Acceptable Fast

Text: Isa. 58:6-7
More Lessons: Isa. 59: 1
Bible Reading in One Year: Ecclesiastes 4-6

Fasting is not just a hunger strike. When the children of God fast, it should be to achieve some definite results by the help of God. Some people take pleasure in boasting about how many days they have fasted, thinking it portrays them as being spiritual. Boasting goes against the very spirit of the act of fasting. The purpose of a fast is for a man to humble himself before God. Fasting is to repent from any dead work and every sin in your life. If your fasting and prayer must deliver results, then you must truly repent of your sins, humble yourself and be broken before God. Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear: Isa 59:1-2.

Another major thing that must accompany a fast, in order to make it effective, is sacrificial giving. When fasting, you are not only to give up food but also to make a sacrifice to meet somebody's need. Y ou should also make a sacrifice for God's work in the church. Every fast must be accompanied with a practical sacrificial act of doing good. These are the scriptural responsibilities attached to moving the hand of God by your fast.

Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter -when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?: Isa 58:6-7 (NIV). God told the children of Israel that the reason they had fasted and not received answers is because they fasted and still did as they pleased (v 3) and also fasted for strife (v 4). The kind of fast a man does and still fights will not be acceptable, and a fast borne out of competition with others will never get a man anywhere.

I pray for you that your waiting on the Lord shall not be in vain. May your fasting, prayers and sacrifice be acceptable before the throne of God, in Jesus’ name.

Prayer/Action
* Ask God to help you prevail over carnal fasts.
* Pray that you will never fast in vain.
* Ask God to help you fast the Jesus way and get Jesus' type of result.
* Ask God to purge you of every act that hinders the blessings of fasting.

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