Trusting God

by Jerry Bridges

We should then look to God in prayer in all those situations where some aspect of our futures lies in the hands of another individual. As Alexander Carson said, “If we need the protection of men, let us first ask it from God. If we prevail with him, the power of the most mighty and of the most wicked must minister to our relief.”[7] When Queen Esther was to go before King Xerxes without being summoned—an act that would normally result in her being put to death—she asked Mordecai to gather all of the Jews together to fast (and presumably to pray) that the king would grant her favor. Esther did not presume to know God’s will—she said, “If I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16)—but she certainly knew that God controlled the king’s heart. Obviously we do not always know how God will answer our prayers, or if He will move in the heart of another individual, but it is enough to know that our destiny is in His hands, not those of other people.