Fasting

Readings for today: Isaiah 58-60, Psalms 119:153-176

For years, I have practiced the discipline of fasting. I fast most days, typically eating one solid meal. In the past, I have fasted for 24 hours. 48 hours. Even a week or more on occasion. Typically, my fasts involve abstaining from food. I think that’s how most of us think about it. However, today’s reading introduces a new idea to the mix. Fasting from wickedness. Fasting from injustice. Fasting from unrighteousness. Fasting from the self-centered life. In the same way fasting from food makes us more aware of our need to depend on God for our daily bread, fasting from wickedness makes us more hungry and thirsty for righteousness.

Why do I fast? It’s a question I often get asked. Honestly, because it feels good. My mind is more sharp. My emotional health is more regulated. My physical body is more healthy. When my doctor does my blood work, he often remarks at how good the numbers appear. However, far more important is the condition of my soul and that’s where “fasting from wickedness” comes in. When I identify sinful thoughts, attitudes, and actions and begin to address them in my life through intentional fasting, I find myself drawing closer to God. Sin erects a barrier between us. It alienates and creates emotional and spiritual distance. It hardens the heart and callouses the soul. This is why God is so passionate about repentance. He knows the damage unchecked sin can do to a person.

Isaiah calls us to fast from the sin that so easily entangles us as human beings. In addition, he calls us to take up those disciplines and practices that lead to life and blessing not only for us as individuals but for the entire community. Listen to what God says again through His prophet, “Isn’t this the fast I choose: To break the chains of wickedness, to untie the ropes of the yoke, to set the oppressed free, and to tear off every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the poor and homeless into your house, to clothe the naked when you see him, and not to ignore your own flesh and blood? Then your light will appear like the dawn, and your recovery will come quickly. Your righteousness will go before you, and the Lord’s glory will be your rear guard. At that time, when you call, the Lord will answer; when you cry out, he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you get rid of the yoke among you, the finger-pointing and malicious speaking, and if you offer yourself to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted one, then your light will shine in the darkness, and your night will be like noonday. The Lord will always lead you, satisfy you in a parched land, and strengthen your bones. You will be like a watered garden and like a spring whose water never runs dry. Some of you will rebuild the ancient ruins; you will restore the foundations laid long ago; you will be called the repairer of broken walls, the restorer of streets where people live. If you keep from desecrating the Sabbath, from doing whatever you want on my holy day; if you call the Sabbath a delight, and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, seeking your own pleasure, or talking business; then you will delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride over the heights of the land, and let you enjoy the heritage of your father Jacob.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” (Isaiah‬ ‭58‬:‭6‬-‭14‬ ‭CSB‬‬)

I have to say that all of the promises of God listed in this passage have come true for me. As I have dedicated my life to breaking the chains of wickedness and setting the oppressed free, sharing my bread with the hungry and helping the poor and powerless; the light of Christ has shined brighter and brighter in and through me. I have met strangers who have heard of the work I have the privilege to be involved in both locally and globally. And God’s glory has protected me in so many ways. God has always strengthened me, even in hard times. He has always been there, even when I’m struggling. He has used me to help rebuild ruins and restore foundations. My life is an absolute testimony to His grace. Does this mean I get everything I want? No. Does it mean I never have a care or worry in the world? Absolutely not true. Does it mean I have been given great wealth and influence and power? Not at all. I’m just a guy. Just an ordinary, everyday person trying his best to be faithful. I make more than my fair share of mistakes but God is faithful to use me despite myself and my sin. Trust me when I tell you He wants to do the same with you.

Readings for tomorrow: Isaiah 61-64, Psalms 120

Fasting and Prayer

Readings for today: Ezra 7-10

The mission of God is impossibly large and complex. It is global. It is universal. It’s reach spans the centuries. God will never rest until the gospel has been preached in every tongue to every tribe in every nation. He will never rest until all have the opportunity to come to a knowledge of His truth and be saved. He will never rest until every knee bows and every tongue confesses that He is Lord. And perhaps most amazingly of all, He entrusts this great work to His church. His people. Now, if you are like me, the task seems overwhelming. Where do we even begin? How can I even begin to marshal the resources and wisdom and strength to accomplish this mission? I am so weak. I am so small. I am so insignificant. Where can I go to find what I need to do what the Lord has called me to do?

Much like Ezra, I begin with fasting and prayer. “I proclaimed a fast there beside the Ahava Canal, a fast to humble ourselves before our God and pray for wise guidance for our journey—all our people and possessions. I was embarrassed to ask the king for a cavalry bodyguard to protect us from bandits on the road. We had just told the king, “Our God lovingly looks after all those who seek him, but turns away in disgust from those who leave him.” So we fasted and prayed about these concerns. And He listened.” (Ezra‬ ‭8‬:‭21‬-‭23‬ ‭MSG‬‬) Fasting and prayer have been part of my life for many years now. The discipline of fasting reminds me of how empty and weak I am. It reminds me of my deep need for God. It makes me hungry for more of Him. More of His Word. More of His Spirit. The discipline of prayer is my connection to God. It is the ongoing conversation between my soul and God’s Spirit from which I draw so much wisdom and strength.

God has promised so much to His people. He promises to feed those who are hungry. He promises to quench the thirst of those who seek Him. He promises to give wisdom to those who ask and strengthen those who are weak. He encourages us to cast all our anxieties on Him and to lay our worries at His feet. He loves to listen to our needs and wants and desires. He is a good and loving Father who does not give a stone to those who ask for bread or a snake to those who ask for fish. He wants us to seek. He wants us to ask. He wants us to knock. And He promises He will be found. He promises He will respond. He promises He will open the door to anyone who humbly comes before Him.

Why then is fasting and prayer a last resort for us? Why is it not the first step as it was for Ezra and his people? Why do we wait until we’ve exhausted our own strength and wisdom and effort before coming to God in fasting and prayer? Why do we try so often to go it alone? Is it pride? Is it fear? Is it selfishness? Is it a desire to prove ourselves? To demonstrate our independence? Maybe some combination of all of the above? God invites us into His presence. God invites us to draw on Him for all we need in this life. God invites us to taste and see His goodness and His glory. God invites us to lay hold of His power for His mission in this world. Take the first step today. Spend time fasting and praying and asking the Lord to show you His will and His way.

Readings for tomorrow: Nehemiah 1-4