ISAIAH CHAPTER 58
Heavenly Father, I pray for my brothers and sisters reading this right now. I pray that as they go into this period of fasting and prayer, may they draw nearer to you, in every way possible. May they be strong in wisdom and knowledge, as fresh vision comes their way, in the mighty name of Jesus name I pray. Amen!
Welcome back Brothers and Sisters, to The Heartfelt Studies. I hope you are enjoying this learning curve, as much as I am.
Before I turned to Christianity; I wasn't aware that fasting also happened within the Christian community, even though I studied Religious Education at school, I don't think this was ever mentioned. So when there was the first mentioned of a community fast, from our church, I thought; What is this? Will I be able to do this? Maybe I could lose weight this way? And all of those thoughts were BEFORE, I really understood the IMPORTANCE of fasting and prayer and BEFORE, I understood the POWER of fasting and prayer.
So today, we are going to look into Isaiah Chapter 58, verse 6, which reads;
Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke?
As I am writing this; I just keep re-reading the above scripture over and over again, because to know that when we take time out of our lives and when we take time out to step out of this world and go to a place of solidarity with God, everything seems to quieten down and everything that seems have caused worry or upset, subsided in his presence.
I remember, before we went on the church fast; I had to have some blood tests done because I kept feeling so so tired. The doctors called me and mentioned a condition called thalassaemia, which according to NHS, it is associated with; anaemia – severe tiredness, weakness, shortness of breath, pounding, fluttering or irregular heartbeats (palpitations). Most of which, I have experienced from my early 20s. So I had to go in for another blood test, so to double check as they weren’t 100% certain. When I heard that, my heart dropped, because it's inline with what they call sickle cell trait and was something that could be passed onto my son. I did get a bit disheartened and was overwhelmed, so when it came to our fasting and prayer, I knew I had to bring this to God.
Photo by Luis Quintero
Our time of fasting and prayer was for one week and because everyone had different health conditions, the type of fast was adjusted accordingly. My fast was from 6am to 6pm and having water throughout the day. So every day I woke up; thanking God for keeping me, for providing for me and my family, glorifying him of his goodness. I prayed about all the things that were worrying me or hurting me. I listened to music and worshiped him before I left the house, on my travels to work, from work, until the fast had broken.
Was it hard to fast at first? Yes. I would get to work and it would come to lunchtime and my colleague would notice I wasn’t eating and would ask why. I didn’t really want to say, because; fasting is an intimate and sacred moment with God and should be taken with acceptance and gratitude, but I did explain and she understood. I say this because, fasting leads to spiritual growth, the purifying and cleansing of our bodies and minds and it allows us to go into a place of humility. Humility to recognize what is important and the spirit of humility; allows us to push past the temptation of food, of the flesh and of any negativity, that may cause an hindrance to the fast.
After having the second sets of blood tests done; which I believe was on the Thursday, before we started the fast, by Wednesday (mid-week of the fast) I received a phone call whilst at work, from the doctors to say that they could not find anything wrong. There were no signs of thalassaemia/sickle cell. I kept asking were they sure and they said yes and ah the sigh of relief. I was so so thankful and not for me mainly, but to know that I didn’t have to worry about my son having to be tested for anything, as that was my biggest concern.
I had to give God, all the honor and all the praise, hallelujah! For taking this worry away from me, for healing me and showing me the wonderful and amazing work he can in my life, if I put all my faith and trust in him. God showed me, that the POWER of fasting and praying is real. His promises to fulfill whatever it is, he has written for our lives, will never be broken. God shows that spending time with him, in fasting and prayer, will build walls of; peace, healing, renovation and change of thoughts and direction. If Jesus can fast for 40 days, to teach us about the goodness of his Father, then we can appreciate the few days, we require, to learn about God’s goodness for ourselves.
If you have moments where you are so overwhelmed; take time out and fast (even you start with a day) speak to God. If you don’t know what to say; let your heart speak through worship, let your tears fall and let yourself go in his presence. It may feel weird, but that release will be the stepping stone, to something beautiful. Here is a beautiful song, that you can start with. It is called Change Me, by the wonderful Tamela Mann.
I hope you have enjoyed today’s study and I’'ll see you back here soon!xx