AWAKE, MY GENERATION- A COMMITMENT AND CRY FOR INTERCESSION

The month of June is the month of Pentecost (the month when the Holy Ghost came). It is the 3rd month of the Hebrew calendar and it is also known as the month of Sivan. June is a period when there is access into the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.

HOW REVIVAL COMES

Esther chapter 4 verse 1 to 11.

This is a time when evil and destruction have been determined against the Jews during the reign of king Ahasuerus who reigned from India to Ethiopia over 127 provinces.

When Mordecai learnt about this thing, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and covered himself with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city and cried out with a loud and bitter cry.

It was recorded that in every province, wherever the Kings command and his decree reached, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting and weeping and lamenting, and many of them lay in sackcloth and ashes.

During this period, Esther (Mordecai’s niece) who was a Jew, was also the queen of King Ahasuerus.

Mordecai sent a copy of the written decree issued in Susa for the destruction of the Jews to Esther and commanded her to go to the King to beg his favor and plead with him on behalf of her people. However, Esther sent message to Mordecai saying, “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law – to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live. But as for me, I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days”.

When the words of Queen Esther was reported to Mordecai, Mordecai sent this reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all 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?

Afterwards, Esther replied Mordecai saying, ”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 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.

Esther chapter 5 verse 1 to 4

On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace, in front of the king’s quarters, while the king was sitting on his royal throne inside the throne room opposite the entrance to the palace.

And when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she won favour 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”.

From the above event, we saw how THREE DAYS FASTING without food nor drink both day and night by Mordecai, all the Jews in Susa, Queen Esther and her young women brought about the REVIVAL that the Jews needed at that time. – Through this singular act, Queen Esther won favour in the sight of the king.

-          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.

MORDECAI

The man Mordecai is an interesting figure that we need to look at.

Esther chapter 2 verse 5 to 7

Now there was a Jew in Susa the citadel whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, a Benjaminite, who had been carried away from Jerusalem among the captives carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away. He was bringing up Hadassah, that is, Esther – the daughter of his uncle – who had neither father nor mother. The young woman had a beautiful figure and was lovely to look at, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.

Esther chapter 2 verse 21 to 23

In those days, as Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate, Bigthan and Teresh – two of the king's eunuchs who guarded the threshold, became angry and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. And this came to the knowledge of Mordecai, and he told it to Queen Esther, and Esther told the king in the name of Mordecai. When the affair was investigated and found to be so, the men were both hanged on the gallows. And it was recorded in the book of the chronicles in the presence of the king.

Esther chapter 6 verse 1 to 10

On a certain night the king could not sleep. And he gave orders to bring the book of memorable deeds, the chronicles, and they were read before the king. And it was found written how Mordecai had told about Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, and who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. And the king said, "What honor or distinction has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?" The king's young men who attended him said, "Nothing has been done for him."

Now when King Ahasuerus was to honor Mordecai, he sought counsel from Haman – the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha whom the king had advanced and set his throne above all the officials who were with him. This was the same Haman who planned to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai throughout the whole Kingdom of Ahasuerus.

Haman told the king, “let royal robes be brought, which the King has worn and the horse that the king has ridden and a royal crown be set on the head of the man whom the king delights to honor.”

Then the king said to Haman, “Hurry, take the robes and the horse, as you have said, and do so to Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king’s gate. Leave out nothing that you have mentioned.”

Esther chapter 8 verse 15 to 17

Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal robes of blue and white, with a great golden crown and a robe of fine linen and purple, and the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced. The Jews had light and gladness and joy and honor. And in every province and in every city, wherever the king's command and his edict reached, there was gladness and joy among the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many from the peoples of the country declared themselves Jews, for fear of the Jews had fallen on them.

Esther chapter 10 verse 2 to 3

And all the acts of his power and might, and the full account of the high honor of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? For Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Ahasuerus, and he was great among the Jews and popular with the multitude of his brothers, for he sought the welfare of his people and spoke peace to all his people.

The good act of Mordecai which he did by rescuing King Ahasuerus from death was recorded in the book of the Chronicles in the presence of the king.

We saw that later in the record of the book of Esther, the king ordered that the book of memorable deeds be brought and be read before him and there it was found written how Mordecai had delivered the king from death from the hands of Bigthana and Teresh who had sought to lay hands on the king.

I will like to tell you that God is taking a record in the book of His Chronicles concerning the commitment and cry of men for revival. God is taking a record of the intercession of men for revival and in short moment from now God will be demanding for the reading of that book of His Chronicles so that men can be rewarded for their labor.

            Let me ask you that by the time God will ask that this book of Chronicles be read, will you have a record of a memorable deed that will be rewarded?

Mordecai in his own case had a memorable deed that was brought to remembrance and which was rewarded.

In this season when God is calling our generation to a RE-AWAKENING – a commitment and a cry for intercession.

Ø  What are you doing?

Ø  How are you committed to your own intercessory assignment?

Ø  What record will be written and bear concerning you when the time for remembrance shall come?

So there is a call to my generation, and this is what I have titled: AWAKE, MY GENERATION – a commitment and cry for intercession.

The political system of our nation Nigeria is paralyzed. The fear of God is nowhere to be found in our political system and God is saying, “Awake, my generation – a commitment and cry for intercession.

Queen Esther and Prime Minister Mordecai were Jews who became so prominent and had great influence in the political system of Media and Persia.

Do you care to ask, how does this come to be? Here is the answer;

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. – THIS IS HOW REVIVAL COMES.

NOTE: Three days fasting by Mordecai, all the Jews in Susa, Queen Esther and her young women defied the existing law of Media and Persia, broke all existing protocols and brought the Jews the victory they needed.

I pray that by virtue of our commitment and cry for intercession, God will raise men and women full of godly values and influences to take over the political system of our nation, Nigeria. That we will come into a period in our nation when we will have light and gladness and joy and honor, a time when many in the nation will declare themselves as believers and when  the fear of God will fall on everyone.

Although Mordecai was a Jew carried away by King Nebuchadnezzar, he ended up as the second in rank to King Ahasuerus.

We are coming into a season when God will use men who are living in His fear to effect positive changes in the political system of our nation Nigeria.

To this effect I call to my generation vociferating this message of God, ”Awake, my  Generation”.