Topic: Insincere Fasting
Bible Reading: Zechariah 7-9; Revelation 19.
Memory Verse: “Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?” Zechariah 7:5 (KJV)
Christian Fasting is a personal act of heart-focused devotion to draw closer to God. It is not to manipulate God. No matter the days of fasting, it does not change God’s decision on anything but helps the person fasting to focus on God’s will. It does not force God’s hand for blessing you or anyone. It does not automatically transform your heart, rather it helps you to silence your flesh to hear God better. So, it is a way for preparing you to subdue your flesh and uplift your spirit. This is why it is important to fellowship deeply with God when you are fasting. Otherwise you could be engaging in physical transformation instead of spiritual penitence. That’s why it is generally said that fasting without prayer is hunger strike!
But beyond some of the myths stated above, it’s important that you know the will of God and you obey it particularly at the time of your fasting otherwise it could be mere physical exercise. Many people fast without getting the benefits because they do not do the will of God and so such fast does not draw such people closer to God. This is why God told prophet Zechariah in our Bible reading of today, in Zechariah 7:5 (KJV), “Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?”
The people had been fasting in some months of the year for seventy years and they asked the prophet to ask God whether this should continue and God’s answer to the people is quite instructive. He said they did not obey His words that He sent through the prophets during those years and so their fasting was of no effect. In fact He told them that since they did not listen to His words, when they call on Him, He will not hear them! Look at what God said in Zechariah 7:13 (KJV), “Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of hosts:”
It’s important to review the simple instructions God passes to you through His word and His prophets and examine yourself whether you are obedient to the words today. “Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother: [10] And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart. [11] But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.” Zechariah 7:9-11 (KJV). Are you obedient to this simple instruction or not? If you are not, then you can be rest assured that your prayers may not be answered even if you fasted for several months!
Action Point: Examine yourself to identify the areas you are not obedient to God and ensure you obey from now on.
Bro. Biodun Oyapero