Fasting as a Faith In Action

Well, thank you for that beautiful piece of special music. It is a message, clearly, just the middle message between the two first and second messages. You know, I've seen an interesting trend over the last number of years about more reporting on scientific research around the health benefits of fasting. This week, the Los Angeles Times reported on a study of what's called time-restricted fasting, which showed significant health benefits associated with eating within a 10-hour window. Basically, people would eat between, let's say, 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. and then they wouldn't eat for 14 hours. And the study, people did this for three months and they looked at the health impacts of doing that. In September of this year, Medical News Today reported on a study of what's called alternate day fasting, where you eat in a 12-hour window and then you don't eat for 36 hours. That's called alternate day fasting. And that study showed significant health benefits. Basically, taking people in one of these studies, they took people who were all pre-diabetic and after a certain period of time, I think it was 12 weeks again, none of them were pre-diabetic. And they could eat, they basically ate all the same things they ate before. They just ate them in 12 hours and then fasted. In 2017, a full-length documentary called Fasting was released. It can be viewed on Amazon. My wife and I watched the film. We found it really interesting. They went through what they describe are the seven types of fasting. One of them they called a religious fast. And they interviewed people of various religious denominations on why they fast for religious reasons. It was also, I think, very good because they went through eating disorders as well. They went through anorexia and they went in, they went through an eating disorder where people fast and it's actually unhealthy. They're actually doing it out of some sort of a disorder. I could keep going. There's just, if you just Google fasting and you'll see this, there's just a lot of scientific research that's being done around fasting.

Each year on the Day of Atonement, the Church of God fasts for 24 hours. And we follow the, we do that because that's what we're commanded to do in Leviticus 23.

And we see in the New Testament in Acts 27 that Paul marks time by this day of fasting, which would tell us, as we understand the Church of God, of course, that these holy days were kept by the early New Testament Church. And each year on that day we hear a message about why we fast or the significance of the Day of Atonement and the importance of fasting in that significance. And beyond this day we often discuss fasting as an important tool in our spiritual toolbox, something we might reach for in times of difficulty. For example, when we face a major decision or if we're going through a difficult time in our lives. I like the phrase, was it off script? Is that was that the phrase? I think something like that. Off plot. Off plot. Okay, yeah. Our lives are off plot. Like, this is not how my life was supposed to go, right? So we might reach for fasting in those types of experiences. And this is good. And we should be thinking of fasting in those ways. But I think if we look at fasting more deeply, we'll see that this benefits of fasting certainly go beyond the physical. There are physical benefits that are being shown more and more. But they go beyond the physical and they go to the spiritual. And it really should be more than just in times of distress. It really should be something that we just incorporate into our spiritual walk. And with this hope, with this vision, with this thought in mind, I'd like to discuss the topic of why we fast. Why do we fast? Do we fast to lose weight? Well, people do that. And it's actually quite effective, as science has shown. Do we fast to know whether we should take a job or marry a certain person? Do we fast to get? Or do we fast to give? Do we fast out of frustration? Or do we fast out of fulfillment? Are we going to fast for reasons which God would honor? Or are we going to fast for reasons which maybe He might not honor?

We're going to look at examples today of fasting that God honored and that He didn't honor. And we're going to contrast how sometimes people might misunderstand why they should be fasting. And we're going to look at Christ's instruction on the topic.

And most significantly, we're going to spend some time in Isaiah 58, which is really one of the definitive discussions of fasting in Scripture. The title for this sermon might be up there, fasting as faith and action. And we'll see that this faith is really more than just when we're feeling frustrated or confused about our direction in life, but it also can be just out of fulfillment and honoring to God for what He's doing in our lives.

Fasting is a tangible, specific, physical action that we can take to become closer to God. So let's start by looking at Ezra, Ezra 8, and in verse 21. And we're going to look at an example of fasting in Scripture where God honored the fast, but it's an interesting discussion. I think it's probably one of the most tangible, direct discussions of fasting for a reason and that fasting being honored by God. Ezra 8, verse 21, says, this is Ezra speaking, then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava.

This is Ezra 8, verse 21, that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from Him the right way for us and our little ones and our possessions. And it's interesting because he begins by saying to humble themselves, and this is a key aspect of how God and why God went on our fast.

First of all, was to humble themselves, but there was a very specific thing that Ezra had in mind. He says in verse 22, for I was ashamed to request to the king an escort of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the road because we had spoken to the king saying, the hand of our God is upon all those for good and who seek Him, but His power and His wrath are against all those who forsake Him.

Sometimes, again, we tend to think of people in Scripture as sort of these monolithic, you know, paragons of virtue and so forth. That's why it's interesting to hear his discussion of Samson. Very complex figure, full of flaws, you know, as well as the things that obviously earned him a spot in Hebrews 11.

So here we have Ezra, this man of God, who is basically saying, wow, you know, I was ashamed to request an escort because I kind of bragged it up when maybe that I should have actually asked for an escort. That would have been wise, and now we're gonna take all these people with all these goods and we're gonna move them along this road and, you know, we might be robbed, we might be murdered along the way.

And so kind of realizing his mistake, he asked all the people to fast and to ask that God would protect them along the way and they humbled themselves, realizing that they really should have asked for that help and they didn't and now they needed to lean on God for that help. And just so we understand who we're talking about here, look over in verse 6. It's just chapter 7, verse 6. Again, Ezra is a man with incredible credentials and really, you know, quite an individual. It says, this Ezra came up from Babylon and he was a skilled scribe, which means he was literate, and he was also a skilled scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given.

And then it says here, the king granted him all in his requests according to the hand of the Lord God, of Lord his God upon him. So Ezra was the kind of man that could actually go up in front of the king, a world-ruling empire at that time, and asked for things in a way that made sense, that had the right tone, the right balance, he was articulate, asking for things.

And even a man like this realized his error in terms of what he had done and how he was ashamed to ask, and so he asked for those things. And we see in verse 23, it says, and so we fasted and entreated our God for this, and he answered our prayer. So God honored that prayer. They humbled themselves. They asked for God's direction, and God answered their prayers.

And I think this should tell us, just as a starting point, God is not interested in us being dazed and lost and confused and wondering where we should go. He desires a relationship with us, and he wants to help us. And when we reach out to him for help, he's not gonna shun us. And if we feel that's going on, then there might be something else that, again, we're going to get into as to what the fasting should reveal about our character, about our fears, about us as individuals before God. So let's look at an example where God questioned the motives and presumably was not honoring the fast, and that's in Zechariah 7. Let's go over to Zechariah 7 verses 1 to 5.

It says here, now in the fourth year of King Darius, it came to pass that the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Chezlev. When the people sent Sherezar with Regem Melch and his men to the house of God to pray before the Lord. And it says in verse 3, to ask the priests who were in the house of the Lord of hosts and the prophets, saying, should I weep in the fifth month and fast as I have done for so many years? Now, this fast was called the fast of the fifth month. It was a special fast that related to the events surrounding the fall of Jerusalem. And they fasted to show their repentance. They had sinned against God and that sin had led to the destruction of the kingdom, the fall of Jerusalem. And so they proclaimed this fast in the fifth month to repent before God and to return to God. And that was the intention of the fast. Now, so many years had gone by that people kind of lost the reason why they were fasting. And so that's why they're asking this question. They're asking the question, should we still fast? Now, if the purpose of the fast was to repent and to recognize that you had sinned before God, and presumably you would continue to do that unless something was very clear. And so the fact that they were asking the question raised some concerns. And so in verse 4 it said, then the Word of the Lord of Hosts came to me saying, verse 5, Say to all the people of the land and to the priests, when you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months during those 70 years, did you really fast for me? For me? It's interesting how it's repeated, right? Did you fast for me? For me? There's just this like, why were you fasting? Was this some sort of ritual that you were kind of engaged in, that you had lost the sense of the meaning and purpose of the fast? Why were you actually doing this? And the message is that fasting has to go beyond something that we desire to get from God or that we just do. Well, it's the Day of Atonement coming up again. I guess it's time to fast. And we could ask that of the true God.

All those years we fasted as per Leviticus 23, why'd you fast? Did you fast for me? Or did you fast just because it said that, you know, and the minister said, you know, you fast. Why were you fasting? Why do we fast on the Day of Atonement?

And that would be applicable to us because we don't have a fast on the 5th or the 7th month. It's not in our tradition. But if you want to put this down into a modern-day term, you know, God could say, all those years you fasted, did you really fast for me on the Day of Atonement? That's what he's asking.

That's what he's saying. And the implication is, no, they didn't. No, they didn't fast for God. They didn't fast for the right reasons. Now let's see an example of a misunderstanding of fasting in Luke 18 and verse 9. It's just a few pages over.

The assumption here, by the way, is that we are fasting. Sometimes that can be difficult for us. Sometimes we don't make the time to fast. Look in Luke 18 verse 9. This is a familiar parable. I think it was actually even mentioned recently here. It says, also we spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. Jesus said, two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank you that I am not like other men.

Extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. The first thing he's going to say to set himself apart from all people is that he fasts twice a week. He fasts twice a week. That's the first thing he says. And then the second thing he says is that I give tithes of all that I possess. So these were the two specific things that Christ called out that the Pharisee would say to distinguish himself in terms of his righteousness. And that's really the point here, right? Because he's saying I'm not like other men. I'm different because I do these things. And verse 13, and the tax collector standing afar off would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breath saying, God, be merciful to me a sinner. And we know the rest of the story in verse 14. I tell you this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be abased and he humbles himself will be exalted. And so the lesson, one of the lessons, is that the Pharisee was using fasting as a way of exalting himself. It was a way of saying to God, look what I'm doing, look at me. And we'll see this in Isaiah 58. Look at me. I'm a great person. Look what I'm doing. And also among the people around about. They were like, oh, well, this must be the day he's fasting. And actually there's something to be said scientifically in terms of how you feel when you fast. These alternate day fasts where you go 12 hours eating, 36 hours not eating. There's a lot of stuff that says you actually feel really good after a while doing that. There's actually sort of brain chemicals that are released and you sleep better and so forth. So maybe the Pharisee was just feeling pretty good physically about doing this, right? I mean, who knows? But the point was he didn't get the real reason why he was doing it. And so Christ wanting to clarify how people should fast, he explains that to us in Matthew 6 verse 16. Go over to Matthew 6 verse 16.

So unlike the Pharisees who, and this man was fasting twice a week, who knows maybe others fasted once a week or once a month, and when they fasted, they fasted in a way that everybody knew about it. Matthew 6 verse 16. It says, Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces, that they may appear to men to be fasting. Oh yeah, he's fasting today. Wow, I could just be like him. You know, I mean, this is kind of what they were trying to get out of that. But you, when you fast, and again, I think it's so great, you want to maybe just circle when. When. It's not if, it's when. When you fast, anoint your head and wash your face. That is, you know, wash your face, take a shower, comb your hair, make sure, you know, if you're men, you know, you're clean shaven, right? Make sure that, you know, you look presentable. So that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your father who is in the secret place, and your father who sees in secret, will reward you openly. The fast, the fast is something that is intensely private. It's intensely personal. You're fasting to draw close to God. And maybe you're fasting because, again, there's frustration, or maybe you're fasting because there's fulfillment. Maybe you're fasting because you don't know what else to do. But it's between you and God. It's not something for somebody to come up and say, I see you're fasting. What's up?

No, it's kind of personal. It's an intensely personal thing. And that's what Jesus is sharing what fasting should be about. Now let's look at a specific instruction in Isaiah 58, because this is really one of the definitive areas where we see the proper and improper types of fasting described. And it's very informative. And it seems over the years that the more time I spend looking at Isaiah 58, I learn more and more every time I read it and every time I spend time in there. Isaiah 58 verse 1 begins with such an interesting phrasing. It says, cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet, tell my people their transgression in the house of Jacob their sins. And you know, when I read this for the first time and then I'd save 15 years, I would read Isaiah 58 and I would go, okay, yeah, I heard this and I never could get the flow. Like, okay, I understand verse 1, but what's verse 2 and verse 3? I don't get this. It was like the Isaiah 58 was sort of this cry aloud, spare not verse, which kind of felt like you would use maybe out of context to describe, you know, God trying to get our attention or something. And then verse 2 didn't flow anywhere. And I just kind of ignored verse 2 and just kind of, you know, I don't understand verse 2. And then 3 to 12 was on fasting and then 13 and 14 was on the Sabbath. And that's kind of how I digested Isaiah 58. But it actually flows. If we really understand what he's talking about, verse 1 and verse 2 actually do flow. And the first 12 verses are about fasting. They are about fasting. So let's read through this and understand what he's saying. He says here, to tell my people their transgression and the house of Jacob their sins. God says to lift up his voice like the trumpet and tell the people their sins. And the question for us is, are we ready to hear about our sins? Are we ready to hear about our sins?

Are the people of Israel ready to hear about their sins? Because, of course, we're good people, right? We come to church on the Sabbath. We're here. We're not out doing something else. So we're good people, right? Well, that is essentially the implication in Isaiah 58 that the people thought that they were good people. And so when we begin to examine, we understand that when we get to the core, what he's really saying is actually they were misinformed. So if we go to verse 2, it says, yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways as a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God.

They ask of me the ordinances of justice. They take delight in approaching God. Now this is a description of how the nation viewed itself. This is how they thought of themselves. You know, we delight in God and we forsake this and we do all these things. And the question is, could we be falling into this trap?

Could we be falling into the trap? We have God saying, cry aloud and tell the people of Israel their sins. And then we have sort of a view of how they viewed themselves. And it says, why have we fasted? They say, and you have not heard or seen. You know, they're like, well, we're doing so well. We fast. Why don't you listen to us? And you know, when you're deceived about yourself, it's so hard to become undeceived about yourself. Many years ago, as I was kind of progressing in my career, I came to a point where I was just really getting stuck. I really wasn't able to move forward and it seemed like I wasn't being recognized for my accomplishments. And you know, I just, it seemed like I was stuck. And so I analyzed the situation. I looked at my boss, I looked at my co-workers, I looked at people around me, and I eventually concluded that the system was unfair. The system was just unfair. I was being held back and you know, there really wasn't much I could do. It was just unfair.

Maybe Satan was behind it, but you know, whatever it was, that's how it was.

And it wasn't until several years later that I realized that there was something about me that actually needed to change. I just concluded that, well, you know, I'm part of the Church of God, I'm persecuted, and you know, I'm just not going to get ahead. And the system is stacked against me. That's kind of how I operated.

And then later I realized that actually that wasn't the case. It wasn't about me trying to get more FaceTime with the boss or trying to do various other things. There was something spiritual. There was something deeper that had to change in me. And the way I conducted myself, something that was a little off putting, something that was harder to work with in the environment. And, you know, that's really a common pattern. We tend to kind of go to those places. Now, some of us are always going to blame ourselves. I mean, we all have different knowledge. It's always my fault. It's always my fault. Some of us have that, but most of us are generally like the system is stacked against us. And there's nothing I can do. Or there's very limited things I can do. And so we tend to blame the system. We blame our boss. We blame the other guy. We blame our wife. We blame our husband. We blame somebody, besides taking first personal responsibility. And that sort of launched a process. And, you know, it was a slow process for me. I'd say it was about ten years and three different jobs. Because the fact is that this world is a little unforgiving. And a lot of times this world doesn't allow you to change. And so I realized that I was changing and needed to change, but convincing other people that I was different, that's harder. So sometimes you need a fresh start. And so you go into a fresh start and you're like, okay, you know, I'm gonna do it differently this time, right? I'm not gonna allow myself to fall into those patterns of behavior and to think in these ways and to act these ways. And then people react to you differently and you make progress. But you still realize you're not quite where you need to be. And so it takes time to make those changes. Well, what we see here in Isaiah 58 is that these people here had a certain view of themselves. And when they would go to fast, they had this question. Verse 3, why have we fasted? They say, and you've not seen. Why have we afflicted our souls and you take no notice? God, what's going on? We're fasting and you're not paying attention to what we're saying. And it says here, in fact, in the day of your fast, you find pleasure and you exploit all your laborers and you exploit all your labors. Indeed, and now God is talking to the people and telling them what he sees. Indeed, you fast for strife and debate and to strike with the fist of wickedness. And you will not fast as you do this day to make your voice heard on high. And that's why they fasted.

They fasted with a specific goal to make their voice heard on high. Now some people might say, well, what's the matter with that? I want God to hear me, you know?

But it's not like we're in the back of the line, right? Or we're in a big crowd waving our hand trying to get God's attention. And if we fast, we're going to get to the front of the line or somehow he's going to call our name and we're going to be able to finally kind of share and he's going to say, oh yeah, you know, I've been waiting to get to you. I'm glad you fasted and waved your hand like, you know, it doesn't work that way. That's what he's saying. He's saying it's not necessarily to make your voice heard on high. You know, before I asked my wife to marry me, I fasted. And I had in my mind that the bigger decision, the longer the fast. Okay? So I fasted two days because it was a really big decision. And that's how I kind of thought about it, right? Sometimes we think, well, you have her a little fast for a little decisions and a bigger fast and then a really big fast. I think my mom shared with me one time she fasted three days. Now, after a while, I mean, you're actually taking a pretty serious health risk if you're gonna go three days without food or water. Even two days without food or water. I felt a little strange after 48 hours. But, you know, that's not really how it works. I mean, I looked at it and said, well, Moses fasted 40 days and 40 nights and Jesus fasted 40 days and 40 nights. So, and those were really big trials. So, you know, I'll fast longer. Well, you know, there's something to that, but a lot of times we're trying to give and get, right?

My voice will really be heard if I fast longer. God will really pay attention if I fast longer. And that's really not how that works. It really isn't the number of days that counts. It's the attitude. It's the approach. It's the reason that we're fasting. And this is what we say here. The reason they were fasting was to make their voice heard on high. And while they were doing it, their behaviors and their actions were contrary to what God would have them do. They were striking with the fist. They were exploiting their laborers. They were involved in strife and debate.

And they had a certain view of themselves thinking that they were a nation that was righteous. And now verse 5, what we're gonna see is how God describes the way he wants us to fast.

No. Is this not the fast that I have chosen? And now he's gonna describe the fast that he's interested in. This is the fast that he's interested in.

To loosen, excuse me, to loose the bonds of wickedness. To undo the heavy burdens.

To let the oppressed go free. And that you break every yoke. Is it not to share your bread with the hungry? And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out? When you see the naked that you cover him and not hide yourself from your own flesh? This is what God thinks about fasting. This is an appropriate and serious fast that he's describing. This isn't a fast because we want to know whether we should buy a house or move across country or whatever the issue du jour is in our life. Fasting is way bigger than that. Fasting is about lifting burdens. They might be our burdens. They might be burdens that we're carrying. There might be burdens that other people are carrying. People might be oppressed. People might be all wrapped up in some kind of an addiction. Some kind of blindness where they can't see their way through. And we're fasting that that can be removed from us, from others. That's what God is describing. That people can live abundantly. And when I say abundant, I'm not talking materially but emotionally and spiritually. You know, when I fast, I am very uncomfortable. I don't like the feeling of dryness in my throat. I don't like the headache that comes on sometimes. Some people, you know, if they drink coffee regularly and they fast, they get this terrible headache. Nobody likes that. I don't like the fact that fasting breaks, you know, my routine. I can't go work out. I can't go do the things I normally do because I don't have the energy. Well, that's kind of the point. And sometimes if we take that to an extreme, we think, well, I'm suffering, so you know, that's what God wants. No, God is not interested in our suffering. God is interested in where our mind is. What kind of, you know, time are we taking to really bring our supplications before God? And what is our frame of mind? And how are we looking for Him to direct our lives? Fasting is described as a means of breaking free. That's what this verse says here. It's a means of breaking free of the things that constrain our spiritual growth. It's about revealing things in our lives that are blinding us to the path forward.

Before the fast, we may only see one option, or maybe two options. I gotta go left or I gotta go right. But after a fast that God honors, we might see a hundred things that we need to change about ourselves. And from these things, answers come. Maybe instead of two options, there's 20 options. There's so many options we don't know to do with the options. And maybe God just takes care of whatever issue was frustrating us. He just took care of that. Because that really wasn't the issue. The issue was something deep inside in our hearts that had to be changed. We think it's option A or B, and what do I do? Or I've got an impasse. But God's like, that's easy. I'll take care of that. I want you to pay attention to what I want to tell you right now. That's what I'm interested in. How are you gonna break free from your spiritual blindness?

You know, the sin of Laodicea, right? Poor, blind, and naked. So how do we get out of our poorness and our blindness and our nakedness? That's what God is interested in. He's not interested in A and B. He can solve A and B without us even asking, right? He says, you know, I can take care of that. And then it says here, if we continue, if we do this, it says, then your light shall break forth like the morning. Wow, that's interesting. So once our blindness and our spiritual depravity, whatever it is, whatever issue we're dealing with, once that's dealt with, our light shines. And we can be lights to the world. Then your light shall break forth like the morning, and your healing shall spring forth speedily.

Once that's sore, once that wound, once that problem is dealt with, the healing comes quickly. And your righteousness shall go before you. The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. And then you shall call and the Lord will answer. You shall cry and he will say, here I am. That's what we all want. We just want it for something that we think is important to us. Oh God, just answer this prayer. Just answer this prayer.

And God's like, I'm not interested in that prayer. I'm interested in something else.

And that's what the fasting is supposed to be. That's what fasting is described.

Instead of asking for things, we should ask and fast that God would show us something about ourselves. Something that God needs us to change so that we can serve Him in His Kingdom. Have you fasted and prayed and seen God reveal things to you? Have you fasted and prayed and seen those answered prayers, not just about the little things, but the big things? We might fast and pray that God would improve our job situation, improve our health, or take care of some monetary issue. But again, is that really what Isaiah 58 talks about? No, He talks about how we fast to lose the bonds of wickedness and undo the heavy burdens. We should pray that He would give us the courage to yield ourselves to Him, to humble ourselves, is what Ezra said, and to not be afraid to do the things that we need to do. I believe if we fast to understand our position before God, to repent and humble ourselves before God, to ask God to reveal where we are not aligned with His will, where we are blind to our own problems, where we are fearful to look at ourselves, or where we lack the courage to confront what stands between us and doing God's will, that's faith in action. That's faith in action. And I believe that is when God begins to be behind us as our rear guard. That's what Isaiah describes here. This is faith in action. And in that process, all these things that we want or think we need, they just kind of get taken care of in the process. And look at the second part of verse 9. If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and the speaking and speaking wickedness, this is a condition. You know, the pointing of the finger, you know, that's just this. That's this. It's your fault. My boss, my co-worker, you over here, it's your fault. That's our tendency, right?

That's what he's talking about. And the speaking of wickedness is like, you, you messed me up really bad. You know, that's what that's describing. And he says, no, get rid of the finger pointing like this, you know. Get rid of the speaking wickedness or slander. Verse 10, if you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall dawn in darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noon day. The Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your soul and drought, and strengthen your bones. You shall be like a watered garden and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.

That is fasting. That is the reason we fast. We fast so that we can be like that, but only so that we're connected to God and what he wants for our lives. This is faith in action. Now you can finish up the chapter here. We've read most of it, but let's go over to Haggai 1 because the book of Haggai, we see something that reinforces this concept of self-examination. Fasting isn't specifically mentioned, although clearly that's one of the tools that we have at our disposal. We'll look at Joel in a moment where he specifically does mention this. It says here in Haggai 1 verse 2, thus speaks the Lord of hosts, saying, the people says the time has not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built. And so, you know, he lived before Haggai, lived before Ezra, and he wrote this message as a prophecy warning the remnant of Israel that they should get back to work on the construction. And it says here in verse 3, then, then the word of the Lord came to Haggai the prophet, saying, is it time? Time for yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses in this in this temple while my temple lies in ruins? And he says, now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, verse 5, consider your ways. Consider your ways. When we fast, we should consider our ways. That's one of the key aspects. Stop for a moment and think about ourselves. Think about our lives. Look at verse 6, you've sown much and bring in little. You eat, but do not have enough. You drink, but you are not filled with drink. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages earns wages to put into a bag with holes. It's somebody else's fault. It's somebody else's problem. But verse 7 says, thus says the Lord of hosts, consider your ways. Consider your ways. And when we say, consider our ways, we step back and we step out in faith to see the source of our problems, the source of our issues. In verse 10, it says, therefore the heavens above you withhold the dew and the earth withhold its fruit. And it's not a great place to be when there's something that we're doing that's separating us from God, that's causing issues with our neighbor, causing us issues at work, causing us issues in our family. That's not a great place to be. And we can be in that place for decades, for a very long time, just thinking it's somebody else's fault. And God says, consider your ways. Look over in Joel 2 verse 12. Joel does specifically mention fasting. Haggai doesn't. But in the context of considering your ways, look at verse 12. Joel 2 verse 12 and 13.

It says, now therefore says the Lord, Joel 2 verse 12, turn to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. So, arrange your heart and not your garments.

Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness, and he relents from doing harm. Return.

The word repentance is not used here, but the concept is here. It's about repentance.

Repentance in Hebrews compiles of two words, meaning to return and to feel sorry.

And so when he says return, it's what he's describing. Return. Joel says, return to the Lord your God. And this is integral to fasting. It's the part of getting ourselves realigned with God's will and purpose for our lives. Are we moved to tears with weeping and fasting because we desperately desire to understand how God seeks to work in our lives? That's what God is looking for in a fast, because that's when we're breaking the burdens and the bonds, the you know, the ball and chain around our leg, whatever sort of analogy you want to use.

Do we seek to change a particular problem that we've had that is hurting us and others?

This is fasting as faith in action. And we don't have time to go through all the different examples.

I'll just give you a few that maybe you can jot down in your notes. It's a I think it would be a good Bible study. In Acts 13.3, the congregation Antioch fasted before appointing elders.

They were looking for God's will. What's God's will? How can I know that we're doing the right thing? In Acts 14.21-23, there was fasting for guidance in preaching the gospel. In Nehemiah 1.4, you can jot that down. Nehemiah fasted regarding the state of Jerusalem, just the state of things, just the situation he was in. Daniel 9 verse 3, Daniel fasted regarding the vision of the future that he saw. Philoac in 2 Samuel 1 verse 12, David fasted after the death of Saul. And then later, he also after his sin with Bathsheba. Esther 4 verse 16, Esther fasted regarding saving her people. She asked everyone to fast. She asked everyone to fast. And in Luke 2 verse 36, the prophetess Anna fasted for decades in Jerusalem. And it was to her that God revealed the identity of Jesus Christ after his birth. When we fast, when we step into a long line of our spiritual ancestors who were powerful instruments in God's hands, that's what God is interested in. He's interested in our ability to serve him in the future and our ability to understand what we need to change now. These are people who confronted their personal issues and whom God granted relief and direction. Whatever circumstances, God understands our situation. And he's personally involved in our lives. He knows what we need. Let's put our faith in action through fasting. Fasting to understand repentance, fasting to consider our ways, fasting to break every yoke, and to let the oppressed go free.