Finding Favor
Some people like to be in control and they like to try to control other people. In reality, the only person we have control over is ourselves. Other people can choose to do whatever they want to do, and we can't stop them, if their minds are made up. This can lead us to feel helpless in certain situations. I believe that is how Esther felt when Mordecai asked her to approach the king with her request. She knew he could do anything from kill her to granting her request. That is why she asked all of he Jews to fast for 3 days, not eating any food or drinking any water. They were all calling on God to give Esther favor with the king. (Esther 7:3) I am glad to say that God answered that prayer. Therefore, when Esther saw that the king had shown favor on her, she asked for her life to be saved and for the lives of her people to be saved. The king fully answered her request, because God had led the king to extend favor to Esther and the Jewish people. The same thing can happen for us today.
Many times we should pray for God to grant us favor with other people. What we are asking is for God to open the heart of the other person so he or she will listen to us and be inclined to answer us in a positive way. This can take in various dimensions. We can pray for a family member to have favor toward us, as we ask for them to help us in some way. We should pray for the government and elected officials to grant us favor when we are needing help with our taxes or other legal matters. Then, we can ask God to touch the hearts of non-Christians, so we will have favor with them, and they will listen to the gospel and be saved. See what I mean? We don't have control over any of these people or groups, but if God has us to find favor with them, they will more than likely do what we need for them to do. When this is a particularly difficult case, we can fast and pray like they did upon Esther's request, and God is even more likely to answer our prayer. This is why when I pray for our missionaries around the world each day on their birthdays, I pray for God to grant them favor with Him, with others, and with the government with which they are having to deal. Finding that favor opens many doors for them, as it will for us once God works in their hearts to incline them toward us in a favorable way.
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Tomorrow, I intend to read Esther 8-10 and Job 1.