Day Two: Isaiah 58:1-5

I'd like you to stop and read Isaiah 58. It's my very favorite passage about fasting and we'll take two days to talk about it. This is a message from God through the prophet Isaiah to God's people of Israel who were frustrated with God's lack of response to their fasting. we can learn a lot from God's rant about what fasting's really about. 


This chapter confronts a wrong mindset about fasting that I had to shake. If fasting is a religious act of piety to get God to do what we want, that's really just a passive aggressive hunger strike. We are not on a hunger strike. We are worshiping God. So we must worship Him on His terms. This chapter lays out what worshiping God through fasting should look like.


I think it's easy for us in such a food-centered society (face it, it's true) to quickly allow this time to become all about what we're not eating. There's no point in fasting as far as God is concerned if it's all about food. Unless it's all about God, you might as well not bother. That's not to say that we aren't all getting great health benefits from what we're doing. I mean, I don't know anyone who's fasting from veggies and fruit and healthy stuff. We're all fasting from less healthy stuff. But that's all really secondary to the real, powerful, supernatural, true fasting this chapter is talking about.

So let's commit to our fast with a true picture of what a fasting heart should look like. Let's make it a part of our worship to also lay aside the crankiness, the arguing, the strife, the temper, the self-centeredness, and any of the other behaviors that dishonor God. Let's make our fasting an act of pure worship on God's terms.


Today I will pray that God shows you clearly what HIS plans are for your fast, which may be different than your own goals.  I pray that we will all be able to turn our focus away from what we're not eating and drinking and toward the next steps God will call us to take during this time.