Esther 5:1-8
On the third day of the fast, Esther put on
her royal robes and entered the inner court of the palace, just across from the
king’s hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne, facing the entrance.
When he saw Queen Esther standing there in the inner court, he welcomed her and
held out the gold scepter to her. So Esther approached and touched the end of
the scepter.
Then the king asked her, “What do you want,
Queen Esther? What is your request? I will give it to you, even if it is half
the kingdom!”
And Esther replied, “If it please the king,
let the king and Haman come today to a banquet I have prepared for the king.”
The king turned to his attendants and said,
“Tell Haman to come quickly to a banquet, as Esther has requested.” So the king
and Haman went to Esther’s banquet.
And while they were drinking wine, the king
said to Esther, “Now tell me what you really want. What is your request? I will
give it to you, even if it is half the kingdom!”
Esther replied, “This is my request and
deepest wish. If I have found favor with the king, and if it pleases the king
to grant my request and do what I ask, please come with Haman tomorrow to the
banquet I will prepare for you. Then I will explain what this is all about.”
2 Chronicles 1:1-12
Solomon son of David took firm control of his
kingdom, for the Lord his God was with him and made him very powerful.
Solomon called together all the leaders of
Israel—the generals and captains of the army, the judges, and all the political
and clan leaders. Then he led the entire assembly to the place of worship in
Gibeon, for God’s Tabernacle was located there. (This was the Tabernacle that
Moses, the Lord’s servant, had made in the wilderness.)
David had already moved the Ark of God from
Kiriath-jearim to the tent he had prepared for it in Jerusalem. But the bronze
altar made by Bezalel son of Uri and grandson of Hur was there at Gibeon in
front of the Tabernacle of the Lord. So Solomon and the people gathered in
front of it to consult the Lord. There in front of the Tabernacle, Solomon went
up to the bronze altar in the Lord’s presence and sacrificed 1,000 burnt
offerings on it.
That night God appeared to Solomon and said,
“What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!”
Solomon replied to God, “You showed great and
faithful love to David, my father, and now you have made me king in his place.
O Lord God, please continue to keep your promise to David my father, for you
have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth! Give me
the wisdom and knowledge to lead them properly, for who could possibly govern
this great people of yours?”
God said to Solomon, “Because your greatest
desire is to help your people, and you did not ask for wealth, riches, fame, or
even the death of your enemies or a long life, but rather you asked for wisdom
and knowledge to properly govern my people— I will certainly give you the
wisdom and knowledge you requested. But I will also give you wealth, riches,
and fame such as no other king has had before you or will ever have in the future!”
John 14:12-14 “I tell you the
truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even
greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. You can ask for
anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the
Father. Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!”
James 4:1-3 What is causing the
quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war
within you? You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You
are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage
war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you
don’t ask God for it. And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your
motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.
1 John 5:14-15 And we are confident
that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we
know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us
what we ask for.
James 1:5-8 If you need wisdom,
ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for
asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not
waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea
that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive
anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and
they are unstable in everything they do.
Mark 11:22-25 Then Jesus said to
the disciples, “Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, you can say to this
mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen.
But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart. I
tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received
it, it will be yours. But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are
holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins,
too.”
Proverbs 9:10 Fear of the Lord is
the foundation of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment.
Matthew 6:33 But seek first his
kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as
well.
