This is “The Remedy for Worry.” There are seasons in our life when God can’t easily be seen. But even when you can’t see Him, when you can’t feel Him, when the night is dark and it seems like there’s no way out of the situation, He is working! Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
♪ ♪
>> Welcome to Kingdom
Connection.
Thank you so much for
joining us today.
I know God has a word in store
that I believe is gonna
lift you and encourage you
and give you strength
and bless you
in remarkable ways.
You know the church
is on a comeback.
The body of Christ
is on a comeback.
And I believe today’s message
is going to proclaim
in your life that God
is able to bring you a comeback.
Open your ears, open your mind,
He’s ready to speak.
♪ ♪
>> I wanna talk to you today
on “The Remedy to Worry.”
The Book of Esther is centered
around King Ahasuerus
who is mean and he’s a pagan,
and he is ungodly.
There’s nothing about him
that seeks the Lord.
He’s just —
He is what he is.
And he —
To show you how mean he is,
when his wife,
who was the queen,
would not dance for the princes
that the king had brought in,
and wined and dined
them for three days.
And in the conclusion,
he wanted his queen to come out
and do a vulgar dance.
And she refused to do it.
And the Bible said that he
removed her from being queen.
We don’t know if he killed her
or if he banished her,
but she’s never heard of again.
He replaced her by having
a beauty contest.
And he has 120 provinces
in Babylon, and he says find
the prettiest girl
in every province,
and send her to a beauty contest
in Babylon, and the one who’s
the most beautiful is the one
that will be my new queen.
And as God would have it,
there is a little orphan girl
by the name of Esther
who was in one
of those provinces.
And she was beautiful,
and she is nominated
as one of the potential choices
of the king.
And out of all
the beautiful girls —
at some point, it wasn’t about
hips, and lips, and all of that.
At some point —
Esther wins the beauty contest.
And she becomes his queen,
but we almost make it like
Esther is some huge, huge
heroic figure in this story.
She was terrified.
She was terrified of this man.
He was brutal.
Life meant nothing to him.
And she was so terrified,
as we’ll see later in this
story, that she was afraid
to even go into his presence
without being invited.
She was afraid he would
take her life.
So there was no joy
in this marriage.
There was no relationship of,
you know,
romance and all of that.
It was a brutal —
he was a brutal, evil man,
and she’s forced to marry him.
Then we move into chapter 2.
And there’s only six chapters
in the book,
but we move into chapter 2.
And amazingly in chapter 2 —
Mordecai, her uncle,
is the only relative.
Her parents had been killed,
and she’s an orphan,
but she does have one relative.
Her uncle’s name is Mordecai.
And Mordecai is at the gate,
and he is there by chance.
There again, God is working
and orchestrating.
And he overhears a conversation
of two of the bodyguards
of the king,
and they’re talking about
an assassination plot
that they are part of.
That they’re going to be
the ones who are going to
take the king’s life.
And he can’t believe what
he’s hearing.
He goes to Esther, his niece,
and he tells her.
There is an assassination
attempt about to be made
on the king,
and you need to know it,
and you need to warn.
And apparently she was
afraid to go to him personally.
She tells somebody —
we’re not told who she tells.
They spoil the
assassination attempt.
They kill the bodyguards.
They root out all of the people
who were conspiring and,
of course, deal with them
in the most brutal terms.
But this person,
whoever it was, took the credit
and never told the king
that it was Mordecai the Jew
who had saved his life
through Esther, his queen.
And so it’s a interesting
moment when you understand
that – there’s one other major
character that I need
to introduce,
and his name is Haman.
Haman is King Ahasuerus’
prime minister.
He’s second in command.
He’s very powerful.
Listen carefully.
And he’s brutal, and he’s
just as mean as the king.
Many scholars believe he
was the one who got the news,
protected the king,
wiped out the conspiracy
to kill the king,
but he never told the king.
He did it like I am the one
who saved your life.
And therefore, he built even
more credibility with the king.
And now, as he’s riding
through the city,
this prime minister —
he’s not the king.
He’s one notch under the king.
And he’s riding through
the city on his chariot.
The king is very pleased
with him, and all the people
have been taught to bow down.
But that old Jewish man named
Mordecai will not bow.
And it so bothered Haman
that this powerful man would go
back to his palace,
and he would go in and talk
to his wife about it.
The Bible said he actually
made the comment,
I would like to kill him
with my bare hands.
I can’t stand that Jew.
That Mordecai.
I can’t stand him,
and I wanna kill him
with my bare hands.
Alright now.
We’re going somewhere.
Watch this.
And sure enough,
he decided one day,
I’m going to exterminate
all the Jews.
I’m going to kill ‘em.
And he goes to the king,
and he gets permission
from the king.
Again, a brutal man —
the king and now
his prime minister.
And the prime minister
comes to the king, and he says,
you know these Jews?
They really helped us.
We squeezed all of the wisdom,
all of their inventions,
their intellectual property —
everything.
We’ve taken from ‘em.
We’ve learned everything
we can learn from ‘em.
They’re disposable to us.
They’re multiplying.
They actually could be a threat,
and I think we oughtta kill ‘em.
And the king says,
sounds reasonable to me.
Kill ‘em all.
What are we gonna
have for lunch?
That’s literally how these guys
— they’re that cold
and that brutal.
And the decision is made,
almost afterthought,
yeah, just exterminate.
And on a certain day,
all of the Jews will absolutely
be exterminated.
And all that Haman is thinking
about is I can’t wait
to kill that one that
I can’t stand named Mordecai.
And Mordecai hears the story.
And when he hears the story,
he goes to his niece
in the palace, the queen
and he says,
you have come to the kingdom
for such a time as this.
You have to go in there,
and you have to speak up,
and you have to —
She’s trying to work up
the courage.
And finally, finally, finally,
knowing that she —
she said fast for me,
and everybody goes
on a three-day fast.
And after three days —
see this?
She’s a normal person.
She’s filled with worry.
She’s filled with anxiety.
She’s filled with oh my God,
this is horrible.
And they’re fasting,
and they’re praying.
And after three days,
her courage is worked up enough,
and she, like a mouse,
is kinda tiptoeing into
the presence of the king.
And when he sees her,
he holds out this scepter.
And she comes in, and he says
what do you want, Esther,
and why have you approached me?
And she didn’t have the nerve.
She didn’t have the nerve
to say it, so she speaks up,
and she says, I want you
to come to a banquet tonight.
I want you – and I think
‘cause Haman was on her mind —
and Haman.
Oh, I want Haman.
You and Haman come.
You and Haman come to a banquet.
I think she was just buying
herself time.
She coulda cut straight
to the chase.
She didn’t have the courage
to do it.
She was just buying time.
And she walks outta there,
and wipes her brow,
and says oh my God.
I thought he was gonna
kill me right then.
She has this huge
dinner prepared,
and Haman and the king come.
These brutal, mean, wicked men.
And they’re sitting there,
and she’s there,
and she’s trying to figure out
how she’s gonna bring it up.
And they eat,
and she wines them,
and they drink.
And I’m sure they were full
of the king’s wine,
and it was a big night,
and it was a enjoyable night.
And knowing Haman like
he’s presented in the scripture,
he’s like — I am so special.
I was the only one invited.
There are no other princes
from the other 120 senators
and provinces.
None of them have been asked.
Look at me.
Look at me.
I’m sure all over his Instagram
were pictures of the —
you know.
You know.
You know.
And he’s like, look.
I want every — and the word
was spreading all outside.
My goodness.
Look at Haman.
He’s the only one that’s eating
with the king and queen.
He’s a big deal.
And so that night when he walks
outta the palace
after that party,
it was so great and grand,
and all the people have heard.
And the moment they see him,
the paparazzi are outside.
The news is outside.
They’re all bowing down.
Except for that Jew.
He’s standing there.
And then you come to Esther 6:1.
This is where I’ve been
working to.
And that night,
the king could not sleep.
So he commanded to bring
the book of the records
of the chronicles, and they
were read before the king.
That night,
the king could not sleep.
Everything is bad.
Everything is messed up
and getting worse.
Everything is hopeless.
Everything is filled
with anxiety and worry.
They’re facing a slaughter.
She’s scared to death.
And the only thing that saved
their life was that night,
the king could not sleep.
Now watch.
Y’all gotta see this.
Lemme preach.
Look up here at me.
That reader just happen chance
opens it and starts reading
about Mordecai the Jew
who saved his life.
And the king says wait a minute.
What was done
to reward that man?
Has he ever come and tried
to tell me this story?
No, sir.
He didn’t want any credit?
No, sir.
Has he ever asked
for a reward?
No, sir.
My goodness.
He did it with no motive.
I wanna reward that man.
What’s happened to that man?
Nothing, sir.
Nothing was done to reward him.
Nothing.
Oh my goodness.
Now he’s got off the throne,
and he’s walking around
in his robe
and Versace slippers.
And he’s pacing the floor.
How can I reward that man?
How can I reward that man?
How can I reward him?
And he finally sits down.
Now the sun’s coming up,
and in walks Haman.
He’s freshly shaved.
He slept like a angel,
and he feels good.
And he walks in, and he thinks
– I just had the greatest night
of my life,
and tonight I get to do it
all over again.
I am something special.
He walks into the presence
of the king.
The king looks at him.
He’s got black bags under
his eyes, and he says now —
he says, I wanna ask you
something, Haman.
He said, what would you
suggest that I do?
Let’s say there’s a man
in the kingdom that I really
want to honor.
And Haman,
with his egotistic self,
is thinking — oh my God.
Now he’s about to do
a humble brag.
I know it could never be I.
But, oh king — come on, y’all.
I’m working hard up here.
Y’all sitting out there just
like you’re at a movie.
Where’s the popcorn?
[laughter, cheering]
I’ll preach to myself.
This is how I preach.
That’s how I talk to myself
when I read stuff.
But he says, what would —
let’s say there was somebody
I wanted to bless, Haman.
I mean, I really wanted to show
honor and show the whole nation
this guy is a big deal to me.
Sir, I would suggest humbly,
I think you oughtta
take your robe off.
Your robe.
And put it on him.
I think you oughtta take
your stallion – the steed
that you ride on yourself –
and you oughtta let him
ride on it with that robe.
I think you oughtta take
some pipsqueak, minor,
lesser person, and let
them guide the bridle of
that horse on a rope
and walk through the streets.
And as trumpets are blasting,
tell all the people —
the man in whom the king
honors is before you.
And instantly the king says
that’s brilliant.
I love it.
So here’s what I want you to do.
I want you to do everything
you just said, Haman.
But do it to Mordecai the Jew.
And he said, by the way,
I think you’re important enough
that you should be the one
who’s leading the horse,
screaming the man who the king
wants to honor —
this is the man on the horse.
[cheering]
Boy, I don’t know who
I’m preaching to, but stuff
you’re worrying about?
You’ve forgotten
who your God is.
You’ve forgotten how
powerful He is.
You’ve forgotten that when
He speaks, seas open.
When He speaks,
mountains move.
When He speaks,
demons tremble.
And no, the enemy’s plot against
your life will not
be successful.
God is fighting for you.
Sit down.
I’m almost done.
So don’t you know how
humiliating that was?
The man whom the king honors.
The man whom the king honors.
That night,
after a humiliating day,
Haman comes to the palace
for the final banquet.
Queen Esther is there.
They eat.
The king turns and says,
why did you do this?
Tell me the real reason.
What do you want?
She said sir,
there is a conspiracy
in the land to kill Mordecai
the Jew and all of his seed.
And I don’t know if you
knew this, king.
But I, Esther — I’m a Jew.
The king is enraged.
Stands up — ‘cause he didn’t
sleep all night, so he’s —
you know how you are when
you didn’t sleep good.
Turn to your wife and say,
I know how you are when
you didn’t sleep good.
Turn to your husband and say,
you’re that way all the time.
It doesn’t matter if you
sleep good or not.
Can I finish?
Here’s the finish.
He’s so angry, he doesn’t
wanna make a quick decision.
He is smart enough to know
if I get rid of this guy,
it’s gonna cause me a lot.
So he gets up and walks out.
He says, who was it behind
this conspiracy?
And she says,
this one right here.
Haman.
He’s so mad.
He’s just — if he spit,
it’d kill grass, he’s so mad.
He walks outta the room
trying to pull himself together.
And the queen takes off
to her bedroom,
and he follows her.
Haman follows her ‘cause he’s —
now all the tables are turned.
And he falls on her bed
when she goes into her bedroom.
She’s sitting on it.
He falls on her bed,
and he starts crying out
for mercy.
And the king just happened
at that time to walk
in the bedroom, and he sees
this guy on the bed
with his queen.
And he says, I was trying
to figure out what to do.
Now I know what to do.
And the gallows that you
prepared for Mordecai —
guards, take him out
and hang him right now
on those same gallows.
Now lemme finish.
So here’s what I came to say.
In a church this size,
this 2,600-year-old story
is not just a piece of history.
But it’s a reminder
that you need to hear.
That you have a king
who has intentional insomnia.
He said I will –
He didn’t say I can’t sleep.
He said I will not sleep
or slumber ‘cause I’m
gonna walk the floor.
And while you sleep,
I am up, and I’m planning,
and I’m plotting your comeback.
I’m planning how that the enemy
has constructed things
that I’m gonna
turn for your good.
I’m gonna use them against
the very voices that have
tried to destroy you.
Your king is not asleep.
He’s active.
He has a plan.
He’s for you.
And in a crowd this size,
there’s some family
that’s represented
that had a heated argument.
Unkind, cruel words were spoken,
maybe even last night.
And it looks like the enemy’s
gone wild in your family.
There’s somebody else here who’s
scared of a medical situation.
You dread going back
to the doctor.
The word – the C word, cancer,
is tormenting you.
You don’t know what in
the world – and the problem
is real, and it’s being formed,
and you feel like –
you’re worried,
and you’re full of anxiety,
and fear, and worry.
In a crowd this size,
there’s some parents
that are agonizing
over a teenager that’s making
crazy decisions.
And you never thought –
and you get one kid fixed,
and then another one acts up.
How do you know?
‘Cause I raised five of ‘em.
You get one thing fixed,
and here’s another one.
And you feel like you’re
losing your mind.
And where is God?
His name’s not even
in this family apparently.
But He sent me to tell you
that the one thing that turned
the battle for Esther,
the one thing that turned
the battle for Mordecai,
is that the king
had intentional insomnia.
How many of you are worrying
about something?
And there’s only two reasons
why people have insomnia.
Something internal
or external is bothering ‘em.
It may be something internal.
It may be a disease.
It may be something going
on internally, or it may
be something externally
with people,
relationships, job, family.
But it’s worrying you.
Tormenting you.
Jesus said come unto me,
all you who are weary
and heavy-laden,
and cast your worry on me,
for I can handle it.
And your King is not asleep.
He’s awake.
The King can’t sleep as long
as you have a problem.
You don’t believe He loves you.
You’re not a somebody.
You’re the bride of the King.
[applause]
♪ ♪
>> Well, you know the Bible
teaches us to call on the name
of the Lord,
and He’ll answer us and show us
great and mighty things
that we know not of.
Isn’t that wonderful to know
that we have a God
who not only hears
our prayers,
but He exceeds our prayers.
And he wants to meet your needs.
Whatever they are in your life,
no matter how big or small,
He cares.
He hears the cry
of His children.
So right now,
if you need healing,
if you need a miracle
in your finances,
if you need God’s
help on your job,
one of your children
or some situation
in your family
is just overwhelming you,
and you don’t know where to turn
and what to do,
I believe prayer is absolutely
the invitation for God’s
supernatural power
to come into your life.
And I’m gonna pray for you.
I got this one,
you don’t even have to pray,
you just receive this prayer.
Lord, Jesus I pray today
for every person watching
this program
by divine appointment.
I pray today
in the name of Jesus
that healing would flow
into their body.
Enough is enough.
I rebuke the spirit
of infirmity and sickness
and constant tiredness
and weariness
and physical ailments.
Lord, we claim miraculous
healing now.
Supernatural healing, now.
But He was wounded
for our transgressions,
and bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace,
which includes the healing
of the mind, the emotions
was upon Him,
and by His stripes,
we are healed.
And Lord, I thank you today
for those who are watching
who need deliverance.
Either in their life,
or someone they know
from addictions,
and bondages.
Depression, discouragement,
even suicide.
Defeat, bondage.
In the name of Jesus,
I rebuke and I plead the blood
of Jesus Christ over
every person who’s struggling
in any of these areas.
Yes, He loves you.
No, He will not give up on you.
Yes, He will lift you out
of the muck and the mire,
and the pain,
and the hurt.
He’s doing it even now,
receive it.
Hallelujah.
Receive it in the name
of Jesus Christ.
And just say right
where you are,
“Jesus, save me.
Jesus, heal me.
Come into my heart,
come into my home,
come into my life.”
The miracle has begun
in Jesus’ name.
I tell you now,
I feel faith from that.
Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord
right where you are.
And if you prayed that prayer,
pick up the phone and dial
the number that’s on the screen.
Or go online and send us
an email and declare
your victory today.
We love to hear from you.
It’s an encouragement
to our whole team.
God bless you,
and we’ll see you next time
on Kingdom Connection.
>> The southern border
of Israel is under
constant attack from
their neighbors
on the Gaza Strip.
From a barrage of rockets,
to incendiary fire balloons,
to terrorist tunnels
popping up to kidnap
innocent women and children
in the middle of the night.
Post traumatic stress disorder
is rampant in this community,
especially among children.
The locals refer to their
way of life as, “99% Heaven,
and 1% Hell.”
That prescribed 1%
leads to upwards of 97%
of the children suffering
from PTSD.
But there’s hope.
You can bring comfort
to these people by partnering
with us today.
We are in the process
of building another
bomb shelter in the Eshkol
region of Israel.
This is the community’s
number one priority
to help ease their constant
worries of terrorism
and rocket attacks.
When you partner with us today
with a generous gift of $1,000
or more this month,
we’ll send you the
“Acres of Diamonds” Collection,
including a commemorative coin
made from soil from Jerusalem.
We’ll also plant a tree
in your honor in Israel.
In a living, growing memorial
of your love
for the Jewish people.
With your gift of $500 or more
we want to send you the
“Acres of Diamonds” Gift Set,
including Jentezen Franklin’s
three-part “Acres of Diamonds”
video series on DVD.
With your gift of $50 or more
this month, we want to bless you
with the “Acres of Diamonds”
Bundle, with a beautiful
art print reminding you
to be still.
Thank you for fulfilling
Biblical prophecy today
by providing comfort
to God’s people living
in the war zone
of Eshkol, Israel.
Call now, or go online today.
♪ ♪
>> In Eshkol, the Israeli
region closest to the Gaza
strip has seen as many
as 174 rockets fired at them
within a 24 hour period.
Because of friends
and connection partners
just like you,
we’ve been able to break ground
on the Eshkol Fortified Trauma
Center and Playschool.
Here the brave families who
live in this combat zone
will have a safe place
to build community,
strength and resiliency,
and receive the counseling
services that they
so desperately need.
>> Shalom from Eshkol.
I’m so happy to share with you
that we already completed
the shell, the entire shell
of the Playschool
and we are now dealing with
the interior of the entire
dreamy facility that
we are building here.
Soon we will have this
wonderful dream facility
for our entire community,
for the senior citizens,
for the children,
for all of us.
>> Because of you,
all of this is possible.
Thank you for your generous
support of Jentezen
Franklin Media Ministries.
♪ ♪
>> Cherise and I want
to invite you to join us
on the Holy Land tour in 2021.
December 1-10.
I’ll be teaching from the sites
and be filming some special
programs that you’ll get
to be a part of.
You’ll get amazing tour that
will change your perspective
and show you the Bible
like you’ve never seen before.
I’m excited about Israel,
the Holy Land.
Pray about if you should go.
It’s gonna be an amazing trip.
♪ ♪
>> We hope you’ve enjoyed
this teaching
by Jentezen Franklin,
and thank you
for your continued support
of this ministry.
Your prayers
and financial support
make these programs possible.
For more information
about this message,
and other ministry resources,
visit us online
at JentezenFranklin.tv.
♪ ♪