““Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.” (Isaiah 58:6–11 ESV)

Personal piety is not about pomp and circumstance.  Personal piety always results in tangible acts of compassion and mercy (6-7).  True fasting is met by the God of all creation with tangible, true blessings.  But, true fasting is not a tool that is deployed to manipulate God in to getting what we want.  True fasting involves singular pursuit and devotion to God in an attempt to see Him more clearly, know him more fully and experience Him more deeply.  The discipline of fasting places us in proximity to the waterfall of God’s grace, but we still are in desperate need for His intervening power in our lives (8-9).

True faith and the natural outflow of that faith are inextricably linked.  True, dependent faith, is always met with blessings by the benevolent Creator.  The faithful will look like watered gardens in the desert with cool bubbling brooks to satiate their parched souls.  This is indeed supernatural, not something that we are able to manufacture on our own.  v10-11