Pray the Word with David Platt is a resource from Radical.net.

Esther chapter 6, verse 1.

On that 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.

Now, that verse doesn't sound that interesting.

Like how does that lead us to pray?

But the context around this verse, what happens before and after is awesome.

So right before this, first the king has decreed the annihilation of the Jewish people and Haman like the

king's right-hand man who is leading that effort is planning to hang Mordecai in other words

everything looks bleak and dark and hopeless.

Talk about despair.

Like God's people decreed to be destroyed, annihilated, ethnically cleansed, and Mordecai is having

gallows built for him by the king's right-hand man.

But on that night, the king just so happened to not

be able to sleep. And he gives orders to bring this book of memorable deeds to be read before him. He

wants a bedtime story. And if you read the rest of this chapter, that bedtime story just so happens to tell how Mordecai had played a pivotal part in saving the king's life, which leads the king the next morning to honor Mordecai, which leads eventually to the king and Haman having a conversation with Esther, where it becomes clear that

Haman is the one who is behind all of these evil things, including this plot to destroy all the

Jewish people.

And eventually, the Jewish people are saved.

And Mordecai does not die. Instead, he's honored and Haman ends up being the one

who is hanged. The point is, it all starts with the king just so happening to not be able to sleep

...