Was it actually for Me that You fasted?

“Then the word of the LORD of hosts came to me (Zechariah), saying, “Speak to all the people of the land and to the priests, saying, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months these seventy years [that you were in exile], was it actually for Me that you fasted? When you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and do you not drink for yourselves [to satisfy your own needs]?” Zechariah 7:4-6 (AMP)
Many of us have made a religion of fasting.
Fasting, to some, is synonymous with spiritual status.
All over the world, the vouge in Christendom is to fast and pray.
To some, it has become a competition.
How many days did you fast?
Then the other person or the other church wants to do more.
However, many are discouraged because they don’t see the result.
In the first place, fasting ought to be approved by God.
Many use fasting as a means to “bribe” God.
Indeed, you can not bribe God.
Even when you feel like fasting
Ask Him first.
He will give you the specifics of your fast.
Then when you follow as He has guided.
You will undoubtedly see the results.
“My Pastor told me I should fast.”
Are you now saying I should question my Pastor or Prophet?
Please clarify that they got clearance from God first.
Fasting is a good key when directed by God.
Otherwise, you will be using a key to open the wrong door.
Sometimes that could be frustrating.
When the fast is approved of God, hear what He asked of you:
“Thus has the LORD of hosts said, ‘Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion, to each other; and do not oppress or exploit the widow or the fatherless, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise or even imagine evil in your hearts against one another.’
Zechariah 7:9-10 (AMP)
Do you do that before, during, and after the fast?
For seventy years, the Israelites were religiously fasting.
God asked them:
Was it actually for me you fasted?
How about You?
***(Please check out our Sunday Class School Series
What Kind of Fast Does the Lord Want? Fasting Part1
on the YouTube and https://sunday-class-school.com/blog/)