"Even now," declares the LORD, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning." Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. Who knows? He may turn and have pity and leave behind a blessing— grain offerings and drink offerings for the LORD your God. Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly. (Joel 2:12-15)
The Sacred assembly known as Family of Faith Community Church declared a holy fast commencing Sunday evening. It is our desire to not simply deprive ourselves of food, but rather to empty ourselves of ourselves in order to allow our creator to fill us with Himself.
We understand that there is fasting and that there is a “chosen fast” as explained by the prophet Isaiah that pleases God and results in blessing (Isaiah 58:1-10). God made it plain that he was not pleased with those who fasted but continued to go on with their lives as with any other day. They were quarreling and fighting and cheating each other. They were denying themselves food, but not denying themselves.
In a chosen fast, food is representative of the spiritual, emotional and mental appetites we must confront and deny. The chosen fast breaks loosens the chains and unties breaks the yokes. Loosening the chains refers to those appetites or behaviors that hold you captive, untying the yokes to those things that enslave you.
We are generally held captive by things or people outside us and enslaved by uncontrolled passions within us. For instance people are held captive by whatever addicts them. We tend to limit addiction to drugs or alcohol. However we easily become addicted to the habitual pleasures of life, things like TV, video games, ipods, food in general or even certain types of food. If you don’t believe you are addicted to your habitual pleasure try giving it up for a week or so. The things that enslave us are usually related to our inner passions, such as pride, uncontrolled anger, sexual lust, envy, stinginess, laziness, jealousy or lying. These passions control us and cause us to act out in ways we later regret
In a chosen fast we not only give up food, but also those pleasures that can become so addictive and we avoid the feeding ungodly passions and submitting ourselves to them. The chosen fast also provides us with an opportunity to give of ourselves, to share our blessing with others, and to help those who are less fortunate than we are, especially our blood relatives.
Ever increasing faith results from much prayer, and effective prayer needs fasting for its full growth. It is the denying of self that brings us into a closer union with Christ, and the union with Christ guarantees answered prayer.
The Sacred assembly known as Family of Faith Community Church declared a holy fast commencing Sunday evening. It is our desire to not simply deprive ourselves of food, but rather to empty ourselves of ourselves in order to allow our creator to fill us with Himself.
We understand that there is fasting and that there is a “chosen fast” as explained by the prophet Isaiah that pleases God and results in blessing (Isaiah 58:1-10). God made it plain that he was not pleased with those who fasted but continued to go on with their lives as with any other day. They were quarreling and fighting and cheating each other. They were denying themselves food, but not denying themselves.
In a chosen fast, food is representative of the spiritual, emotional and mental appetites we must confront and deny. The chosen fast breaks loosens the chains and unties breaks the yokes. Loosening the chains refers to those appetites or behaviors that hold you captive, untying the yokes to those things that enslave you.
We are generally held captive by things or people outside us and enslaved by uncontrolled passions within us. For instance people are held captive by whatever addicts them. We tend to limit addiction to drugs or alcohol. However we easily become addicted to the habitual pleasures of life, things like TV, video games, ipods, food in general or even certain types of food. If you don’t believe you are addicted to your habitual pleasure try giving it up for a week or so. The things that enslave us are usually related to our inner passions, such as pride, uncontrolled anger, sexual lust, envy, stinginess, laziness, jealousy or lying. These passions control us and cause us to act out in ways we later regret
In a chosen fast we not only give up food, but also those pleasures that can become so addictive and we avoid the feeding ungodly passions and submitting ourselves to them. The chosen fast also provides us with an opportunity to give of ourselves, to share our blessing with others, and to help those who are less fortunate than we are, especially our blood relatives.
Ever increasing faith results from much prayer, and effective prayer needs fasting for its full growth. It is the denying of self that brings us into a closer union with Christ, and the union with Christ guarantees answered prayer.
* Cartoon courtesy of “The Back Pew by Jeff Larsen, http://thebackpew.com/
Post Script: An audio version of the sermon God’s Chosen Fast preached on Sunday 1/11/09 click below. http://www.mediafire.com/file/ki2ycjyjgm0/God
