What Are You Hungry For?
Isaiah 58:3 ‘Why have we fasted and You do not see? Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?’
Can you hear the whine??? We’ve DONE the DEED! Why do You leave us HUNGRY?!!!!
You really want to know why? God does not hesitate to tell us! Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire, and drive hard all your workers.
Evidently one MUST HAVE a very good, well thought out, covering all the bases, sure to make IT happen, plan for getting together with God… you find your desire, and drive hard all your workers!
Otherwise… we are just wasting our time, starving ourselves for no good reason, looking like fools that don’t know how to “Make IT Work”.
IT? Why OUR plan of course! Our wish(es) come true! Our desires of our heart! Whatever!
IT IS ALL ABOUT ME! RIGHT??!!!!!!
And of course finding the RIGHT words, the right way to RUB God’s lamp, the right wand that sends the cosmic dust into the right path to create OUR WILL – OUR WAY.
Isaiah 58:4 “Behold, you fast for contention and strife and to strike with a wicked fist.
Do you think this is a description of the “UNGODLY”… those heathens/atheists who don’t believe? THOSE PEOPLE…
Nope! God is talking to HIS people!You do not fast like you do today to make your voice heard on high.
And His first question is… Are you hungry for ME?
Isaiah 58:5 “Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to humble himself? Is it for bowing one’s head like a reed And for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed? Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the Lord?
It is natural and right when a baby is born, all he/she knows is I AM HUNGRY and SOMETIMES unhappy! I NEED… your entire focus to be on my cries and what will satisfy them… 1 Peter 2:1-3 long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation
Newborns get to be all about me, me, me, my, my, my, I, I, I! When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; (1 Corinthians 13:11)
But…“when I became a man, I did away with childish things.
And therein lies the rub. When I grew up… I did away with… childish things.
Three questions. Have I grown up or is it still me, me, me? Have I done away with my, my, my? Is the center of most childish thing gone, the I, I, I?
What are you hungry for? The first and foremost step of fasting is not the food. The first and foremost step to fasting is your POSITION before God. All of YOU – bowed down! HUMBLED, in AWE of, READY to receive all of HIM!
Daniel, a teenager stripped of his home, his family, his comfort, his ways, but not stripped of his heart for God. So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes. (Daniel 9:3) A teenager NONETHELESS!
If you think Daniel was just “DOING” a fast (with the appropriate dress code and formal religiosity) to appease his higher taskmaster – read his prayer!
I, for one, do not even begin to seek God with such FASTING FROM ALL THINGS ME! I don’t see very many ADULTS in and outside of churches today who cast aside all things ME/MY/I (childish things) to SEEK GOD! I see much more hiding of our childish treasures by wrapping them up in our pretty papers of interpreting for ourselves and others what God SURELY MEANS for us to have and to hold and to use. (Just a reminder… all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17)
What are you hungry for? Do a Daniel fast and become hungry for God!
Isaiah 58:6-7 “Is this not the fast which I choose, To loosen the bonds of wickedness, To undo the bands of the yoke, And to let the oppressed go free And break every yoke? “Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry And bring the homeless poor into the house; When you see the naked, to cover him; And not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
THEN…“your light will break out like the dawn, And your recovery will speedily spring forth; And your righteousness will go before you; The glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.”Isaiah 58:8-9
THEN…“you will call, and the Lord will answer; You will cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ Isaiah 58:9
IF…you remove the yoke from your midst, The pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness,Isaiah 58:9
IF… you give yourself to the hungry And satisfy the desire of the afflicted, Then your light will rise in darkness And your gloom will become like midday. Isaiah 58:10
Are you hungry yet? Are you starving from all the fasts done your way to get YOUR JUST DESSERTS (sweet things) which are most times just deserts (dry and barren land)?
SEEK GOD and HIS DESIRES… Isaiah 58:11-12 “And the Lord will continually guide you, And satisfy your desire in scorched places, And give strength to your bones; And you will be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail. “Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins; You will raise up the age-old foundations; And you will be called the repairer of the breach, The restorer of the streets in which to dwell.
What WHO are YOU hungry for?
Isaiah 58:13-14 “If because of the sabbath, (God’s appointed time for resting in Him) you turn your foot From doing your own pleasure on My holy day, and call the sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and honor it, desisting from your own ways, from seeking your own pleasure And speaking your own word,then you will take delight in the Lord, And I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; And I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,”
Are you hungry for God? Make today His holy day – His sabbath!This is the day which the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24
“For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” or as I love to say… for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure Philippians 2:13
**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.