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.

♪ ♪