Here I Am!

Reading:  Isaiah 56, 57, 58
My verse:  "Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, Here I am."

Hypocrisy. Unanswered prayers.  Isaiah speaks here of the nation of Israel fasting and seeking Him but with wrong motives and unrepentant hearts.  "... you fast only for strife and debate and to smite with the fist of wickedness."  Then the people wonder why their prayers go unanswered.  Oh Lord, how often do I do this?  Trying to make deals, to tell you how I want things to be without dealing with the sin in my heart.

"So repent of this . ... and pray to the Lord ... (that) this contriving thought and purpose of your heart may be removed.  For I see that you are in the 'gall of bitterness and a bond forged by iniquities'".  (Acts 8:22,23)

You want us to pray and fast to be free, to draw near to You.  Verse 58:6 says, "[Rather] is not this the fast I have chosen:  to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bonds of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every [enslaving] yoke."

Oh Lord, how I need to examine my heart.  It is so easy for things to creep in and take hold.  Things that seem minor and I dismiss as such and don't deal with as I should. 

"Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart!  Try me and know my thoughts!" (Psalm 139:23)  Oh Lord, to be one "who has clean hands and a pure heart." (Psalm 24:4) To be one who is able to hear You when You call "Here I Am!"  I don't want sin blocking You out of my life.

Thank you for this reminder to self-examine, to open up my heart to You and let You clean, heal and renew me!

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!