145. Answers
Isaiah 58:9 Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am, If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity.
Then when you pray the Lord will answer your prayer; He will say, “Here I am. I am listening to you and I hear you cry. I know your need and I will provide it.” The then comes after the prayer and the fasting according to God’s choosing, not ours. The fasting is not just literal and physical, but it signifies a humbling and an emptying of self. It is true repentance that cuts deep into the soul and finds entrenched sin, demonic strongholds, and roots of bitterness. These are exposed with godly sorrow. This is a work that the Holy Spirit must do, for we are too prideful and deceived to face up to and deal with our own sinfulness.
Fasting can help, but it is spiritual fasting and repentance in dust and ashes that does the trick and opens the heart to receive the Holy Spirit. This is the work of the Law, which the Sprit uses to convict of sin. Then He uses the Gospel to convict us of the righteousness of God through Jesus Christ. We believe and are saved. Then we are ready to call on the name of the Lord; then He answers: so He promises.
A part of the repentance that prepares the heart for the entrance of the Holy Spirit through the Gospel includes three things:
1) “take away the yoke:” Be willing to let go of the addictive behaviors that control like a yoke and keep in slave chains. The sinner cannot remove these besetting sins with fleshly effort, but we are willing to surrender them to the working of the Spirit. This may take some time, but God promises to take away the yoke and replace with the yoke of Jesus. This yoke is so much more comfortable and so much better for you.
2) “Take away the putting forth of the finger.” This does not mean the middle finger, but the index finger, the one that points at others and blames them for your problems. Blaming never helps but only harms; it also covers over the personal guilt that we don’t want to face, If fasting helps one to stop blaming and expose before the Lord the sins we would like to hide, then good. But the point is: confess your own sin, not the sins of others.
3) “Take away speaking vanity.” Pride blinds the human heart from seeing our own sin and guilt and admitting to fault. God resists the proud and vain person because he won’t allow room for the Lord. God loves the Pharisee, but the Pharisee won’t let it happen. Pride does not need God; vanity deceives the self into thinking “I am good enough; I can do it myself.” Repentance and faith removes the pride and vanity and allows the Gospel to do its constructive and restorative work.