Then answered Esther, and said, My petition and my request [is];
Ver. 7. My petition and my request is] She speaks to the king in his own very words: and so must we if we mean to speed in heaven. Take unto you words, and say, Take away all iniquity, and give good, &c. Produce God's own words in prayer, and say, as she did to Judah, "Whose are these?" Genesis 38:25. He loves to be set upon in his own words, to be pressed with his promise, to be sued upon his bond. This David knew, and therefore cries, Psalms 86:11, "Unite my heart to fear thy name": it is as if he should say, Thou hast promised, Lord, to give me one heart, Ezekiel 11:19; behold, I find mine heart divided, my thoughts dissipated, and myself disabled for duty (for Anima dispersa fit minor), Unite it, I beseech thee, &c. This is the way to make our prayers to be nigh the Lord day and night, as Solomon phraseth it, 1 Kings 8:59 .