Calling All Ester(s) 5: The Seed of Service in the Community

In this new teaching from another excerpt from my upcoming book, I want to exemplify and give my testimony of how God has used me to bless my community and help others in their time of need. It is important that we become conduits that are available for God to bring salvation, healing, restoration, deliverance, and the provision they require in their time of necessity. When they cry out to God and He wants to answer, we need to be ready and able in obedience to provide what is needed for them when God chooses us to be or provide the answer to their prayers. We do not live for our own selves, but everything God does in us, for us, and through us, and the things He has provided for our lives and godliness, as well as our preparation and development, are to help others be able to have what they need in their time,  in order for them to continue learning to walk in the ways of the Kingdom of God and have Jesus be the All in all in their lives. Like Esther and other Bible personalities who took many risks and faced challenges, and even persecution because of their determination, vision, and obedience to be used as deliverers of a better way for God’s people, we make ourselves available so that God can prove Himself as the only living God that is very present in their time of need, and for His glory alone. By this we will also be sowing seeds that we will reap during times when we need it the most because we need of each other and are a community of believers that have everything in common (Acts 4:34-35).

The Seed of Service in the Community

To help those in my community the Lord woke me up around 4:00 am one morning in 2002 and told me to pray for different businesses around the area where I lived at the time. Then He especially gave me a vision of a bakery that I used to drive by almost daily. The Lord directed me to pray for the owners and the business, and then told me He wanted me to be at that place at 10:00 am to pray in person. When I got there I told the person behind the counter who turned out to be one of the owners the reason for my visit to that establishment and he got very excited. He asked if I would wait while he ran to get his wife who was in the kitchen area. I agreed to wait and soon after there came the couple eager to have me pray with them. They explained that their lease was up and the landlord was refusing to sign a new one after they had been occupying that space for many years. They also mentioned that they had been crying out to God for someone to come and pray for them at the business. Well, God answered them, and I had the privilege to be used of the Lord to be the answer to that prayer and armed me with the breaker anointing to break through for them (Micah 2:13). Several years later I continued to drive by the bakery and it was still there with the same owners until they decided to sell the business. I happened to see the wife at a women’s meeting at church and she recognized me after several years and greeted me with a hug. What a marvelous God we serve. It blesses me to see things work out even better when we obey His promptings to be an answer to prayer.

After praying for the bakery and the owners, the Lord directed me to also go and pray for other businesses in the area. I did that, and was thrilled to see that not one person turned down my offer to pray for them and the businesses, and all those businesses are still there after many years since I went to pray for them, except for the bakery that was sold about five years ago. This was an awesome opportunity to sow seed at the command of the Lord because I knew I will be opening my own business some day. So blessing other businesses was also a great time for seed planting towards my own business. I went for a week to different businesses in my community and was welcomed with open arms, except for a restaurant that was very busy at the time, and the person in charge was not the manager. I still chose to pray for them and leave a blessing spoken for them from my car.

Another thing that the Lord did to make me more conscious of helping my community was that one Thursday afternoon I was driving home from running errands and noticed that on the street I had turned to get to my house there was garbage that had been dropped by the garbage truck as it turned the corner on a hill. At that moment the Lord spoke to me and said to pick up that garbage so the street would look clean again. I then went home to get everything I needed to do it. This same scenario repeated itself for about six or seven weeks. I live in Seattle so even in the pouring rain I had to do this. One of those times a man that lived across the street from where the garbage had been dropped came walking toward me in the rain to thank me for what I was doing because he knew I did not live on that street. I didn’t feel bad that he didn’t help me because I understood that was not his assignment from the Lord, but this was for me to do. So when the Lord figured I had passed my test, the garbage truck never dropped any more garbage on that street again.

The times we are faced with laying down our desires and wants to put others  ahead of us is not something to dread because at the right time and in the right season all those blessings will come back to us, especially when we need them the most. Galatians 6:9 says, ⁹ And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. In many cases, the next generations will reap the benefits of our obedience in ways we can’t imagine. This is another way in which the Lord is glorified through us and in us.

One last example mentioned in the Old Testament of God’s people who laid down their lives to follow this principle of putting others first, is found in Joshua 1:12-15, ¹²And to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh Joshua spoke saying, ¹³“Remember the word of the LORD which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, ‘The LORD your God is giving you rest and is giving you this land.’ ¹⁴Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan. But you shall pass before your brethren armed, all your mighty men of valor, and help them, ¹⁵until the LORD has given your brethren rest, as He gave you, and they also have taken possession of the land which the LORD your God is giving them. Then you shall return to the land of your possession and enjoy it, which Moses the LORD’s servant gave you on this side of the Jordan toward the sunrise.” To Him alone be all the Glory!

Calling All Esthers 4: Praying the Will of the Father

Matthew 6:7-13

^{7-13 “}The world is so full of so called prayer warriors, who are prayer-ignorant. They’re full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don’t fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this:

Our Father in heaven,

Reveal who you are.

Set the world right;

Do what’s best-

   as above, so below.

Keep us alive with three square meals.

Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.

Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.

You’re in charge!

You can do anything you want!

You’re ablaze in beauty!

    Yes. Yes. Yes. The Message

The Lord’s prayer is said to be an example of how God wants His people to approach Him in prayer. In the book of Esther, the king asked her in four different instances what was her petition and her request because he was willing to give to her up to half his kingdom (Esther 5:3, 6; 7:2; 9:12b). This freedom we have as followers of Christ to approach the throne of God the Father with boldness in order to obtain the things we need or want is something we ought to give importance to because this example of prayer reveals the heart of God and His character toward His children.

 
The first part of this prayer according to the Scripture instructs us to ask God to reveal who He is to us. For this we start with praise and worship as we acknowledge Him and make Him the center of our attention while we lift Him higher than our circumstances. This causes God to rise up and reveal the part of Him necessary to meet our need and turn chaos into order. We will also see Him leveling every obstructing mountain and make every crooked way straight so His best for us can be supernaturally manifested in the earth. This will also help us expand our knowledge of Him.

The next part highlights our need to be nourished and have our needs met so we can do what we are called to do. This way we will not be tempted to neglect seeking to hear every word that comes out of God`s mouth to guide us and lead us in His path of righteousness. Communion with Him is our first need because it transforms us into His image and likeness. This happens as He removes the dirt and the dross from us with the water of His word so we can be clothed with robes of righteousness. This heads us in our path of maturity where our knowledge and application of the ways of His Kingdom help us walk and live as citizens of heaven on earth.  

Learning to forgive is a must for every child of God because as citizens of heaven we are made conduits that extend to others the mercy and grace God lavishly grants to us daily. There are times when we get wounded by others that are also wounded, but continually seeking the One who was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities because by His stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5). When we are emotionally healed then we do not leak out of our pain and become imprisoned in a jail of bitterness, resentment, and unforgiveness that cripples us and keeps us from walking firm and steadily towards our destiny and God's blessings for us.

Another important reason we are called to walk in forgiveness is because, like Esther and David, who developed a heart after God’s own heart and were mindful of what concerns God the most, we must also show we are taking more mature steps as we ask God to give us His inheritance in the saints. This means that we concern ourselves with the welfare of His people and do everything He commands—no matter what He asks us to do and what it costs us because reaching the harvest of souls God wants to reap through us consumes our being. For this, we allow Him to teach us how to be fishers of men and  how to walk in the ways of His kingdom. Thus, with a bright and shining light that comes from His fire of zeal that burns within us, we can walk in His power and authority and the fire helps light the way for those souls to see Christ in us, the hope of glory.

Colossians 1:9-12 says, 9 For this reason we also, from the day we heard of it, have not ceased to pray and make [special] request for you, [asking] that you may be filled with the full (deep and clear) knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom [in comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God] and in understanding and discernment of spiritual things--

10 That you may walk (live and conduct yourselves) in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him and desiring to please Him in all things, bearing fruit in every good work and steadily growing and increasing in and by the knowledge of God [with fuller, deeper, and clearer insight, acquaintance, and recognition]. 

11[We pray] that you may be invigorated and strengthened with all power according to the might of His glory, [to exercise] every kind of endurance and patience (perseverance and forbearance) with joy. 

12 Giving thanks to God the Father, Who has qualified and made us fit to share the portion which is the inheritance of the sainsts (God`s holy people) in the light. AMP

Keeping this at the forefront of our minds will ensure our protection from persecution and the enemy`s attempts to obstruct the harvest of God`s souls. Praying boldly like Esther and the Apostles of the early Church for the removal of the enemy and his obstructions we can get to the harvest and reap it for God`s Kingdom.

So going back to the initial passage in the Message version, verse 13 says, 
"You are in charge,
You can do anything you want!
You`re ablaze in beauty!
    Yes, Yes, Yes!"  

The Amplified version of this verse says, ..."For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen."
 
So, to bring these two versions together we can say: For His is the kingdom—the earth and everyone in it belong to Him and He is in charge; His is the power—He will do anything He wants and will confront every enemy of His plan and purpose to reach the lost and remove him; and His is the glory with His fire in us to light the way for lost souls to come to Christ. To Him alone be all the glory.∎

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