Alabaster & Incense: Why This Is the True Heart of The Esther Experience®

When most women think about The Esther Experience®, they often picture the royal gowns, the crowns, the elegant banquet, and the Coronation Ceremony. Those moments are beautiful, intentional, and deeply meaningful. They honor the journey each woman has taken and celebrate the identity God has restored.

But if you asked me what the true heart of The Esther Experience® is, my answer would surprise you.

It isn't the coronation.

It is Alabaster & Incense.

Long before there is a crown, there must first be an altar.

As I sought the Lord concerning this year's retreat, He continued to bring me back to one image: women clothed in royal garments, standing together in a circle of authority with an alabaster vessel in their midst. As the vessel was broken, its fragrance filled the room.

Then I heard the Lord say, "This Esther Experience® is a legislative session in the Spirit."

In that moment, I knew this year's gathering would be unlike any before it.

A Gathering Before the King

Throughout Scripture, God has always gathered His people before pivotal moments in history. Before battles were fought, before kingdoms shifted, before leaders were commissioned, His people were first called into His presence.

Not for information.

For transformation.

Not for performance.

For surrender.

That is the invitation of Alabaster & Incense.

The alabaster jar in Scripture was never ordinary. It held something precious, something costly. Once it was broken and poured out, there was no taking it back. Its purpose was not to remain sealed but to release its fragrance in worship.

How many of us have spent years looking at the broken places in our lives, believing they disqualified us, when perhaps they were the very places God was using to produce the fragrance He intended to release?

What if your breaking was never the end of your story?

What if it was your preparation?

Worship That Listens

Many of us have learned how to pray. Fewer of us have learned how to listen.

Alabaster & Incense is not simply a prayer session. It is a sacred invitation to worship until our hearts become aligned with the heart of God.

Scripture tells us that incense represents the prayers of the saints ascending before His throne. During this gathering, our desire is not simply to present our requests to God but to receive His perspective.

We pour out our worship.

We listen for Heaven's strategy.

We respond in agreement.

This is where intercession moves beyond asking God to bless our plans and becomes partnering with what He is already declaring over families, communities, cities, and nations.

It is a holy exchange.

The Fragrance of Surrender

One of the greatest revelations the Lord has impressed upon my heart this year is this:

The fragrance has always been the purpose of the breaking.

Jesus Himself was broken so that life could be released to the world.

The woman with the alabaster jar broke what was most valuable because she understood that worship is never measured by what we keep but by what we willingly surrender.

In much the same way, many women arrive at The Esther Experience® carrying years of hidden obedience, quiet prayers, unseen sacrifices, and seasons of refinement. Those years were not wasted. Heaven has been producing oil.

The fragrance that fills the room isn't created in a single moment. It has been cultivated over years of faithfulness.

More Than a Retreat

The Esther Experience® has always been about more than a weekend away. It is a sacred journey through Identity, Adoption, Authority, and Destiny—a place where women encounter the Father's heart, experience healing, and embrace who He created them to be.

This year, however, I believe the Lord is inviting us into something even deeper.

Not simply to receive.

But to respond.

Not simply to be restored.

But to be commissioned.

I believe He is gathering women who have been hidden, refined, and prepared for such a time as this. Women whose influence will not come from striving but from abiding. Women who understand that true authority is first cultivated in surrender.

The greatest authority in the Kingdom has never been found on a platform.

It has always been found at His feet.

An Invitation

If you've been watching from a distance, wondering whether this year is your year, I encourage you to take that question before the Lord.

Sometimes His invitations arrive quietly. They come as a gentle stirring you can't explain, a Scripture that won't leave you, or a persistent sense that He is calling you deeper.

If that is what you've been experiencing, don't dismiss it too quickly.

Perhaps this is not simply another retreat you've been considering.

Perhaps it is an invitation into your next season of obedience.

This September, we will gather in Virginia Beach not merely to celebrate who we are, but to pour out our alabaster oil, lift our incense before the King, receive His strategy, and leave carrying fresh oil for the assignments He has entrusted to us.

Because before Heaven crowns a woman, it first calls her to the altar.

And perhaps that has been the invitation all along.

Join Us for The Esther Experience® 2026

If you sense the Lord stirring your heart, I invite you to prayerfully consider joining us this September. There are only 13 spots available and they are filling up.

The Esther Experience® is an intimate, Christ-centered journey designed to help women embrace their Kingdom identity, walk in spiritual authority, and discover the purpose for which they were created.

Learn more and request an invitation to register at www.myestherexperience.org.

We would be honored to welcome you into this sacred gathering.

"The fragrance has always been the purpose of your breaking."