Wrong Motives When Fasting
So we've spoken a lot about prayer and fasting, and I would encourage you to read this book if you can find it. It's a lot more in-depth than what I'm sharing with you, but I hope what I'm sharing with you is giving you enough to work with.
Wrong Motives for Fasting
I want to talk today about fasting with the wrong motives. In fact, in Jeremiah 14, God was angry with these people and said to Jeremiah, “don't pray for this people when they fast. I won't hear their cry, because they have loved to wonder.” They wandered away from God. And so he said, “well, their fasts mean nothing to me.”
Jezebel, who was truly evil, also proclaimed a fast among her people, and she disguised it in this supposed will to honor God. But it wasn't that. It was deceptive. So that was a fast that didn't honor God.
You can fast, friends, and you can do the outer stuff, but if your heart isn't in it, it means nothing. In fact, Jesus himself took the Pharisees on because of the way they would fast. They would make such a show of it that it was more about getting people's attention and admiration than anything else. And Jesus couldn't stand that.
Check Your Motives
And so when you're looking to fast, friends, be careful of your motives. Don't do it to try, be more religious, or to look good in church or anything like that. Don't even do it because everyone else is doing it. Do it because the Spirit has prompted you to do it.
In fact, Isaiah 58 sums it up very well where God's people say this: “Why have we fasted and you, God, have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves and you've not noticed?” Then God replies, saying “on the day of your fasting you do as you please. You exploit your workers. Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife and striking each other with fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.”
The Right Kind of Fast
Then there's this powerful verse. “Is this the kind of fast I've chosen? Only a day for people to humble themselves. Is that what you call a fast?” Verse six says “Is not this the kind of fasting I've chosen to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and provide the poor wanderer with shelter? When you see the naked to clothe them, not to turn away from your own flesh and blood, then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear. Then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. “
You see, friends, if you're fasting to try and force God's hand, or to try and show off to him or to others, it's pointless. And if you're fasting and neglecting to do your duty of loving others, reaching out and healing people with the love of Jesus in the way you are, then God might just say, what are you fasting for?
Don't fast for the wrong reasons, friends. Fast when the Spirit needs you to. And oh, do it with a great sense of love for others and humility for yourself. That's the type of fast that God is interested in.
