The word "then" is an excellent indicator of pointing to something that's going to happen next. It is also a term that refers to something being added, for example, "I love my job, but then it pays well also."
In today's teaching on fasting, we will explore this word regarding fasting to reveal that when we participate correctly in fasting, it will be "THEN" that things will begin to happen or change for us.
Scripture admonishes us that during our times of fasting, the things that we took pleasure in and comforted us before fasting, such as our food, home, and other comforts, we must now distribute or share them among those who need them. In fact, this particular protocol of fasting is essential if we desire to reap the benefits that come with it. Let us read below what the prophet Isaiah had to say about this to the children of Israel:
"Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house—when you see the naked, that you cover him, and that you hide not yourself from [the needs of] your own flesh and blood?" Isaiah 58:7. As you would have read, a part of the process of fasting is to share what we would have usually been comforted with before fasting. He insists that we do not hide from the needs of others during this very critical period of our fasting.
In verse 9 of this same chapter, it begins with our word, "THEN," "Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, Here I am. If you take away from your midst yokes of oppression [wherever you find them], the finger pointed in scorn [toward the oppressed or the godly], and every form of false, harsh, unjust, and wicked speaking,
10 And if you pour out that with which you sustain your own life for the hungry and satisfy the need of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in darkness, and your obscurity and gloom become like the noonday" Isaiah 58:9-10.
Again, I must emphasize that the prophet is not speaking to sinners or people who worship other gods. In fact, he is talking to people who have identified and were at that time serving the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of heaven and earth. He revealed to them that to realign themselves with God's purposes and bring them back spiritually, where they should have been at that point, they had to follow the complete protocol of the fast. What I found to be rather interesting was the fact that the scripture started by saying:
"Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and He will say. Here I am, which is a clear indication that God was not doing this before, and whatever it was that they were doing wrong that caused it would have required the protocol of this fast for Him to not only hear them and their cry but also respond to them.
My friend, please listen to God speaking to you through this article today. Have you been feeling as if God has forgotten you or he's just not listening to you? Do you feel as if everyone else's prayers are being answered except yours? Have you been tossing to and fro in your mind the thought that you have been a Christian for so long, and there have been no signs, wonders, miracles, or the power of the Holy Spirit demonstrated in your life? Are there particular problems in your life that no matter how much you pray, they refuse to move? Is your health failing, or are you just right out confused about everything?
Well, if you have answered yes to any of the above questions. Then you are in desperate need of a fast, with a view to following the exact instructions provided above, which I have meticulously laid out for you according to scripture. I speak from much-accumulated experience, and I strongly advise you to complete a fast to break the cycle of fruitlessness in your life.
Written By: Kevin L A Ewing
kevinewing@coralwave.com
kevinlaewing.blogspot.com
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