“When the king saw Queen Esther standing in the courtyard, she found favor in his eyes and the king held out the gold scepter that was in his hand to Esther. And Esther approached and touched the top of the scepter.”
– Esther 5:2
So, here in Esther 5:2 we see God’s provision in response to prayer and fasting. In response to Esther’s willingness to lay down her life to go see the king, when the king saw Queen Esther, instead of casting her out, he invites her in. She found favor in his eyes. This is evidence. Again, the name of God is not mentioned in the Book of Esther, but the fingerprints of God are all over this book. And this is one shining example. She found favor in his eyes because God did this.
Lord give us favor that doors may be opened for the gospel to go forth and bear fruit in all of the world.
A Prayer for God’s Favor
You know, this is one of the things I pray. In my own life, when I think about people who don’t know Christ, that I’m trying to share the gospel with, and I think about people groups in the world where the Gospel’s not yet gone. One of the things I pray for is favor. Not favor so that I can advance myself in someone else’s eyes, but favor so that there will be a hearing for the Gospel. And I pray for that in people groups not yet reached with the Gospel.
I pray that as missionaries go, that God will grant them favor, that leaders in that people group, that men and women in that people group would look upon those who are bringing the good news of the Gospel and grant them favor, see them in a favorable way, and receive what they have to share. So, I think this is a good thing to pray. Paul, when we get to the New Testament, when he encourages or asks the church to pray for him, he prays that they would… God would give favor, that God would open doors for the Gospel through him, that God would give him success in this work.
So, let’s pray for that now. God, I pray for this in my own life, but not just in my own life. I pray this for every person who’s listening. As we have people in our lives that don’t know Christ in our spheres of influence, God, we pray that You would give favor in their eyes, that You would incline them favorably toward us. God, that You would do something that we can’t control. We can’t manufacture.
Esther 5:2 Reminds Us That God Hears and Acts On Our Prayers
God, we want to be faithful to live as salt and light. We want to be faithful to live in a way that adorns the Gospel. In a way that shows Your love and Your grace and Your mercy, Your wisdom, in our lives. So help us, help us in all those ways, and as we live, we pray more and more like Christ. We pray that you would give favor that leads to a hearing for the Gospel, that leads to the accomplishment of Your purposes.
So, God, we pray not for favor for our own good so that we’ll be light, so that we’ll be esteemed by others. God, we want You to be esteemed by others. We want Your name to be glorified. We want to be salt and light so that others may see us and give glory to You in heaven. So we pray that You would give us favor that opens doors for the Gospel. And God, we pray the same for the spread of the Gospel around the world.
Prayer For The Brahman People In Nepal
God, among the Brahman in Nepal, we’ve prayed for the Brahman in different countries. We pray specifically for the Brahmin in Nepal, no known followers of Jesus among this people group in Nepal. Please, oh God. Cause Your church to go to them, raise up workers to take the gospel to them and give those workers favor we pray, in the eyes of the Brahman, that those who bring the good news of the Gospel would be received, and welcomed, and listened to, and the message of Your grace embrace. God, we pray for that, that we pray for favor for the spread of Your fame.
In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
