Prayer and Fasting- 4- Delight in the Lord

 Prayer and Fasting- 4 - Delight in the Lord

January 8, 2026

Isaiah 58:13-14 (NKJV) 

13 “If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, [From] doing your pleasure on My holy day, And call the Sabbath a delight, The holy [day] of the LORD honorable, And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, Nor finding your own pleasure, Nor speaking [your own] words, 14 Then you shall delight yourself in the LORD; And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, And feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

Matthew 22:36-40 (NKJV) 

36“Teacher, which [is] the great commandment in the law?” 37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 “This is [the] first and great commandment. 39 “And [the] second [is] like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 “On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

Rememberer the three main points in Isaiah’s discourse on fasting in chapter 58:

1. Praying for others
2. Promises for pleasing God
3. Loving God

Today we come the third and final aspect of God’s chosen fast. It is arguably the most important aspect of fasting in that it results in delighting yourself in the Lord. The whole point of God’s chosen fast is to bring you closer to the Lord. Jesus said that the most important commandment was to love the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. He taught that all the Law and the Prophets hang on this as well as loving your neighbor. This is something that King David understood.

Psalms 37:3-4

3 Trust in the LORD and do good;

Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.

4 Delight yourself in the LORD;

And He will give you the desires of your heart.

God’s chosen fast is a lifestyle of doing good and cultivating faithfulness. This results in delighting in the Lord and also can bring you the desires of your heart. But most of all, fasting will change your heart so that your foremost desire will be to delight in the Lord. So I urge you to solemnly consider how you should pray and fast as you enter into the new year. There can be great joy and delight when you enter into God’s chosen fast.