“Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esth. 4:14).
When I stood at the front of Cornerstone Church, the church my husband pastors, and looked out at the 300 teenage girls who were attending our first Woman of God class, I was excited and frightened. This was one of the first times I had conducted a large teaching series, and I knew the Lord was counting on me to make a difference in these young girls’ lives.
The series was inspired by the book of Esther. In my study of this book, I realized that when God positioned Esther to become the queen of Persia, she had to prepare herself to fulfill His call. “Why do we not prepare ourselves to follow God’s call on our lives in the same way Esther did?” I wondered.
The result of this thought was a 12-class series at our church for young women 13 to 19 years old to equip them to become women of God. I expected 25 to 50 young women to register for the class. Instead, more than 300 girls flooded the registration tables.
During the series, mothers of the girls as well as other women began coming to the classes and sitting in the back of the room. So the next year I began a Woman of God class for women ages 21 to 100.
When I first faced this older group, I had the same queasy feeling I’d had with the younger women. I wanted these adults to grasp God’s love for them and come to know who they are as daughters of the King. I asked the Lord, “Help me to minister to these women as Your servant. Help me to show them Your plans for them as Your beloved daughters.”
The Lord answered my prayer. During the years these classes have been held, He has blessed the women in our church. Approximately 2,500 women have participated in the Woman of God teaching series.
What’s the attraction? Why do women of all ages benefit so much from these classes on becoming a woman of God? Because they are learning that they have a divine identity, a divine destiny and value in God’s eyes. Some of them are discovering their purpose and worth for the first time in their lives.
Divine Identity
When we accept the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, we become daughters of the King and obtain the privilege and responsibility of representing Him in every area of our lives. However, we must claim that position before we can walk in it. I learned this truth through an experience I had a number of years ago.
In 1981, my husband, John, and I were invited to meet with Prime Minister Menachem Begin because of my husband’s support of the nation of Israel. It was a special honor to meet the man God had used to form the Jewish state.
Naturally, I was very nervous. The devil took advantage of my condition by attacking my mind. “Who are you to meet with this head of state?” he demanded. “You are a hindrance to this meeting. You should not even be in the room.”
As I considered his assessment, I became overwhelmed by a wave of insecurity and had difficulty breathing. I began to walk toward my husband to ask to be excused from the meeting.
Suddenly, I heard a voice in my mind that was louder than that of my accuser: “Why are you leaving something I have ordained?”
“Because I am not worthy to meet with such an important person,” I told the Lord. “I am about to meet with the leader of Israel!”
Immediately that same strong voice made a statement that changed my life forever: “And he is about to meet the King’s daughter.”
The wave of insecurity receded. I squared my shoulders, walked over to the prime minister, shook his hand firmly and introduced myself.
If you didn’t know me at the time you can’t comprehend the miracle of that moment. I had been bound by insecurity and low self-esteem for years. But when the Lord clearly confirmed my identity in the Spirit, I knew I would never be the same again—because I had taken my rightful place in the society of the kingdom of heaven. I was, and always will be, the King’s daughter.
Janet Perez Eckles 
Shawn Akers 
Abby Trivett 
