Day 27th February 2022
Isaiah 58:
Vs 3 Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and You have not seen?
Why have we afflicted our souls, and You take no notice?’
Vs 6 “Is this not the fast that I have chosen:
To loose the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the [c]heavy burdens,
To let the oppressed go free,
And that you break every yoke?
7
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry?
And that you bring to your house the poor who are [d]cast out;
When you see the naked, that you cover him,
And not hide yourself from your own flesh?
The only authentic fasting is fasting that includes a spiritual attack against our own sin. Whatever else we fast for, we must fast for our own holiness. We cannot fast for anything with authenticity while living in known sin. The only authentic praying is praying that includes an attack against our own sin. The only authentic worship is worship that includes at least an implicit attack against our own sin.
If there’s an unresolved pocket of sin in my life and I am fasting about something else — some blessing, some healing — God’s going to come to me and say, “The fast that I choose is for that sin to be dealt with.
Psalm 139:23-24
23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
“The fast that I choose is not that I religiously make myself hungry and afflicted, BUT that I make the poor less hungry and afflicted.” If we want to fight sin by taking our food away from our own mouth, then we put it in the mouth of the poor. That will be considered fasting for righteousness’ sake as
Vs 8 says
Then your light shall break forth like the morning,
Your healing shall spring forth speedily,
And your righteousness shall go before you;
The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
9
Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’
Lord, we want to be serious with you in this forum. You are reminding us that sin is an abomination to a nation and you do not tolerate it. And so, during this time that we are sincerely on our knees seeking after you, we repent of every sin, sins of corruption, persistent anger, self-righteousness, pride and arrogance, Father forgive us. Forgive this company of saints for taking you for granted, for failure to live in fear and awe of you. Lord forgive us for our thoughts which have not aligned with heaven, for lack of trust, and living in mistrust and in fear of the unknown. Forgive us Lord for the sins of doubt and idolatry. We have worshipped and trusted the God of Money and wealth and Power instead of looking to you, our maker. We are sorry Lord where we have failed to acknowledge that you are the giver of life and all things therein.
When we are living in sin — say the sin of hard-heartedness or deceit or injustice — the fast which God chooses is not a religious covering of this sin, but a direct frontal assault against this sin. And then we will have access to call on God.
Psalm 41:1–3 (ESV)
1 Blessed is the one who considers the poor!
In the day of trouble, the Lord delivers him;
2 the Lord protects him and keeps him alive;
he is called blessed in the land;
you do not give him up to the will of his enemies.
3 The Lord sustains him on his sickbed;
in his illness …
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