The Fast that sets You Free Part 2!

Isaiah 58:6-8 NIV “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: ………. Is it not to

share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

As we adopt fasting as part of our Christian lifestyle, God is asking us to actively implement the principles of love and caring by looking outside of our personal needs and address the needs of others.

God directs us “to share your food with the hungry.” We should find ways to support food pantries in your church/nation; giving of our time, items, transportation, money or other resources to support these efforts. One revelation God has given us is that “food” is not to be viewed in this text as only what we eat but more what we have that we can share to benefit others.

There are persons “hungry” for knowledge or some maybe “starving” for mental or physical support, desperately needing someone to mentor and support them in the vision God has given them, or help them find clarity. When our eyes are open spiritually we can see beyond the physical needs of "food" as we share what we have (our knowledge, skills and talents) with those that are hungry (lacking these things in their life).

Investing our time and resources to support the establishment of laws, protocols, facilitates, that assistance with “providing the poor wanderer with shelter” during our time of fasting is in obedience to God. Being able to physically provide shelter to the homeless is awesome, but contributing to the organizations or facilities that can provide this shelter under the guidance of the Holy Spirit is equally as good and provides for greater activation of this principle in your life continuously. You may not be able to physically accommodate a missionary or homeless person but you may be able to help build them a home or support the local or overseas mission fund in your church.

A true spiritual fast causes us to intentionally “see the naked, and clothe them, it makes us more aware of the needs of our own flesh and blood” and actively take on our God-given responsibility in our families and environment.

Following these kingdom principles for fasting causes divine breakthrough; following these guidelines in total obedience to what God wants us to do and not what we want causes us to forget ourselves for a moment and focus on the kingdom; this puts a demand on heaven to respond to us and only "Then our light will break forth like the dawn, and our healing will quickly appear;" THEN "our righteousness will go before us, and the glory of the Lord will be our rear guard.'

Are you fasting and you are not seeing the expected results? examine your actions during the fast and after; are you following the guidelines?

We are not called to pray and fast in a SELF-CENTERED manner; we are called to a special kind of prayer and fasting that establishes Godly activity in our lives. The fast that God has ordained is to be established as a regular continuous part of our lifestyles which would activate heaven’s response with the manifestation of the Glory of the Lord permanently in our lives.

Friends, let us practice the kind of fasting God chooses! It is more than just “not eating”! The true fast causes us to be “doers of the word.”

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Matthew:6:33

#fasting #kingdomprinciples