 All right. The recording is on and we can get into our session for today. We'll pray and begin. So I request somebody from the online batch to please go ahead and pray today. Who would like to lead? Heavenly Father, we just wish to thank you for this hour of study and we just pray a lot that as you guide us through these lessons, Lord, that we will be open to learn from you and be able to retain whatever we've studied, Father. We pray, Father, that as we continue to learn, Lord, that we will be sensitive to the Holy Spirit, Lord, and be able to apply whatever we've learned in our day-to-day lives, Father. We pray for blessing upon all the teachers and the students, Lord. In Jesus' precious name, we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Brother Sanjay. We'll get to our notes and today I thought we would take up chapter 18. There are some more chapters before that but we'll go to it later because the subject that we need to be doing today is to pray for the city. But I'll club it with praying for revival and also, I mean, there's another subject about praying in a group. So we'll club all that together and we'll study it but right now we'll take up the subject of fasting. So prayer with fasting. So it's a really, really interesting subject and I'm sure many of us want to understand why do we fast and what is the meaning of fasting? How is fasting clubbed with prayer essential and important? What kind of impact it has on our lives? So that is the subject for today. We'll study about fasting and prayer. So there's a lot of information in the chapter. I'll try to summarize it section by section. So our primary passage will be from Isaiah 58. So I request us to open our Bibles to Isaiah 58. We will go to that passage later and we will study through the entire passage. But before that let's just have a little bit of background regarding fasting. So very similar to prayer, we look at fasting as a spiritual discipline. Prayer is relationship with God and at the same time we practice it like a discipline. Remember we said that we need a strictly regimented or like a sort of planned, scheduled way of praying. We can be spontaneous or we can pray whenever we like but usually if we have set times of prayer it helps us to be more disciplined. So in the same way fasting is a spiritual discipline, something that we practice regularly that will help us in our spiritual walk. Fasting, is it important to fast? Now that Jesus has died on the cross, he has given us salvation, we are blessed. Why should we fast? Is it necessary for believers to fast? What is your view? Yes, over here also people are saying yes. So it is necessary for us to fast. Jesus talked about fasting. We will see later on when he instructed his disciples, he said when you fast fast like this. So he gave instructions and also he pointed out that when he is gone or he is taken up at that time the disciples who follow him will fast. So this is something that has been given to the church or to the believers to do. So fasting is a part of our walk with the Lord. It's not that as believers we can say Jesus has already done everything on the cross so there is no more need to fast. So we don't say that because Jesus himself talked about fasting. What is the right way to fast and he also said that believers will fast when he is not on the earth. So fasting is essential for believers. But the important thing to understand is that is the correct way or proper way to do fasting. So we can do fasting but if we do it the wrong way it won't be that effective. So we need to understand the correct way or the proper way of fasting. That is what we will study from Isaiah 54 very soon. Now regarding fasting we also observe that there are different ways of fasting. So staying away from food it could be only partial meaning some meals we don't eat or some particular food we don't eat. For the sake of prayer we don't eat or it can be absolute. Absolute means completely we don't eat anything all the meals we are skipping. So that is absolute. We can either have partial fasting or we can practice what is known as absolute or complete fasting. Now we can fast as individuals meaning each one of us we can fast by ourselves or we can fast fast as a group. Two or three people you want to pray about a subject so you get together you fast and pray. So fasting and prayer can be done either way we can fast for any length of time. In the Bible we observe different kinds of timelines fasting can be done for one day. You see examples of that it's all there in the notes I'm not going verse by verse because there are lots and lots of verses. So it can be for one day or it can be three days like Esther we find three days she fasted then seven days isn't is also given in the Bible. 14 days 21 days Daniel fasted 21 days 40 days you know you find even Jesus he fasted 40 days. So there are different days that one can choose to fast. Now how do we choose these timelines and what exactly to fast it depends on how God is leading us and you know how we really want to seek him. So it depends on those things now why are we talking about fasting. We already know that we are saved by grace and we can't do good works to buy our salvation isn't it. Jesus has done his work on the cross that is why we have the blessings that we have. So just because we do the right things it doesn't sort of we're not trying to do it to get God's attention or a reward from God. You got it but the Bible does say that when we walk righteously we are blessed because there are results and blessings associated with the right doing the right things. So one thing we have to understand is fasting is not to get extra points you know if I may put it that way from God. So if I fast God will be so impressed with me that he will give me what I'm asking him for. So it's not like that but fasting has its benefits. We have to understand what are these benefits that we get when we fast. So some of them are it is a very helpful way to express our repentance or when we feel sorry about something. We can fast before God maybe we should not have done something and we did it or we didn't make the right decision. And we feel like oh I need to repent I need to say sorry to God. Fasting is a very good way that helps us express our repentance. It's very helpful that we can come before God and set our heart right in his presence. So we can take up fasting whenever we want to express our repentance. Then how else does fasting help? Fasting will help us to strengthen our focus. So let's say I'm my spiritual focus or attention. It's not you know I'm very distracted person like I'm not able to concentrate on the things of God. But if we start practicing fasting then we will begin to see that our focus becomes very sharp. Spiritual focus becomes very strong it becomes very sharp. So fasting has that ability. So someone said that you know in life and even our flesh right. We find many things that try to pull us or in other words you can put it like this. The noise the noise of the world the noise of the flesh everything wants to get our attention right. So we become distracted we don't know where to pay attention. But when we fast what happens is we become so we become stronger. And we don't get attracted by the world or we don't get attracted to the noises of our flesh. Like our flesh wants you know pleasure and approval so many things the wrong things that our flesh wants. But when we fast we develop a focus where we are able to shut down the noise. So primarily that's what fasting does for us. It will help us to shut down all the noise around us. And we can get intensely focused on the things of God. So are you all understanding what I'm trying to say if you have questions you can always ask me. So it helps us to focus. It also helps us become very intense in our desire for God. You know we say right that love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul with all your mind with all your strength. Now we may have a level of love for God. But when we practice fasting it can intensify our desire for God can become deeper it can become stronger. Okay so if we want to love God more through fasting we can develop the intensity to love Him. Okay so it really helps in that way. Fasting also helps us develop discipline. How many of you can agree with me that fasting is very hard. It's very difficult anybody here you feel fasting is very easy for me it's very easy. Anyone like that can show us your hand. We have one person here who feels fasting is easy. Okay but in general I think for most of us fasting is difficult. Okay very honestly. So when we get into something like fasting it disciplines us. Because we have to say no to the desire of our flesh. We have to say no to comforts. We have to say no you know to many things only then we can fast successfully. And when we do that it pushes us and we become more and more disciplined. Right and we know that the Bible talks about the fruit of the spirit. So in the fruit of the spirit one aspect is self control. The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, gentleness. In that list you will also find self control. So when the Holy Spirit is working in our lives we have to grow in self control. That is also a fruit of the spirit. Fasting will help us become more self controlled. Right in our emotions in everything we become more self controlled. We become more disciplined and therefore we can display the fruit of the spirit. It deepens consecration. See consecration means submission, surrender. So maybe there are times when we want to express our surrender to God. We are saying God I am committing my life to you. I am committing my life for the ministry. So when we are committing, when we are surrendering, when we are submitting a time of fasting helps. Because when we are fasting we are saying God I am making myself an offering to you. So that is consecration or dedication. So it helps us dedicate ourselves to God. So these are all the benefits of fasting. So a good thing to do is always think about what is the benefit. When you are doing something hard think of what is going to be the result. If the results are good it is worth going through the struggle of whatever it is. Fasting or disciplining ourselves. So these are the benefits. It is really helping us understand that we can become very focused on God. We can develop godly lives if we practice fasting. So this is the benefit or this is the advantage. Now what are some of the things that we can fast? What can we fast? Usually what do people fast? Food, isn't it? We let go of food. We don't eat certain foods or we don't eat certain meals for some days or a long period of time. Food is generally what people fast. But we can also fast things that we like. For example these days people spend more time on social media. They spend more time on the phone. More time maybe watching movies. More time in sports. So when we feel like we are giving more time to other things and not to God. We can also discipline ourselves by saying I will take the time which I am using for let's say social media or TV or movies or sports or going out. I will put that time for prayer. I will put that time for study of God's word. So one is we can fast food but we can also fast the activities which we like. You got it? So we can decide maybe for if I like something a lot. I am saying okay God I am going to keep that away. For whatever you know one, one, two months or six months I won't. I will just give my time to you. That is also a kind of fasting which we can undertake. And believe me it's not easy for our generation. Letting go of the whatever Instagram, Facebook. It's very hard. It's as good as fasting a meal because people are so addicted to leave it. They find it difficult. So we can also fast activities apart from food. So the decision is ours. What is it that has your attention? For some people maybe fasting that activity will be more beneficial than skipping a meal because their heart is fully in that activity. So we have to decide what is it that I need to fast in this season. But yes generally food because there are many examples about fasting food in the Bible. Now apart from this there is also something known as a fasted life. Okay, a fasted life. So that doesn't mean that somebody is not eating at all. It's not possible. Right. If you don't eat at all you won't exist. So fasted life is it's not referring only to eating. But it's referring to a dedicated life dedicated life to God. So the fasted life comes from the example in the Old Testament. There was a group of people known as Nazarites. Do you know Samson Samson in the Bible? He was a Nazarite. So they would dedicate people to God and that person was supposed to avoid many things. Because their life was dedicated to God. So you know Samson he shouldn't cut his hair. He shouldn't drink intoxicated drinks. So those kind of there were many rules that the Nazarites had to follow because their life was a dedicated life. So Samson is Nazarite Samuel in the Bible Nazarite even Jesus is part of that Nazarite community. So from that example today. Maybe for us dedication to God does not mean okay you know you should cut your hair not cut your hair or things like that. But dedication to God through your life can be a commitment that you make. You can make your own decisions and say okay I will do this I will not do this. You make your own decisions. And throughout your life you because our life is dedicated to God we choose to sacrifice and we live our whole life. That's Nazarite it's like a Nazarite. So we call it fasted life. So our whole life itself can be fasted life because we say okay I'm going to say no to certain things throughout my life. I'm going to say I got it as my dedication to God. So that also is something that we can practice and when we do that you would see greater strength and greater power. So as I said earlier Jesus encouraged fasting. So can we read from the passage Matthew chapter 9 verses 14 and 15. Could someone please turn your Bibles to that passage. Matthew chapter 9 verses 14 and 15. Yeah please read it. Okay so do you see the disciples of John came and asked Jesus why are your disciples not fasting. That time Jesus said no they will fast. They will fast when the bridegroom is taken away. So that means right now Jesus is not on the earth. He is in the presence of the Father. So this is the time that we are actually supposed to fast and pray. So the Bible does not say that believers don't have to fast. Just the way he talked about prayer he also talks about fasting and says that fasting is for the believer. And there are other passages as well that really help us understand you know that fasting is required. And that you know fasting is something like when Jesus made statements about fasting. He said when you fast right we'll go to those passages. When you fast he didn't say if you fast. So if means what? If means if you want to you fast if you don't want don't fast. But he said when you fast that means we are supposed to fast. Whenever we fast we have to follow what he says. So now let us talk about what is the right way of fasting or what is the correct or proper manner of fasting. And that is why we in our in our notes that is the word the chosen fast. Okay the chosen fast chosen is approved or selected selected by God. See when we fast that fast has to be approved by God or it should make God happy. If our fasting is not making God happy then it's not a chosen fast. So we need to know what is the right way to fast so that it makes God happy. So in Isaiah chapter 58 verses 1 through 14 we will study in sections about what is the way in which we should get ready to fast. Okay the attitude that we need to carry. Second is regarding why why should we fast or the purpose for which we are fasting and what are the promises of God. If we fast what can we expect in our lives. So let's begin with the preparation what does God require of us. So for this we will have to look at the passages Isaiah 58 verse 3 and verse 4. Can I read sister. Yes. Isaiah 58 verse 3. Why have we fasted they say and you have not seen. Why have we afflicted our souls and you take no notice. In fact in the day of your past you find pleasure and exploit all your laborers. Indeed you fast for strife and debate and to strike with the fist of wickedness. You will not fast as you do this day to make your voice heard on high. Okay. Yes. Sister can you read verse 5 also please. Yes. Is it a fast that I have chosen a day for a man to afflict his soul. Is it to bow down his head like a bull rush and to spread out sackcloth and ashes. Would you call this a fast and an acceptable day to the Lord. Okay. So in verse 5 remember I said chosen fast. So God is asking is this the fast that I have chosen or is this the fast that I have approved or is this the fast which is acceptable to me. And God points out certain behaviors or attitudes that people have and he says that it's it's not correct the way people are fasting. So he's telling to the people you know who were fasting at the time when I was writing for them he points out you know a couple of things. He says that people have an attitude where they are asking God why did we fast and you have not seen why have we afflicted our souls and you have you take no notice. That means the reason they were fasting was to impress God that was their only goal that okay God you see you know I'm hungry I left I left this I let go of that I made so many sacrifices but you're not seeing. So their goal is they want to impress God they want God to understand what a big sacrifice they have done with their fasting and God says I'm sorry I'm not impressed. Okay. That's not a good attitude with which we fast if we are fasting to say that look at me you know I'm so great. I'm sacrificing God you have to take attention and do something that attitude is not a right attitude. And God is saying I'm not happy with this kind of an attitude when you fast what is the second thing that he states there. He also says that when you fast you pursue your own interest and you oppress your workers. So this is this refers to there were people who were wealthy and they had servants and slaves. Okay. Now on the day of their fasting what they used to do is because they are fasting. Right. Then if they are fasting they are part of the work who will do what they used to do is they used to put extra work on the servants and the slaves. And they used to say see I am fasting today I can't do anything you have to do all the work. So there is no concern or care for the poor or the weak people. Okay. It's a very proud attitude. It's a very oppressive attitude with that attitude people are fasting all these you know very wealthy people very rich people and they were saying God see we are fasting for you. But God is saying but how are you fasting you're making the people around you suffer. So obviously all the servants and slaves when the fasting they might come they would have been so scared. Oh our work is going to become double and triple. Okay. So God is observing everything and he's saying it's not right. You're saying you're fasting but you're putting the load on the workers. You have no compassion. You have no concern for others and you're saying I'm fasting. What is this attitude? It's the wrong attitude. Right. So that is being pointed out and the next attitude that we notice here is what says you're doing it for your own interests. You're doing it for your own selfishness. Okay. So there is no surrender. There is no attitude of God. I'm submitting myself to you. You guide me. You lead me. Nothing like that. No humility in the fasting. It's full of selfishness selfish interest and we want God to answer. And we fast like that. God is saying it's not acceptable. I'm not happy even though we are sacrificing God is saying it's not acceptable. What else does he say there? He also says that there is strife right there is strife among you. So then that is pointing to a very important part of our lives which is relationships. So in verse four he says indeed you fast for strife and debate and to strike with the fist of wickedness. What does it mean? It simply means our relationships are not right. You know, we are angry with people. We are upset with people. We are fighting with people. We are quarrelling with people. There is a lot of strife. There are many relationships which are not right. And we are trying to fast and God is saying you go make everything right. Okay. So fasting is not just about avoiding food. God is looking at the whole life and the attitude that we carry when we come before him. Whether we are coming before him with humility surrender and also whether we are not just respecting God but respecting the relationships in our lives. You got it. So it's it's beyond just food or letting go of some choice activities right. So relationships, can you imagine God is saying you fast for strife and debate and strike with the fist of wickedness. So our whole life, even our relationships matter to God and God says, you know, we shouldn't do it that way. We should do it with the attitude where we set everything right. Now let's look at verse 5. There is one more aspect there that is covered. Verse 5 talks about the chosen fast. Is it a fast that I have chosen a day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Would you call this a fast and an acceptable day to the Lord? Okay, let's go on. I think verse 6 we need to read. It says, is this not the fast that I have chosen to lose the bonds of wickedness to undo the heavy burdens to let the oppressed go free and that you break every yoke. So another attitude that we must carry when we fast is to remove burdens from people. Or it's simply, if you want to understand it in the simplest way, it means to have compassion. To have compassion for people, to have compassion especially for those who are weak. Those who may be weaker than us in some way. We must have compassion for them. If we don't have a heart of compassion, God says, what fasting are you doing? So these are all the attitudes that God wants us to have when we fast. And only then our fasting will be valid. Now let us go on and let us look at, you know, how exactly to fast. There are some instructions we'll read from verse 6 to verse 10. Can somebody read the whole thing? Verse 6 to verse 10. We'll explain that and then go on to others, other passages. Is this not the fast that I have chosen to lose the bonds of wickedness to undo the heavy burdens to let the oppressed go free and that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your breath with the Holy and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out? When you see the lake that you cover him and not hide yourself from your own flesh, then your life shall break forth like the morning. Your healing shall spring forth quickly and your righteousness that will before you the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall fall and the Lord will answer you. You shall cry and he will say, here I am. If you take away the yoke from your wits, the pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness. If you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfied the afflicted soul, then your life shall drown in the darkness into darkness. So it will be as the noon today. Okay, so we find some instructions in between some blessings again going back to some instructions. So let's look at the instructions here verse 6 and 7 where the scripture is telling us that we must lose the bonds of wickedness. Lose the bonds of wickedness means that we need to stand on the side of justice. So when we don't stand on the side of justice, then again our fast is very empty. Okay, so we need to stand on the side of justice. That's a requirement and he also says you must undo the heavy burdens. Undo the heavy burdens means we should not exploit people. Exploit people again goes back to how maybe those days the people who were in leadership, they used to make, how do you put it? Exploit is when you're taking advantage of the workers, of the slaves. So God is saying we need to have compassion. As a leader, have compassion for the people and don't burden them, don't put loads on them which they cannot carry. So it has to do with living a life for justice and again compassion, the fear of God. These are all the attitudes. Fasting has more to do with the way we think, the way, the motivation of our heart. Okay, our attitude more than I fasted 40 days, I fasted 50 days. That's fine. How many days we are fasting and what sacrifice we are making is good. But it is deeper than that. God is looking at the heart of the person and saying is there justice in our heart? Is there compassion in our hearts? Is there the fear of God? We won't treat people badly when we fear God. So these are the things that one needs to understand as far as fasting is concerned. And you break every yoke. Every yoke simply means, if there are debts, when people owe us debts, we know in the matter of finances, this person owes me 100 rupees, that person owes me 200 rupees, they need to give it back. You need to give it back, you need to give it back. But sometimes we hold debts at an emotional level where we feel, people owe us, they owe us an explanation. We feel entitled, where everybody else, how could they behave like that? You owe me an explanation, you owe me a sorry. So we keep people in our hearts and it's as if everybody owes us something because there is unforgiveness. In our hearts. So unforgiveness again will affect the fasting which we perform or which we are engaging in. So God is saying, are there debts? Cancel the debts. Okay, forgive people. Let go. Okay, fine. They made a mistake. Whatever you come before me, settle it. Let them go. Cancel the debts. So a heart of forgiveness God is asking for when we come to Him with fasting and He also says, share your food, share your bread with the hungry. Again, it has to do, it has a lot to do with justice, heart of forgiveness, compassion. Again, compassion. So have compassion for the people. Take care of those who are poor. Bring to your house the poor who are passed out. So that means not only should we have a heart of compassion but be generous. Generous means what? We are willing to give. So if I have something, I am willing to give help people, care for people. So that is necessary as an attitude when we fast. And He also says when you see the naked that you cover Him. Generosity. Right? People may not have clothes. This is literal but we can also take it at another level to care for people. You know, cover their shame, help them. So things like that when we engage with that attitude, we are fasting becomes pleasing to God. And it also says, do not hide yourself from your own flesh. That means that, you know, we have responsibilities in our lives. We may have parents, you know, married people, your spouse, children, relatives. So we have all these people's relationships and all. So when we have these relationships and we have some responsibilities, we can't just say, my life is dedicated to God. You take care of yourself. I don't care. You do whatever you want because I'm living for God. Right? What are we doing? We are saying, I will not take responsibility for the people that God has put in my life. God doesn't want us to be irresponsible. So He's saying, you have a responsibility, fulfill your responsibility. Okay. Don't neglect people for the sake of, you know, I'm a Godly person. I'm dedicated to God. So you figure it out. No. Do we have a responsibility to be towards our parents, towards the spouse, towards children? Fulfill your responsibilities. That's what God is saying. Okay. So no excuses even with regard to that. So you, you see that overall when we look at where is God pointing to two things. He's pointing to our heart. What is the motivation behind what we are doing? Okay. Our heart. Second, he's pointing to our relationships. How are the relationships in my life? Are they healthy? Okay. Or am I constantly getting into trouble with people? Right? Because of whatever attitude, these two things, it matters a lot when we go before God in fasting. So God is looking at the heart. God is looking at the relationships. Okay. And when that is correct, we can engage in an effective fasting. So there are some more instructions. Verse nine and verse 10, he says, you know, take away the yoke from your midst. So that simply means, you know, put an end to oppression. So if we are burdening people, if there are unfair practices, right, we could have unfair practices like we can make one rule for ourselves, which is very easy. And we make another rule for the people who are working with us, working for us, which is difficult. And when they try to explain, no, this is not correct. You say, no, you do it. I don't know how you're going to do it, but you do it. So when we make things unfair, even that God says, it's not pleasing in my sight. And then it says, stop the pointing of the finger. Pointing of the finger is blaming, blaming people. So we are constantly saying, oh, he's not right. She's not right. They are not right. Blaming people, that attitude is not acceptable. Then it says, stop speaking wickedness. Wickedness means when we talk about other people, you know, the word is gossip. When we gossip or this person about their life about, you know, different things that they are doing or not doing. That is gossip. And God says, if we engage in gossip, then again, you know, our fasting is not acceptable. And extend your soul to the hungry generosity. Be generous to others. Satisfy the afflicted soul. That again means generosity helps somebody who is in need. So when we practice all these things, which are to do with the right motivation and right attitude, right relationships, then definitely God will accept our fasting. Okay, so suddenly fasting has become even more difficult now. First it was just not eating food, but now it has to do with everything. Right? So it's kind of tough, but we can ask God, please help me Lord every day to walk in this way. One more last instruction to make our fasting acceptable is Isaiah 58 and verse 13. And someone read it please. Isaiah 58 and verse 13. If you turn back your food from the Sabbath from doing your pleasure on my holy day and call the Sabbath in light and the holy day of the Lord honorable. If you honor it, not going your own ways or seeking your own pleasure or talking idly. So what God is reminding us is he's reminding us about the Sabbath. Okay, so the Sabbath we know that one day is set aside for the Lord. One day is set aside to honor God, one day is set aside to worship God, right? Now as people of God, if we don't take this seriously or basically it has to do with honoring God. It's not so much about which day it is, it's not that, but it's about making time for the Lord, whichever day of the week. But now we know we all practice Sundays as the day when we worship God. We honor God on that day. What does rest or Sabbath mean? It means that we are looking to God. So one day if we rest, if you ask people who don't believe in God, they'll say, oh my business will go down. My profit will go down. If I work another day, I'll get more profit. But what are we saying as believers? Yeah, one day we are taking a break, but God is my provider, right? So we are extending our faith unto the Lord and we are saying as I worship, my God will supply all my needs according to his riches in glory. So that one day we take to worship God, to honor God, right? So God is also saying that if we don't keep the Sabbath that day which is designated for worship and honoring of God, even then our fasting will be affected. Okay, so these are all the instructions apart from heart attitude, relationships. Third is honoring God. If you're not honoring God with our resources at time, then also our fasting will not be acceptable. Okay, so these are the instructions. When we come back, we will look at the blessings. So if we do fasting in the right way, there are going to be a lot of blessings. So we will look at that. If you have any questions after the break, you can ask me, right? So we'll take a break, 10 minutes and then we can come back and discuss. Thank you.