Royal Horses — Carter Conlon

Prayer, Esther, and the Royal Horses

This morning I want to do, speak message number three on the topic of prayer again from the book of Esther. If you go with me to Esther chapter eight, message is entitled Royal Horses. Royal Horses. Father, I thank you with all my heart, God, for the touch of heaven that has been so evidently here with us this morning.

I thank you, Lord, for the hope that you're stirring in our hearts for the future. That all is not lost because you are still on the throne and your heart is still towards a praying people. And so Lord God, I'm asking that you would give me the grace to speak this message this morning and you'll give us the grace to hear it.

Everyone who's gathered here, Lord, God, give us the grace to hear and give us the hearts, Lord, to move forward towards what we do here. Help us, Lord Jesus, son of God, to embrace your kingdom first and your righteousness, believing that everything that we have need of, you promised to add to us.

So Lord God, I thank you for the touch of heaven, the anointing, the reasoning ability to speak this word. And I thank you for the hearts to hear it in Jesus name. Royal Horses, Esther chapter eight, beginning at verse one.

Esther 8 and the King's Decree

On that day, King Ahasuerus gave Queen Esther the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came before the king for Esther had told her, told how he was related to her. So the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman and gave it to Mordecai.

And Esther appointed Mordecai over the house of Haman. Now Esther spoke again to the king, fell down at his feet and implored him with tears to counteract the evil of Haman, the Agagite and the scheme which he had devised against the Jews.

And the king held out the golden scepter towards Esther. So Esther arose and stood before the king and said, if it pleased the king, and if I found favor in his sight and the thing seems right to the king and I'm pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman, which he wrote to annihilate the Jews who are in all the king's provinces.

For how can I endure to see the evil that will come to my people? Or how can I endure to see the destruction of my countrymen? Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and Mordecai, the Jew, indeed, I've given Esther the house of Haman and they've hanged him on the gallows because he tried to lay his hand on the Jews.

You yourselves write a decree concerning the Jews as you please in the king's name and seal it with the king's signet ring. For whatever is written in the king's name and sealed with the king's signet ring, no one can revoke.

So the king's scribes were called at that time in the third month, which is the month of Sivan on the 23rd day. And it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded to the Jews, the Settraps, the governors, the princes of the provinces from India to Ethiopia, 127 provinces.

Well, that means countries in all to every province in its own script, to every people in their own language and to the Jews in their own script and language. And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus, sealed it with the king's signet ring and sent it by couriers on horseback, riding on royal horses, bred from swift steeds.

By these letters, the king permitted the Jews who were in every city to gather together and protect their lives, to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the forces of any people or province that would assault them, both little children and women, and to plunder their possessions.

And verse 11 is, is better translated in some other translations. It says that the letters gave the Jewish people the power to gather and defend themselves and their wives and their children against anybody who would come to try to assault them or plunder them or kill them.

Esther's Call to Intercession

We started talking about this, the power of prayer in a, in a message called, Do You Know Who You Are? And it was about Esther, a young girl who was called and appointed for a specific time in history, called to be the bride of the king.

And at the time she was called to go in and intercede for her countrymen, she felt unloved, unlovely, unwanted. It had been 30 days since the king even wanted to see her or talk to her. That, that more or less that, that first love infatuation that, that drew the king to her and her to the king in the beginning was dissipating.

And it, it, it seemed that the call to intercede had come at the worst time in her relationship with the king. And as we find ourselves today being called of God to begin to pray for a perishing nation all around us, a degenerating society at a, at a fearful level, really, as we are called to pray, many of God's people said, Oh, I wish this call would have come 10 years ago, 15 years ago, five years ago, when, when, when the relationship was, was hot between God and I, we, we were, we were intimate.

I was talking to him every day and he was speaking to me and his word was like fire shut up in my bones. And, but somehow we just became a little bit distant in our relationship. And this is the worst possible time that anyone could be calling me to prayer.

The first thing that Esther had to rediscover, and we have to rediscover in our generation is that no matter how you feel, you are still the bride of the king. You still have access to the throne of the king.

And surprisingly enough, when she finally got through her initial fears and her initial sense of unworthiness or initial sense of distance, or I'm not the one for this, maybe somebody else could do this better than I can.

Once she got through and began to realize, no, God put you here at this time for this divine purpose, you are the bride of the king. You're the one who has access to the court of the king. Other people don't have access as you do.

And the king's heart, she didn't know it was still towards her. So when she got through her fears through prayer and fasting, she appeared trembling in the outer court only to find the scepter of favor and power and an open ear stretched out towards her.

And when she moved into the inner court where the king was, she found herself, as I shared last week, I believe with all my heart now moving in unison with the spirit of God, now moving out of the flesh and moving into the spirit, God giving her that mind that he promises to those who belong to him, that heart, that spirit.

She was not quick to ask her petition, but you see now a wisdom coming upon her that I don't think she had up to this point. A message called inviting the devil to dinner about Haman. And now she's moving forward in the wisdom and power of God.

And we concluded last week talking about how through the wisdom that God gave to her, the wrath of the king against the enemy of the Jewish people rose to the fore. And the man who plotted by law, as it was by creating laws, he plotted to take away the future, the hope, the strength, and the influence of the Jewish people.

That man, because one woman went to the throne of God and started moving in the wisdom of God's spirit, ended up hung on his own gallows that he had made for her cousin Mordecai. Now, today, I want to talk to you about royal horses, and it's about bringing others into the power and the victory that you have come to know.

Spiritual Authority Through Prayer

When you begin to pray, there's a power and a victory that starts coming into your heart. It starts coming into your mind, and you start seeing something in the word of God that prayerless people don't see.

You start understanding something about the heart of the king that prayerless people don't understand. You leave the realm of the natural, you move into the supernatural, you're now operating in a new wisdom that God promises to those who seek him.

And chapter eight is where we begin to learn the pattern of beginning to exercise spiritual authority. May God help us again to recognize the weapons of our warfare. They're not carnal. They're mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, everything that has exalted itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Jesus Christ.

As the bride of Jesus Christ, may God help us one more time to understand the authority that we do have. Luke chapter 10 and verse 19, Jesus himself said, behold, I give you authority to trample on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

I give you authority. I give you power to trample on these reasonings of hell, to trample on this design of the devil himself, to swallow, kill, steal, destroy everything he can touch that looks like the image of God, to swallow up the testimony of Christ in the earth.

I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy. Now in chapter eight of Esther in verses three and four, it says, Esther spoke to the king, fell down at his feet and implored him with tears to counteract the evil of Haman, the Agagite and the scheme which he had devised against the Jews.

Now Haman is dead at this point, but he has enacted laws that have enabled those who hated the testimony of the people of God to plunder them, attack them, vilify them. Laws that created a thought throughout the known world at that time that these people are not worthy of even life, let alone abiding among us in our society.

This is what the devil has always been after. And the king verse four, it says, held up the golden scepter towards Esther. So Esther arose and stood before the king. I want you to notice something from trembling in the outer court.

Esther is now boldly approaching the throne. See, we've got to move from trembling in the outer court. We've got to move from, oh, will he hear me? Does he want to see me? We haven't even been talking.

We've got to move from that place to now. You see, Esther is boldly approaching. She knows now the heart of her husband and king. And the scepter has just become our formality. She's actually talking to him.

Coming Boldly to the Throne of Grace

Well, you'll see this in just a moment. Hebrews 4, 16 says, let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. You can't come boldly to the throne until you know two things.

You have to know who you are, and you have to know the heart of your husband king. You have to know. And once you start to know, first of all, we approach, yes, with reverence, because he is a holy God.

Paul, the apostles, it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. But once we begin to know his heart, once we begin to see that he's long for something more from us than just the sweet words of that first love, he's long for something deeper.

Now she's approaching the throne of grace, as we are called to do in our time of need, with boldness. And in chapter 8 again, beginning at verse 5, she says, if it pleases the king, and if I've found favor in his sight, and the thing seems right to the king, and I'm pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman, the son of Hamathah, the Agagite, which he wrote to annihilate the Jews who are in all the king's provinces.

For how can I endure to see the evil that should come to my people? Or how can I endure to see the destruction of my countrymen? Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, who was her cousin, indeed, I've given Esther the house of Haman.

And they've hanged him on the gallows because he tried to lay his hand on the Jews. Now this is something amazing. He says, you yourselves write a law. Oh, hallelujah. I hope you can see this. He says, you yourselves write a decree concerning the Jews, as you please, in the king's name, and seal it with the king's signet ring.

For whatever is written in the king's name and sealed with the king's signet ring, no one can revoke it. Here's what I believe he's saying. Send out a message just as you've come to believe it can be.

Believing the King's Authority

No one can stand against what the king has approved. In Mark chapter 9, verses 22 and 23, a man came to Jesus who had a problem with one of his children. And he said in desperation, if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.

Jesus looked back at him and said, if you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes. Do you believe? What do you believe? What have you come to believe? Jesus stood in the temple one day, Luke chapter 4, he said, the spirit of the Lord is upon me.

Then he gives the reasons to give sight to the blind, to give healing to those that have been bruised in heart, to open prison doors, to those who are held captive, to heal, to set free, to do what only God can do.

And then he said, this day, this scripture is fulfilled in your ears and sat down. And they were confronted with something that you and I are confronted with today. Do we believe this? Do we believe that the king has already decreed that we can stand and defend our families, that we can stand for our communities, that we can believe for the future, that blinded eyes in our society can still be opened and see a way forward?

Do we believe that those who have been captivated by hell itself in our time can be released from the prisons that are trying to hold them? Do we believe? And so he says to Esther and Mordecai, write and send to the people of God of that time as you please.

Send to them as you've come to believe. You're starting to know my heart. You recognize I have all authority in this kingdom. I don't want you just always looking in a sense for me to give you the answer.

Knowing me, you should have the answer by now. You should know who I am. You should know my heart is with you. You should know that whatever is sealed in my name, no one can stand against it. No one has the power to reverse it.

Esther and Mordecai had to have come to believe because of their own victories that the king's seal was sufficient to give power to defenseless people to stand up and overthrow their enemies. They had to have come to believe it.

From Personal Victory to Ministry for Others

There's a point where you and I, we win our personal victories. We fight those secret battles that nobody but you and I and God knows about and maybe a few friends that we've told our struggle to. But God is faithful.

We read his word. We read his decrees. We find his heart and we recognize that prison doors can't hold us. Blinded eyes can't obscure our vision for the future. Wounds of the past can't keep dragging our faces down in the mud any longer.

We begin to recognize that we're not just victims in society. We have the power to stand up and fight back. We have the power. And there's a point now where we have to learn as the people of God to bring others into the same power and same victory that we've come to know.

We can't just take our victory and go home. There's a calling of God on the Christian church, on you and on me. We're called as warriors. We're called as soldiers in the army of God. We're called to be yielded for the sake of others.

We're called to boldly come to the throne, to find grace to help in time of need, speaking to a king who's touched with the feelings of our struggles and our infirmities. And may I say it this way, as I often pray, oh God, what you've done for me, I'm asking you now to do for others.

I'm asking you, God, to give them the victory. I'm asking you to fill them with your spirit. I'm asking you to increase the knowledge of who you are inside of their heart and their life. I'm asking you to bring your people into supernatural life.

Royal Horses Carry the King's Word

And so Esther chapter 8 verses 9 and 10, the king's scribes were called at that time in the third month, which is the month of Sivan on the 23rd day. And it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded.

The Jews, the Satraps, the governors, the princes of the provinces from India to Ethiopia, 127 provinces and all, this was a huge kingdom, to every province in its own language, in its own script, every people in their own language and to the Jews in their own script and language.

And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus, sealed it with the king's signet ring and sent letters by couriers on horseback, riding on royal horses, bred from swift steeds. You got to picture this. There's a moment now in history where a great victory is going to be won.

God has already made a way for the people to hear this victory, for the people to receive the decree that they don't have to lie down in powerlessness and let their enemies plunder them any longer, their homes, their families, their futures.

They don't have to tremble in a corner. There's a word has come from the king. There's a word that's coming through people who have an association with the king and they know his heart. They know his power.

They know they walked so closely with him, they can now speak on his behalf. And you can see these riders, there's 127 distinctive boundaries and borders of various provinces from India to Ethiopia, 127.

So I don't know how many horses were sent out, 500, a thousand. I just can see the scribes with this new authority from the king. They're running out, they're jumping on the backs of these horses, the royal horses.

They're specifically bred for these kinds of moments. The riders get on them and with a click on their sides of their heels, they're off and they're running. If you thought the Kentucky Derby was something you've never seen anything like this in your whole life, they're riding like the wind and they're going to the four corners of the known world at that time.

They're stopping in town to town, they're pulling out the scroll and they're saying, thus, it is written in the name of King Hazarus that you can stand up and you can fight back. The king's power, the king's authority is now behind you.

You can fight for your homes, you can fight for your families, you can fight for your children, you can fight for your communities, you can fight for your future. The king is with you, hallelujah. From town to town and city to city.

With just a click of their heels, the royal horses are off. You know the rest of the story, the people did stand up in the strength of a word from the king. Actually, it was signed by the king, but the word was from people who knew the king.

They stood up and nobody could stand against them. Nobody, nobody. And the fear of that moment settled on all these societies and many of the people, it says, actually became Jews. They were so afraid of this supposed minority, so afraid when the decree came that they could stand up and fight that many of the people became Jews.

It's like a revival. May I call it that? Where many of the people who have stood against Christ and his church now recognize, wow, there is a king whose word is behind these people. I think I'm going to join them rather than fight against them.

I think this is the side that I need to be on. And not only that, the scripture says a lot of the governors and rulers and mayors of towns never, they got on board too as well because they were afraid of the moment.

There was something about this moment. There's something about a moment in history when the king speaks again and royal horses begin to ride. If I could transpose it into our day and make it a personal illustration, a group of people began to meet who knew the king in New York city, in the middle of times square, people were not even wanted to be there because godlessness was trying to sweep the whole area.

But suddenly the people began to know the heart of their king. They began to understand what was written in the king's word and was sealed with his signet. And they began to realize that they in fact were not the minority that God was with them.

The powers of heaven were at their disposal, that they could stand and fight one more time. They didn't have to yield their families, their homes, their futures, their children to evil. They began to realize that they could stand up and fight.

And so they had a device that was invented long before the days of Esther and Mordecai. And so on this device, there was a and with a click of that button, the royal horses went out all over the world into 194 countries telling the people, you can stand and you can fight.

You can fight for your community, your home and your family. You don't have to tremble in a corner anymore. We know the heart of the king and he has set his seal to it. Let the fear of God touch this generation again.

The couriers chapter eight verse 14 says, who rode on royal steeds or horses went out, hastened and pressed on by the king's command. Verse 16 says, the Jews had light and gladness, joy and honor in every province and city, wherever the king's command and decree came.

The Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a holiday than many of the people of the land became Jews because the fear of the Jews fell upon them. Oh, I thank God. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.

The Bride Ruling and Reigning with the King

In chapter nine, verses 11 and 12, it says on that day, the number of those who were killed in Shushan, the citadel was brought to the king. And the king said to queen Esther, the Jews have killed and destroyed 500 men in Shushan, the citadel and 10 sons of Haman.

And what have they done in the rest of the provinces? Now, this is the king speaking. Now, what is your petition? It shall be granted to you or what is your further request? It shall be done. This whole victory began with a trembling bride appealing to her husband, the king.

That's where it all began. But it ends with her husband, the king now appealing to the bride. You'll notice at the end of this thing, there's no scepter, the scepter's gone. She's now in his court. She's ruling and reigning with her husband.

And he's now making a request of her. She's not making a request of him anymore. It's truly amazing. The king said to queen Esther, the Jews have killed and destroyed 500 men in Shushan, the citadel and the 10 sons of Haman.

What have they done in the rest of the provinces? Now, there's no mention of a scepter. There's no mention of Esther saying anything. He says, now, what is your petition? It shall be granted to you. What is your further request?

It shall be done. See, this whole book is about Christ and his church. You understand that? It's a shadow play that God allows to happen in the Old Testament. Yes, it's historical, but everything points to Jesus Christ.

That was the thought in the heart of God when he created the world. Everything points to you and Christ and me and Christ, the son of God, the king and his bride. And I just love this. You know, of course, history tells us that Esther became a co-regent with her husband.

She was writing laws. She was making decrees. She had authority. Unheard of, unheard of, unheard of up to this time in history that she's seated with her husband and ruling and reigning with him. What does the Bible say about the bride of Christ?

What is our eternal destiny? What is God looking for? What will we be doing for eternity? Ruling and reigning for all of eternity. That's what the Bible says. I think it's time for you and I to have a taste of what that's going to be like.

The King's Invitation to Ask

What is your petition? It shall be granted you. What is your request? It shall be done. So that's my altar call to you. What's your petition? What's your request? Where's your faith? What are you willing to believe God for?

What do you need? The king is now asking, he's soliciting. What a change from that, that trembling, fearful bride waiting for the scepter to move from her husband to her husband. Now he's moving towards her saying, what do you want now?

What can I do for you? Anything, anything, just ask for anything. It shall be done. Didn't Jesus say, whatever you ask, believing you shall receive. Do you see him in this? Up to this point, he said to his own disciples, you've asked for nothing, but now ask that your joy might be filled.

What do you want me to do for you? You don't have to tremble any longer. You don't have to live in fear any longer. You don't have to live in weakness any longer. I have, yes, you have tribulation in the world, but I've overcome this world.

The word of God rides higher than all of the circumstances in life that you will ever face. And it's imperative now that you and I begin to win our personal victories so that we understand the heart of the son of God and we can lead others into the victories that we have come to know.

This is a time for the church to stand. It's a time for the people of God to lift our voices one more time. This is a time for us not to draw back in cowardice, but put our hand to that paper when the king says, you write it as you see it and I'll back it.

Praise be to God. It's a time to become specific. You say, I want my son, my daughter. I want them to come home and not just come home. I want that son to be an evangelist. I want that daughter to have an influence in her generation.

It's a time to be specific. It's a time to write it as you see it. And if it's in the word of God, the king says, I'll put my seal on it and nobody can stand against it. No power of hell, no principality, no wall, no trial, no difficulty, not angels, not principalities, nobody here and nobody in the kingdom to come can stand against what I will do.

Nobody can separate you from the love of God. So how do you see it? You're going to be a victim all your life for a victor. What are you going to do? Are you going to stand in a corner and try to just hang onto your can of beans and get through until Christ comes?

Are you going to take up the sword of God's word and start fighting back? Now, father, you are calling us to prayer. You are calling us to something deeper than prayer, something more profound than prayer.

You're calling us Lord into a divine moment in history. You're calling us Lord God to believe you so that we can encourage others to believe as well, that we can send out the word from the king of kings and Lord of Lords, that this is a moment through prayer to stand up against the enemies of God.

And so father, I thank you for it with all my heart. Oh God, give us the courage to believe you now for our struggles, our situations. As you once said to Esther, through King Ahasuerus, you write it now as you have come to see it.

You know my heart. So now write the law. And she rewrote the law of death into a law of life. And so God, I'm praying you would give us the faith and courage to believe you for life, no matter how difficult the hardship might be.

Altar Call for Boldness and Victory

I thank you, praise you in Jesus name. Amen. Praise God. So here's my altar call. It's simple. Esther, what is your request? Would you come? Would you stand and just make your way to this altar? Esther, what is your request?

It shall be done. Just everywhere we are, let's stand, make your way down in the annex. You could step between the screens. Same thing in North Jersey and at home, at our home fellowships, just stand up in your living room, wherever you are.

Just come. Just going to ask you to, just going to ask you to pray with me right now. Lord Jesus, help me to get through my fears and to approach you with confidence, knowing that your heart is for me.

Give me the ability to walk in the spirit, in the wisdom of God and the power which you supply. Give me victory in my struggle. And once I know that victory, give me the power to bring others into the same victory.

Give me courage. Give me boldness. Give me faith. Let my life bring many into freedom and strength. And for this today, Almighty God, my husband and King, for all eternity, I give you praise and amen.

Praise God.