KEY SCRIPTURE: Matthew 5:4 KJV “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted”.

What type of mourning is the Lord talking about? Mourning in the old testament is normally associated with fasting. Dan 10:2 KJV “In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks.” In this verse mourning is in relation to fasting. The other idea is to be concerned about the plight of the oppressed and to mourn for them. In the old testament mourners always wore sack clothes and slept on ashes. Isaiah 58:5 KJV Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD? This was the normal posture of fasting in the old testament, yet the Lord says his main expectation of us in a fast is to seek that justice is metered out to all. A proper mourning involves being concerned about others.

The Lord describes those who mourn for the plight of others as happy or blessed people. When one does that which pleases the Spirit, He ignites a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction within. Unfortunately, most people   have mainly concerned themselves to only praying for themselves when fasting. Isaiah 58, the chapter devoted solely to fasting reveals what is the proper kind of fasting that God expects from us. Isa 58:6 KJV” Is it not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? This verse literally means that in the time of fasting you do no wicked acts. Everyone within your influence who is under any kind of bondage must be set free. You should not fast and practice any kind of wickedness.

The above explanation is the literal meaning to that piece of scripture. It can also imply that during a fast you seek the freedom of all and any who are oppressed by interceding for them. The Lord says people who mourn for others in such a way would be comforted. They would receive assistance from the spirit of God. The Lord would answer their personal longings as well.

CONFESSION

When I fast, I seek the liberty of all those who are under any form of oppression. I literally seek their freedom and also pray to seek God’s intervention for their liberty. God answers my needs as well.

FURTHER STUDIES

Isaiah 58:11 KJV” thee the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not”.

Prov 11:25 KJV” The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.”