message! 🙂 Amen to your prayer.
Tonya, you are right on with this, and it is something I have to constantly remind myself to do – -praying for the salvation of others. I am reminded of a prayer a pastor told of how we often pray: “Lord, save my husband, John, my four and no more.” A joke or is it??
Martha, very true. This is essentially how we pray, myself included. *eye opener*
thanks, tonya…really good questions to ask…and answer! definitely we should be praying for our eyes AND our hearts to be open to those around us. love your prayer. <3
thank you Tonya! Hard subject, great truth. We are called to love one another as Jesus Loves the Church and Jesus doesn’t want anyone to die unsaved and without ever hearing just how amazing it is to follow Him. And that this world isn’t all there is, oh no, there’s so much more that we are living for. jesus loves us with an everlasting love, we are to pray that our love flows so freely to His people and that we step out and ask if they know our Jesus and if not, today is the day that will change your life forever.
I think its a great thing to remind other’s and ourselves that this world isn’t all there is. Sometimes we need to step back and look at this big picture. 🙂
Great blog today, Tonya! What a wealth of scriptures for us to study and pray over. 🙂 And I LOVE “Jesus, friend of sinners”! I was so convicted the first time I heard that song
– I really pray that God helps me to see EVERYONE the way He sees them – it’s not an easy task!
Thank you for blessing us with these words! May we all be prepared to answer the call once we do reach put in prayer! Because He will use us!