Day 15

January 25

“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?  Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.” -Isaiah 58:6-8 

Speedy Kingdom Advancement in Fasting

Who wants a speedy Kingdom breakthrough during this fast? In Isaiah 58, a chapter

highlighting fasting, God gives us a promise of accelerated breakthrough. He says that

“your healing shall spring up speedily” (Isaiah 58:8). Are you interested in a speedy

breakthrough while you’re fasting?

Isaiah 58 invites us to a speedy breakthrough through truthful confession about our

condition before God. This breakthrough starts with complete and open honesty about

our separateness (Isaiah 58:6), which brings our whole mind and being into the light

where Jesus will meet us and exchange our separateness for wholeness in connection

with Him. This breakthrough will change your whole life from this day forward. I John

1:9 communicates, “If you will tell the truth about your separateness, He is faithful and

just to cancel the effects of your separateness.” The Holy Spirit will help you tell the

truth (confession) about what you’re believing that is separating you from true

connection with Jesus. You give that truth you believe to Jesus by telling Him.

Jesus is faithful to receive everything that made you separate, and in a beautiful

exchange. release a deeper connection with Him in its place. This breakthrough is so

powerful that it will bring an explosion of wholeness from God’s heart to your soul, just

as sun beams burst forth at dawn and fill the object of its radiance with warmth and

light. What was cold and dark in your soul can now be filled with warmth and light.

Are you ready to be honest about your separateness? Picture this, “From the sole of the

foot to the head, there is no soundness in it, but bruises and sores and raw wounds.

They are not pressed out or bound up or softened with oil.” Any outsider can see that this man is separate from wholeness. Why can’t he recognize his condition?

This one who is so wounded thinks that his condition is normal and can’t be

honest with himself. In the same way, you can fast in complete dysfunction, utter lies,

and woundedness of soul, like it is the normal Christian life, living a lie. Most don’t do this intentionally, and yet they are bound, strapped, and oppressed just like the person from Isaiah 1, all the while saying that they’re doing ok.

As you fast the fast God chooses, He wants intimacy with you because He wants you to

be whole in every way. The word intimacy can make you feel uncomfortable, especially

if you recognize your dysfunctional behaviors you’re trying to manage while

masquerading as normalcy in life and ministry. But intimacy, the way God intends, results in healing, truth, peace, and a Spirit-filled life—complete transformation into the image of Jesus.

So how do you get this intimacy and be honest about your separateness? Picture this -

God invites you to His loving arms to tell the truth. Answer these truth-revealing

questions as if God is directly asking. Are you feeling loved right now? Do you feel

understood? Do you feel like you belong? Do you feel significant? Do you feel like you

have purpose? Do you feel safe? You may know what you are supposed to answer, but

can you reflect deeply and answer honestly from the heart? Why use the word “feel?”

Because the feeling is communicating what you actually believe in this moment. Please

don’t build theology on these feelings, for they may be lying to you, but you need to learn to be honest before our God, who already knows what is really happening in your heart. He wants you to tell the truth. Ignoring or denying the feeling or covering it with a

knowledge Band-Aid or declaration brings more separateness and is like the beat-up,

broken person of Isaiah 1 declaring that there is nothing wrong with him because he

quotes a verse about wholeness.

Do you want to accelerate Kingdom advancement in your life during this fast? Start by

telling the truth about your separateness. This speedy pathway is for us to freely

receive and freely share. But one thing we’ve learned in life and ministry is that we can’t

share what we haven’t received. Truth-telling will unlock the sun to shine in the dark

places and speedily bring your breakthrough.

Take a deep breath and release to Jesus any tension or stress you may be carrying.

Look at Jesus standing in front of you and ask Holy Spirit to help you be honest. Look

at the truth-revealing questions and answer without filter before the Lord. Here, the

breakthrough begins.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, I choose to tell the truth about my separateness. I choose to be honest

about my current heart condition. I confess that I feel/don’t feel ___________________. This is just where I am at this moment. Will you meet me here? As I tell you the truth about how I feel, what do you want me to know? What do you want to freely give me in exchange for my confession?

Jimbo Hull

The Well House of Prayer, Toccoa, GA