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The Failure of Going on a Fast

Writer's picture: Mike SonneveldtMike Sonneveldt

a man from ancient Judea is on a fast. He has ashes on his head and is wearing sack cloth. He looks miserable.

The Emotionalism of a Fast

I had tucked myself into the oversized chair in our living room and built a wall with a good book between my family and me. I kept my eyes low and read the words but only gathered half their meaning. It was almost the end of a fast, and I was going to finish.


Inside, my world was a tempest. My emotions were on a razor's edge, and my annoyance with my wife had throbbed over the past couple of hours. I couldn't shake the frustration, so I did the next best thing to a rant: I chose to ignore her.


Her sins that I struggled to forgive?


Interrupting me.


You read that right. She interrupted me.


Two days ago, my brothers and I chose to do a two-day fast. We agreed to a fast on Monday and Tuesday and to break the fast on Wednesday morning. Last night, my stomach growled and bit at me as I tried to read, but the hunger pains weren't what I focused on.


The entire day, my emotions redlined. Everything felt magnified, and I couldn't shake anything. It all mattered and it all had an effect. Critiques hit me like tidal waves of condemnation. Disagreements created hot anger and frustration. My mind was a mess and my heart was passionate about all the wrong things.


Coupling the emotional turmoil with an inability to hear the Lord, I had considered the fast a complete failure. Yet, I was determined to see it through to the end.


A few hours before ending the night with a book, I had sat in my office with the lights off. I set an alarm on my phone for 20 minutes. It was 5 pm and my workday had ended, but I wanted one last chance to get alone with the Lord and see if I could salvage my fast. I sat on the floor, relaxed, and closed my eyes.


30 seconds later, my door burst open and my wife stood in the doorway, looking slightly impatient and exasperated. Two children were crying their heads off in the background. Her eyes slightly narrowed and she asked, "Could you please help?"


Typically, I would have brushed off the inconvenience. I would have recognized that the woman was being battered from both sides by the diaper duo. Unfortunately, it was not a typical day.


I let a forceful groan go and got quiet as I got up. My heart was frustrated. Didn't she understand that I had just sat down to be with the Lord? Didn't she get it that sometimes she needs to deal with it herself? Doesn't she know that I'm trying to seek the Lord for our family? Didn't she know I was on a fast?


The avoidant, responsibility-dodging, selfish reasons continued to roll around as I helped calm the house and cleaned up the mess from her making dinner. My heart was in attack mode, but I kept my mouth shut.


She knew I was pissed. But in her ever-wonderful grace and patience, she let me be to myself and knew I'd come out of it sooner or later.



Revelations About Doing a Fast

The next day (this morning), my brothers and I went for a run and debriefed our fasts. One had a productive revelation with his wife. The other felt that the fast had, for the most part, been a waste. However, the Lord wasn't finished with us.


While stretching after our run, a conversation was struck about the seeming failure of our attempt at a fast. We discussed at length our emotionalism (which we all had been emotionally charged the previous day and had caused ruckuses in our marriages) and the lack of Spirit nature in us. We lamented that we couldn't get any solid alone time with the Lord and felt like we couldn't hear Him.


And that's when it hit me like a ton of bricks. God covered this exact thing.


In Isaiah 58, God discusses the impropriety of His people's fasting.


He says in Isaiah 58:1-5:

"Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast.

Shout aloud! Don't be timid.

Tell my people Israel[a] of their sins!

Yet they act so pious!

They come to the Temple every day

and seem delighted to learn all about me.

They act like a righteous nation

that would never abandon the laws of its God.

They ask me to take action on their behalf,

pretending they want to be near me.

'We have fasted before you!' they say.

'Why aren't you impressed?

We have been very hard on ourselves,

and you don't even notice it!'


"I will tell you why!" I respond.

"It's because you are fasting to please yourselves.

Even while you fast,

you keep oppressing your workers.

What good is fasting

when you keep on fighting and quarreling?

This kind of fasting

will never get you anywhere with me.

You humble yourselves

by going through the motions of penance,

bowing your heads

like reeds bending in the wind.

You dress in burlap

and cover yourselves with ashes.

Is this what you call fasting?

Do you really think this will please the Lord?



Quarreling During a Fast

It never occurred to me until this morning that it was much more than that they quarreled with each other. The Lord even says that they went through the motions with their fast and sought His face. The problem? DURING THEIR FASTS, they oppressed each other. They fought and quarreled. Their hearts were wicked against each other. They rode their emotionalism and became passionate against each other.


My brothers and I sat in shock. We had lived out exactly what the Israelites had done. God rebuked them. He was gently rebuking us.


Our previous day of fasting-driven emotionalism had begun with a heated and passionate discussion about the failures of others. We lived out our day being over-emotional and attacking those we loved. And as for me, I finished with frustration and anger towards my wife.


How sick we were.


A Proper Fast

God continues by describing the proper heart position for the one who fasts. He says,

"No, this is the kind of fasting I want:

Free those who are wrongly imprisoned;

lighten the burden of those who work for you.

Let the oppressed go free,

and remove the chains that bind people.

Share your food with the hungry,

and give shelter to the homeless.

Give clothes to those who need them,

and do not hide from relatives who need your help.


"Then your salvation will come like the dawn,

and your wounds will quickly heal.

Your godliness will lead you forward,

and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind.

Then when you call, the Lord will answer.

'Yes, I am here,' he will quickly reply.



And as if He had watched us yesterday a couple thousand years before, He said,

"Remove the heavy yoke of oppression.

Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors!

Feed the hungry,

and help those in trouble.

Then your light will shine out from the darkness,

and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon


Our entire discussion yesterday morning revolved around how others should do this, or not do that. We took our seats on the thrones of pious religiosity and made judgments that seemed right to our hearts.


And while it was obvious that the Lord did not give what we desired during the fast, He was still merciful.


The real lesson came this morning when we humbled ourselves before the word of the Lord. We took in His rebuke through Isaiah and understood: we had screwed up.


It was powerful. We knew we had screwed up, but God mercifully provided that revelation we so desired. He granted us a graceful gift in showing our hearts to us afterward.


The Future Fast

During my next fast, I will be suspicious of my emotions. I'll be on guard against my flesh and the wicked ways in which it will spike up against me. The next fast will need to be full of relevant scripture and pursuing love for others. Ministering to others. Giving what I have to those around me.


When I do that, how much greater the revelation from the Lord will be!


I'll finish with this promise from the Lord concerning us properly fasting:

The Lord will guide you continually,

giving you water when you are dry

and restoring your strength.

You will be like a well-watered garden,

like an ever-flowing spring.

Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities.

Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls

and a restorer of homes.



During your next fast: be a lover and a builder. Not an emotional wrecking ball.


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