Perhaps you’d never think intercessory prayer requires courage, but it does. After all, we battle in prayer against the spiritual forces of evil who fear and hate the Gospel of Christ that we seek to advance through prayer.

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In the Old Testament, we see many pictures of courageous intercession, including Queen Esther. Perhaps you remember the story: She is chosen to be the queen of Ahasuerus (Xerxes) through the efforts of her great-uncle Mordecai, who then discovers a plot by a jealous royal official named Haman, to murder the Jews. Haman snows the king into issuing a decree to annihilate the Jews. It turns out that Esther, who as queen has direct access to the throne, is the only one in any position to prevent that massacre from happening. At Mordecai’s urging, Esther sets aside her fear of incurring the king’s wrath and approaches him to expose Haman’s plot. She wins his favor, and the king issues a decree permitting the Jews to arm up and defend themselves. Moreover, in the end, Haman is punished himself by being hanged from the very gallows he had prepared for Mordecai.

Esther’s Hebrew name was Hadassah, which stands for peace and righteousness. The name became symbolic of her role in saving the Jewish people from genocide.

I see a picture of our role as intercessors in the story of Esther. Let me unpack that for your encouragement.

1. Intercessors inform themselves (see Esther 4:5). Esther sent a servant to Mordecai to get the details of everything that happened so she could respond appropriately. Likewise, intercessors seek to acquire detailed information from a spiritual perspective so they can pray with insight.
2. Intercessors are aware of the dangers of prayer and face their fears (see Esther 4:11). In Esther’s case, it was death because of the laws that forbade people to approach the king uninvited on pain of death. For intercessors, there is the certainty of spiritual attack from an enemy who fears and hates prayer and will do anything to prevent us from shutting him down through the power of intercession.
3. Intercessors know they have “come into the kingdom for such a time as this” (see Esther 4:14). We live in perilous times. The spiritual battles for the souls of humanity are intensifying. The nations are being shaken, persecution is on the rise, unprecedented revivals are occurring worldwide, and our nation needs prayer more than ever. It is in danger of being annihilated, and the forces at work behind our government systems are setting themselves increasingly against the people of God.
4. Intercessors rise to the task. Esther could have stuck her head in the sand for her own safety. Mordecai sensed as much, because he warns her. 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” (Esther 4:13). We, too, face the daily decision to approach the throne of grace after we get bombarded with daily doses of bad news that makes us feel at times as if we are “pressed in from every side” (see 2 Corinthians 4:8).
5. Faithfulness to our calling is a choice. God does not force us to pray and intercede. He leaves the choice to draw near to us. We can choose to participate in His victories over the forces of Satan worldwide and the growth of His kingdom or stay behind in the dust of our daily busyness and cumber, in which case He will raise up others to stand in the gap: “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” (Esther 4:14). I don’t know about you, but I’d rather store up treasures in heaven by participating in the Father’s work and answering His calling than neglecting prayer and filling my days with “stuff.”
6. Intercessors need support. Before approaching the king, Esther surrounded herself with prayer support: “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” (Esther 4:16). We cannot go at it alone. Sometimes, prayer burdens are so heavy and intense that we need others to pray with or for us. We may need the support of fasting to intensify our focus on the Lord and the intensity of our entreaty. Not long after Esther saved the Jews, one of them, Ezra, returned to Jerusalem to teach the returning exiles the Law of Moses. He, too, fasted before setting out on his journey so they could entreat the Lord for safe passage. A few days ago, I wrote a blog post about that.
7. Intercessors confidently approach the throne of grace to find mercy and help in time of need (see Hebrews 4:16). Esther didn’t sneak in or play coy. Instead, she put on her royal robes and stood where he could see her (see Esther 5:1). Likewise, intercessors confidently draw near into the Father’s court, clothed in the righteousness and holiness we have in Christ (see Galatians 3:27).
8. The Lord draws near to His intercessors as we draw near to Him. Esther drew near to the king’s throne with appropriate reverence. As she did, He held out His scepter as a symbol that she had His attention: And when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she won favor in his sight, and he held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter. And the king said to her, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you, even to the half of my kingdom” (Esther 5:2–3). Likewise, we draw near to the Lord’s presence with awe and reverence in an attitude of worship before asking anything. We may call Him Abba — Papa — but even that word implies reverence and respect, not a buddy-like familiarity. The intimacy we may enjoy with the Father mixes fear with delight and gratitude with worship. We even see this in Jesus’ high priestly prayer in John 17. Praying as the Son of Man, He speaks with the loving intimacy of a son and yet with deep respect for the will and purposes of His Father.
9. Intercessors pray in submission to God’s will. The first words that came from Esther’s mouth were “if it please the king” (see Esther 5:4). She acknowledges that the king’s will is supreme, but she has faith in his sense of righteousness, knowing that he will set things right once he hears the truth about Haman’s plans. Intercessors come to the throne of grace with the promise we have in 1 John: And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him” (1 John 5:14–15). As we follow the Holy Spirit’s impartation of what we should pray (see Romans 8:26), we are secure in the knowledge that our pleas will be heard and answered.
10. Satan will seek to hinder the answers to our prayers. Just as Haman sought to hang Mordecai and bring down Esther once he heard of her intervention, Satan will seek to prevent answers to prayer from reaching their destination. We know this from Daniel 10, when an angel tasked with bringing the interpretation of a dream to Daniel was hindered by the “prince of Persia,” a demonic principality, for 21 days. We must be vigilant, persevere in prayer and not give up.
11. Let the answers unfold. It took a while for the salvation of the Jews to unfold after Esther’s entreaty with the king. Likewise, answers to prayer are given instantly but take time to unfold. Sometimes we don’t get to see them at all. At other times, we see things happen slowly. God often works out of our sight and in mysterious ways. There are battles to be fought with opposition, circumstances to orchestrate, and hearts to turn. The slow unfolding tests and strengthens our faith in the wisdom and power of God and gets us accustomed to His timing and ways of doing things. While we wait, we may let ourselves be carried along by the joy of abiding in His presence and the knowledge that we have won His favor and attention by praying in Christ.

As in the story of Esther, it is no accident that God calls you to take up the priestly mantle of intercession in His kingdom right here and now. The information you receive is not random. God has called you so He can do mighty and very specific things through your prayers, because that is how He has chosen to advance His kingdom’s purposes. Rejoice in His choice, and don’t let discouragement or distraction keep you from participating in the triumphs He wins through our prayers!

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Remco Brommet is a pastor, spiritual-growth teacher, and prayer leader with over 40 years of experience in Europe, Southeast Asia, Africa, and the U.S. He was born and raised in the Netherlands and pastored his first church in Amsterdam. He moved to the U.S. in 1986. He and his wife, Jennifer, live north of Atlanta. When not writing books, he blogs at www.deeperlifeblog.com and assists his wife as a content developer and prayer coordinator for True Identity Ministries. Jennifer and Remco are passionate about bringing people into a deeper relationship with Christ. Photo Credit: Sammie Chaffin on Unsplash.