Thursday September 07th, 2023
« The people ask, “Why should we fast if the LORD never notices? Why should we go without food if he pays no attention?” The LORD says to them, “The truth is that at the same time you fast, you pursue your own interests and oppress your workers »
1 “Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast. Shout aloud! Don’t be timid. Tell my people Israel[a] of their sins
2 Yet they act so pious! They come to the Temple every day and seem delighted to learn all about me. They act like a righteous nation that would never abandon the laws of its God. They ask me to take action on their behalf, pretending they want to be near me.
3 ‘We have fasted before you!’ they say. ‘Why aren’t you impressed? We have been very hard on ourselves, and you don’t even notice it!’ “I will tell you why!” I respond. “It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves. Even while you fast, you keep oppressing your workers.
4 What good is fasting when you keep on fighting and quarreling? This kind of fasting will never get you anywhere with me.
5 You humble yourselves by going through the motions of penance, bowing your heads like reeds bending in the wind. You dress in burlap and cover yourselves with ashes. Is this what you call fasting?
Do you really think this will please the Lord?
6 “No, this is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people.
7 Share your food with the hungry,
and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help.
8 “Then your salvation will come like the dawn, and your wounds will quickly heal.
Your godliness will lead you forward, and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind.
9 Then when you call, the Lord will answer.
‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply. “Remove the heavy yoke of oppression. Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors!
10 Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.
11 The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring.
12 Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities. Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls and a restorer of homes.
The first thing to note when you want to embark on a fast is that the devil will try to stop you.
He knows that the moment you start fasting, you would become too strong for him to manipulate.
Therefore, he would use every means at his disposal to stop you, so get ready to ensure that he fails.
On a regular day when you have not decided to fast, you could find yourself staying without food until much later in the day, sometimes until evening without feeling hunger pangs; however’ the moment you decide to fast, you would wake up hungry.
Ignore the hunger and stay committed to your decision to fast.
Another trick the devil uses is to ensure that your nose picks up the aroma of food wherever it is cooked or served around you.
You would find yourself noticing how big the piece of chicken on your colleague’s plate is or hear someone talking about how good the food in the restaurant next door is.
Don’t take these thoughts of food lightly; they are tactics of the devil to stop you from fasting, so you must be violent about blocking them from your mind. Give them no room at all.
Leave that place where the food is being served or talked about; if you cannot, then occupy your mind with the word of God immediately.
People have asked me severally, “How are you able to fast for forty days and nights and sometimes even longer?”
The answer is simple: when I decide to fast, I go to my calendar, count the number of days I want to fast for, then mark the starting and ending dates of the fast. After this, I say to my stomach, “As from this date, there will be no more food for you until so and so date”. If I begin to feel hungry when the fast starts, I know the devil is trying to get me to break it, so I take that as a reminder that it is time to pray. Thus, whenever I feel an urge to eat, I take it as the time to pray and before I know it, the hunger would have gone.
Lastly, when you fast, talk less to other people and more to God.
During a fast, when you talk to people, your strength diminishes, but when you talk to God, it increases.
Reduce physical activities as much as you can while you increase spiritual ones.
The time you would have spent cooking or eating can then be used to study your Bible and/or pray.
This is also the time to increase your giving to the needy around you, as we read in our Bible text today.
Also, note that the moment you boast about your fast, it becomes useless (Matthew 6:16-18).
Application: Be violent about blocking everything the devil uses to discourage you from fasting.
Author: Bishop Enoch. A. Adeboye.
Edited by Naomie
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