1 Samuel 7:4, 6 Then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashteroth, and served the Lord only….And they gathered together to Mizpeh, and drew water, and poured it out before the Lord, and fasted on that day, and said there, We have sinned against the Lord. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpeh.
Israel mourned, and sorrow gripped the nation for twenty years. Samuel roused them to action and said that if they were truly sorry, they should do something about it. Instead of complaining, act, change, and do what He requires. Take the advice He already gave you.
And so they responded to Samuel’s call: they fasted in sorrowful repentance, confessing, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And they put away their worship of false gods and demons. It’s one thing to say you repent, and another to actually change your ways and actually put away the sins that separate us from a love relationship with God. But since we sin daily we need to repent daily and put away the idols in our life. And just as Israel enjoyed peaceful years, so we enjoy peaceful days. And we know it is not the outward rituals, like fasting and pouring out water, but the inward faith in the heart that affects actual change. But we remember we don’t change our ways to gain God’s favor, but we change because of God’s full and free favor toward us.