NEW MERCIES DAILY!
THEME: When Heaven Pauses.
DAY 2: Monday,JUNE 23, 2025
MESSAGE TITLE: When Fasting Becomes an Empty Ritual.
SCRIPTURE TEXT: “Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness…?” — Isaiah 58:6 (KJV)
BY: EFFIONG ETOK
Carrier of God’s Word
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
God is not moved by an empty stomach-but by a trembling, broken heart that longs to be clean.
MAIN MESSAGE:
Child of God, what if your fast-your consecration, your hunger, your hours of prayer-means nothing to heaven?
What if God looks past your empty plate and sees a heart still full of bitterness?
We weep during fasts… yet curse in silence. We lift our hands… but walk past the hurting with no compassion. We break bread in the Spirit… but break hearts in the flesh.
Israel fasted, but God said, “You afflict your souls, but strike with the fist of wickedness” (Isaiah 58:4). They bowed, wore sackcloth, and covered themselves in ashes-but God turned His face away. Why? Because their ritual didn’t touch their character.
Let this bleed into your spirit: Fasting that does not first break you will never break chains.
Jesus fasted in the wilderness-not to be seen, but to be prepared (Matthew 4:1–11). Esther fasted-not for attention, but to intercede for a nation (Esther 4:16). But the Pharisee in Luke 18 fasted twice a week, yet left unchanged, while the broken tax collector walked away justified.
Beloved, fasting is not a hunger strike to twist God’s hand. It is a cry of surrender. The language of the desperate. The posture of the broken. A fast without repentance is starvation. A fast without love is just noise. A fast without compassion is performance-and heaven does not applaud performances.
We cannot fast for breakthrough while harboring bitterness. We cannot seek revival while ignoring the poor, avoiding forgiveness, and nursing hidden sin. God says, “Is not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose the bands of wickedness… to break every yoke?” (Isaiah 58:6)
This is not about skipping meals-it’s about surrendering pride.
Even Nineveh fasted, but it wasn’t their hunger that moved God-it was their brokenness (Jonah 3:5–10).
So, child of God, before you push away the plate, ask yourself: Am I just hungry-or am I truly humble?
Is your fast silencing pride? Is it drawing you closer to the ones you’ve wronged? Is it making you more like Jesus-or just more religious?
Let’s stop seeking God’s hand while ignoring His heart. Let our fasting lift the lowly, heal the broken, and please the Father-not impress the crowd.
LET’S TALK TO GOD FOR REAL:
•Is your fast starving your pride-or feeding your self-righteousness?
•Would God recognize your fast as the kind He has chosen-or just a spiritual performance?
•When last did your fasting lead to tears of repentance and acts of compassion?
•What burden, bondage, or bitterness still needs to be loosed in your life for your fast to carry true meaning?
TAKEAWAY STATEMENT:
The fast that moves heaven is not one that empties your plate-but one that empties your pride and pours out your soul before God.
PRAYER POINTS
1. Lord, deliver me from religious performance.
Tear off every mask I’ve worn in fasting. Let my hunger be holy, my silence sincere, and my heart truly broken before You.
In Jesus’ Mighty Name, Amen!
2. Father, let my fast rise as true repentance.
Fill it with compassion, not show. Use it to break chains, heal hearts, and draw me deeper into Your holiness.
In Jesus’ Mighty Name, Amen!
