Esther 4:1, 3 When Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and bitter cry….And in every province, whithersoever the king’s commandment came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing, and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
Haman had talked the king into determining by lot a particular day in which all the Jews were to be killed. The king made a decree and sent it out everywhere. When Mordecai heard of it, he prayed, clothing himself with sackcloth and ashes, symbolizing penitence and faith, and cried aloud. When the decree went out, all the Jews mourned, fasted, and wept. Mordecai expected divine deliverance. Mordecai and Esther believed in God’s care, and God used them to save His people.
The outward symbols of sincere penitence and faith do not move God, but faith in a God who hears moves us to pray with faith. The people prayed the same way. In His providence, and in His way, God saved His people from extinction, so that seed would remain that would bring the Son of God, Savior, into the world. They did not know what God would do or how He would do it, but they knew He would do something.
When threats are looming in front of us, God gives us the faith to respond by turning to Him in prayer, penitence, and faith. Then the Lord works salvation and answers prayer.