CHAPTER 1
Esther's Progressive Prayer Fast
Mercy Trotman's Encounter with Esther's Progressive Prayer Fast:
My name is Mercy Trotman.
• My Testimony: Isaiah 44:24-26; 2 Chronicles 20:20
• 2012: My year of Progressive Fertility and Productivity
As is the custom in Overcomers' House, Dr. Pauline Walley-Daniels (aka PWD) spends time in the Lord's presence before every new year to receive the theme/declaration for the next year. Each year's theme is like a continuation of the previous years. For instance, last year's (2011) theme and declaration was "The year of progressive fruitfulness and fulfillment." Of course we started the year with a lot of zest and expectation, looking forward to a new or any blessing that was not manifested in the previous year.
For my household and me, the first few months of 2012 surprisingly turned sour and challenging. My husband was going back and forth to the hospital and the nursing home. Both of my sons were also getting sick often. At some point, three of them were hospitalized at the same time in the same hospital for a long period of time (Montefiore Hospital). In view of this situation, when I went to our annual world convention "7th School of Prophetic-Deliverance World Convention," I really needed to experience my fertility and productivity. I needed to come out of the hardship and suffering with which the year started for me.
The presence of the Lord moved greatly in the convention. A lot of miracles and deliverances took place. People sent for their friends and family, and the next sessions were packed. In one of these sessions, Dr. Pauline was ministering corporately to us, and we were making some declarations. Then I fell into a trance, in which I saw a lady's hand with well-manicured fingers. The hand was resting on my left cheek in a comforting gesture. When I got out of the trance, I asked the Lord, "Whose hand was on my cheek?" Then the Lord revealed who it was, and rightly so. Once the Lord gave me the name, I identified the hand. I further asked the Father, "What is this lady's hand doing on my cheek?" He said, "She is highly deceptive." The Lord explained that the lady appears to be sympathetic of my situation, but goes behind to shoot arrows at me. I was also told that this particular lady practices witchcraft. The Lord further told me that He would change my current supervisor with whom I had worked for about five years.
Due to my husband and children's hospitalization, I missed many days of work, for which I provided documentation to my office. Upon returning to work, everything the Lord revealed to me began to unfold in a very theatrical manner. The doctors' notes that I provided at my office were disregarded. It felt like a coup d'état was launched against me with the primary aim to get me fired from the job.
• People had told me in the past that my then supervisor had threatened to get me fired.
• She accused me of absence without leave.
• She lied that I purposely made appointments for clients to come on the days that I would be absent from work.
• Even when she knew that I was encountering difficulties logging into my computer because the passwords were expired, and I needed new passwords, she would not assist me to obtain new passwords, but she was rather using every situation she could against me.
• Then she wrote me up stating that I did not want to input my time in the system.
• I was not completing my job timely, and that I did not account for the times that I was out of the office.
• Furthermore, I received the worst evaluation from her, as she stated that I only had completed 80 percent of my job for the last evaluation period.
In view of these accusations, I enlisted the assistance of a union representative who made sure that the situation was addressed in the light of what it was. He reminded everyone involved that my situation was recognized as a family hardship, and I was able to clarify and assuage all her lies. At this point, she became frustrated and subsequently antagonistic towards me. Then I understood the reason God said He would change my supervisor, so I requested to be transferred out of her unit. This move even got her more incensed, as she could not fathom the fact that I dared request for a transfer to another unit. This was an effrontery to her! Prior to my request, she was practically keeping malice with me. She would not respond to me. She would not discuss cases with me to ascertain the recommendation needed.
Eventually, I was reassigned to another unit. A few days after my transfer, my director summoned one of his deputies and myself to his office and served me with a notice of disciplinary charges, which encompassed criminal charges as well. This time around, I was accused of fraud, stealing, lying, etc. It was a miracle that I was not arrested. Although my accusers were not revealed, it was obvious that this was a case of retaliation and vendetta against me. My initial reaction was to laugh because I knew God would vindicate me. The moment I showed the accusation letter to my union representative, he confirmed that "these were pretty serious charges," which was practically beyond his jurisdiction. I had to take the rest of the day off work and go to my union office.
It was reported to me that after I had left the office to go sort out the accusations with the union representatives, this lady (my ex-supervisor) was dancing gleefully, and boasting that I thought I could get away with anything, and that I also thought I could mess with her. I informed Dr. PWD and Rev. Peace of the new development, they prayed with me and assured me that God would vindicate me, and in fact turn it around for my promotion. Dr PWD stated that God would fight for me as he fought for the biblical Esther and Mordecai. I held unto that promise.
I continued to read and pray with the book, Esther's Progressive Prayer Fast, authored by Dr. PWD, besides the Bible and other books. I started declaring that my name is in the Lamb's Book of Life, so it would not be in the hall of shame. The Lord gave me revelations of Scriptures to stand on. I received a lot of intercessory prayer from Dr. PWD, and all the leaders in Pauline Walley Evangelistic Ministries and Overcomers House Prophetic Deliverance Church. My whole church was praying for me. My mother, Missionary Comfort Ogba, and my older sister, Evangelist Ngozi Kalu, joined forces with the rest of my family to give me all the necessary support that I needed to overcome the false charges leveled against me on the job.
Considering the fact that the allegations made against me were false, I went for the hearing with the hope that the charges would be dropped. Unfortunately, after the hearing officer heard my side of the story, she still held on to the accusations brought against me. I was disappointed when she recommended my termination. So many brethren outside of my church were interceding for me. One of the intercessors enlisted to support me in prayer received a message that, "God said He would lift you [me] up gloriously." I strongly held on to that promise. In March of 2012, PWEM held a Women's Conference at Goshen, New York. During the conference, I received a revelation in which the Lord told me to pick up and rearrange my papers. My documents were scattered all over the place. In that revelation, I saw stains where I was sitting, and I saw myself wiping away the stains.
While praying with high expectation, I took some steps to encourage myself. One of the things I did was to write an assumed recommendation letter titled "My Expected End." This recommendation letter represented what I was trusting God to do for me: I was expecting to get a letter from my job, acquitting me of all the twelve charges, including violation of the penal code of the State of New York and the federal government. In fact, when I showed Dr. PWD this recommendation, she jumped up in excitement, thinking it was from my job. I then explained to her that I wrote the decision as a point of contact to believe God that my expectation for a favorable decision from my job would become a reality!
While I was preparing to go for the second and last hearing, my union warned me that my agency rarely overturns or changes their recommendation for termination, so they were certain that I would be terminated. They informed me of my options, which to me were not acceptable to say the least. As soon as I heard that my agency very rarely overturns the recommendation for termination, I started declaring that God would use me to set a new precedence in HRA, as I trusted the Lord to reverse the initial recommendation for termination. I made declarations from the book of Esther, Isaiah chapters 1 through 65, the Psalms, among other Scriptures. My prayer partners, friends, family members, and fellowship on the job were also praying. I was keeping prayer vigils on Friday nights to Saturday mornings with a few of my brethren at our church.
Amidst all these, I arrived at the second hearing without the slightest idea that I could have been stripped of my job on the same day. However, like in the case of Esther and Mordecai, the Lord raised an adviser who encouraged me to reschedule the hearing date so that I could gather more evidentiary documents to support my defense against all the charges leveled against me.
Obtaining these documents was another challenge, as the enemy stopped at nothing to frustrate me. Through all these, Dr. PWD and Reverend Peace were seeking divine instruction and direction from the Lord. In fact, at some point Dr. PWD told me that my name was Esther. She stated that this was my promotion in disguise. Upon submitting the additional documents, I did not hear from the disciplinary department for over a month.
On May 12, 2012, we had the Overcomers' House Divine Encounter, and Prophet Mark McLean from Jamaica was the guest speaker. When he prophesied to me, he stated that the Lord would vindicate me from the false accusations, and that the Lord had allowed all these trials and temptations because of what he has ahead of me. He further prophesied my promotion and many other good things. I was greatly encouraged; yet I did not receive any response from my job immediately.
Then in June 2012, we had our annual Esther's Progressive Prayer Fast. It was a fourteen-day fasting period with an intensive three-day dry fast as Esther did. During this fast, we had to make a list of our prayer requests. Of course, the expectation of vindication and total acquittal from all charges against me were at the top of my list.
A few days after the fast my sister, Evangelist Ngozi Kalu, came to visit me at home. On her way upstairs, she picked up my mail. I looked at the envelopes and spotted the one from my job. My heart started racing but before I opened it, I gave the Lord thanks for whatever I was getting ready to read or discover. Upon opening it I saw a copy of all the charges against me and then another page which stated that my case was handed over to the department of investigation which did a thorough investigation, and recommended that the agency DROP ALL THE CHARGES against me, because the accusations were unfounded. This page was concluded by a statement which said that I should not have been referred to the disciplinary unit in the first place. An excerpt from the memorandum sent to me on July 12, 2012, stated that, "based on the information that was presented to him, this case should not have been referred for disciplinary charges ..., an order is being forwarded to the Employee Discipline Unit to withdraw the charges."
So their recommendation was upheld by the deputy executive commissioner by dropping all charges against me. Praise the Lord, my name did not appear in the hall of shame, but rather, in the Lamb's Book of Life.
The King of Glory favored me, cherished me, and "extended His scepter" to me; when I came in, He overturned the evil decree promulgated against me. Now, my victory opened doors to double favors. I was transferred to another office with better professional satisfaction and fulfillment in February 2013. Seven months later, I received a promotion from Fraud Investigator 1 to Fraud Investigator 2 on my job. To God be the glory in Jesus's name! Amen!!!
Fasting as an Instrument of Petition
During the days of Esther, the people of God who lived in the territory of Persia went into fasting and mourning when they heard that destruction had been plotted against them. Wherever the news of the annihilation of the Jews was heard, the people broke down with fasting, crying, and wailing before the God of creation. The pangs of sorrow automatically switched their souls into the mode of agony, which motivated them to fast and wail without anybody's instruction or direction. They cried unto Jehovah God for deliverance from destruction. The matter at hand required divine intervention. Only the God of heaven could deliver them from the conglomerate of evil that was mounted against them. The initiative paid off well as fasting often attracts the presence of Jehovah God. The Lord heard their cries and intervened in a miraculous manner. The Lord prepared Mordecai as a stepping stone to create the offensive that would stir up the miracle. Esther would be the catalyst in the center of the mystery.
Fasting as a Weapon of War
When the news of the annihilation of the Jews got to Esther, the pattern of the fast moved into another dimension in the realms of the spirit. Thus, the fast shifted from an instrument of petition to a weapon of war, as Esther responded to the news with the statement, "If I perish, I perish." This was an expression of the anguish of her soul. It was a phrase that was determined to war against the spirit of destruction. It was a language of confrontation against the conspirators of evil.
The response of Esther to the devilish news propelled her to declare a fast that would equip her with wisdom to approach the king. Esther realized that unless she conquered the king's presence, and subdued the traditional laws of the palace, she would not be able to achieve her goal. She also needed to be empowered with divine authority to deliver her people from destruction.
Fasting as an Instrument of Favor
Esther declared three days' fast for favor before the king of Persia. Although the king was her husband, and she was the crowned queen of Persia, the matter at hand might ignite another war that could cause the destruction of her life, just as it had happened in the case of former Queen Vashti. Esther did not despise her position. She did not take her husband the king for granted. She recognized authority and gave honor to whom honor was due. Considering the application of the knowledge that she had acquired during her preparatory days, Esther wisely respected her legal grounds and authority.
Fasting as an Arena of Confrontation
Approaching the king of Persia at that era was like entering into the dungeon of death. Going into the presence of the king was confrontation with powers and principalities of darkness in the realms of the Persian territory.
• A warrant of death had been issued against the Jewish people living in Persia.
• The bloodthirsty demons had been released across the land.
• The rulers of darkness had been arrayed and positioned throughout the territory.
• The prince of Persia was seated on the throne of death, spitting evil as he drank from the cup of human destruction.
It was no small matter for Esther to assume that her marital position would grant her easy favor against the powers of destruction. The spirit of murder has no respect for anybody. The spirit of assassination is always bloodthirsty and highly destructive.
Esther needed divine wisdom and favor to confront not just her husband the king, but also the controlling forces that ruled over the palace. The powers and principalities of darkness that ruled over the corridors of politics also controlled the thinking faculties of the legislatures and judiciaries in Persia. The influence of the rulers and powers of darkness manipulated the mind and hearts of human authorities associated with the kingdom of Persia.
