OUR FATHER REQUIRES A HIGHER LEVEL OF FASTING

Isaiah chapter 58 verses 5 - 6 says this;

Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves?

Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords Qaeda ee ease eee the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?

This passage captures the Lord challenging believers to aspire to a higher level of fasting than what they perceived fasting to be.

The standard view was that fasting was a day of being humble, a day for head bowing and for lying in sackcloth and ashes.

The Lord rhetorically asked the people if such a fast would be acceptable to Him. 

With the Lord disapproving the standard fasting model, He then outlines the nature of an acceptable fast. People on such a fast would act to undo injustice, they would work to set the oppressed free and they would strike yokes of bondage and control over people in order to release them from captivity.

The higher level of fasting is one that operates in the spirit where its aim is to raise those who are fasting to a higher plateau where they can do battle against injustice, spiritual oppression and bondage.

This elevated function of fasting is what the Lord Jesus was referencing when the disciples, after going into the mission field to proclaim the kingdom, returned to him and asked Him why they were unable to cast out a particular demon that was tormenting a young man.  

The Lord pointed out to them that they lacked the prerequisite faith but, in Mathew chapter 17 verse 21, He added this;

However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”

First, it is revealed that there are gradations of demons and the particular kind in question required a greater authority in the spirit to dislodge. 

Second, the practice of prayer and fasting can escalate one's authority in the spirit so that even entrenched demons can be rebuked and expelled.

It is thus part and parcel of the lifestyle of fasting to ascend to the spiritual stance of restoring  justice, ending oppression and breaking yokes.

Amen.

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