Have you ever fasted? Really fasted? I am not referring to skipping a meal; I mean skipped several meals in order to pray and draw closer to God…
I would guess that not many Christians have fasted. Some that I have asked about biblical fasting have replied that they have never had a need to fast. Some say they do not know how. 

As we enter the Christmas Season, there is no better time to fast. 

Over the next couple of days, we will look at Biblical fasting, or as Isaiah puts it, God’s Kind of Fasting…

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have 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 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?

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.

Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;

you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.     

      – Isaiah 58:6-9a NIV

Before God reveals His standards for a fast, He tells us what a fast is not. In the first part of this chapter, He tells us a fast is :

• not an opportunity to take advantage of others.
• not a time for brawling. 
• not a time of  partying. 
• not a time to call attention to yourself, and
• not something to brag about. 

It is, however, 

• an opportunity to give to the less fortunate the food that you are passing up
• chance to be hospitable to the needy. 
• time to entertain strangers. 
• an opportunity to make amends with family and loved ones. 
• a chance to clothe those who need it. 

This unique look at fasting, as an opportunity to minister to others, is just part of the definition of fasting. Fasting is, I believe, seldom taught this way in our churches. Yet, what a great opportunity it is to help others “loosen the chains of injustice and… set the oppressed free.”

Shall you approach Christmas with a fast, and use it to untie the cords of the yoke of the oppressed?

I have read this verse many times, each time I applied it in my prayers to the nation. After all, this was addressed to the nation of Israel. 
Think about it though… Israel was God’s Chosen People, and always will have a special relationship with God. But, today, in New Testament times, the Church is God’s Chosen People. 
If we want our nation to be healed, then the Church – me and you – need to get our hearts right. We need to humble ourselves, seek His face and turn from our wicked ways. Healing begins within the Church. 

“Increase our faith.” That’s what the apostles asked Jesus Christ. It was a simple request, reasonable. Everyone knows Christ’s response: “If you have faith as a mustard seed…” That is only half the answer, though, the part about the mustard seed. Every mature Christian can quote the mustard seed passage. Few, though, have ever pondered the second half of Christ’s answer. 

It reads like this (Luke 17:7-10):

And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, “Come at once and sit down to eat’? But will he not rather say to him, “Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’ ”

The answer seems like a slap in the face to apostles seeking a deeper faith. It is not. Not really. 

Without pause, without hesitation, Jesus transitioned from the parable of the mustard seed to the parable of the unprofitable servant. As difficult as it is to accept His words, they cannot be separated from the passage about the mustard seed, nor can they be separated from the apostles plea to increase their faith. 

So, what is it Christ is saying here? Were the apostles wrong to ask for more faith? Certainly not. Was he trying to tell the apostles that unless they went the extra mile, over and above their duties, that they could have no faith? No, for that contradicts the parable of the mustard seed. 

In order to have faith in God, true faith – even the smallest portion – we must have a proper perspective of God. We must be humble. We can do nothing for God. His power is limitless. We are powerless. We don’t come to God with a resume and tell Him what we can do for His Kingdom. We come to Him helpless and broken and begging for mercy. 

Just as Christ gave up everything to be a servant so that you and I could be saved from eternal damnation. So must we give up all to serve God, expecting nothing in return. He loves us not because of anything we do, for we can do nothing without His power. He loves us because we are His. Without true humility, we cannot have even the smallest portion of  faith.