Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.” Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.
Before becoming a Christian, the idea of giving someone a prayer request was so incredibly foreign to me. Up to that point, I certainly had shared my troubles with my friends and asked for assistance from whomever could give it to me. Those who could not help would wish me luck, and that would be all. When I started studying the scriptures, I would take my requests to God, but that was all I would do. It was not until I started attending Bible studies and prayer groups that I realized I could ask my brothers and sisters for prayer. I could approach God on my own, but I also could tap into a greater power of prayer. There is a reason why Esther did not pray for her cause alone.
Although this passage does not mention prayer explicitly, a purpose of fasting in the Old Testament was to appeal to God. In this specific case, Esther would be putting herself in a life-threatening position. She was asking others to help her appeal to God for his protection through the sacrifice of fasting. Whether any of these people spoke a word during those three days is inconsequential, but I challenge anyone to fast for a cause and try to withhold prayer during that time. The fast keeps your mind on the need. The sacrifice of the fast shows dependence on the Lord for the natural as well as the supernatural. When we do this in unity, it is like agreeing in prayer, which has a power all its own. [Mt. 18:19-20]
The next time you pray for a need, consider inviting others to join you in prayer. It will bless them as much as it will bless you. Also consider sacrificing yourself through a time of fasting. Prayer itself is a sacrifice, and it shows that we trust the Lord. When we fast in addition to prayer, we show that we are committed to our request, and it helps us remain focused on the Lord. If we want our prayers to be effective, we must take advantage of every tool God puts in our arsenal. The word tells us and shows us how we can add power to our prayer. Father, give us the humility to ask our brothers and sisters to unite with us in prayer, and bring us back to this necessary discipline of fasting.