Fasting and Prayer: Isaiah 58:3

“For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them.”

There has been much fasting and praying in our churches for many years, yet the situation just gets worse as the years roll by. There have been distinct moments of promise and even euphoria, especially before the referendum on the constitution in February 2000 and at many of the subsequent general elections and at the formation of the Government of National Unity, and then again at the introduction of the American dollar as our national currency. Yet the captivity of our people and the plight of the poor continue to deteriorate. Surely verse 3 applies to us:“Why have we fasted, they say, and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?” And the Lord may well answer us, “Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please…”