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"RELIGIOUS RITUALS AND HYPOCRITICAL HEARTS"'"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;And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday:And 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." (Isaiah 58-9-11)At this point in Judah's history, they had sunk deeper into a state of idolatry and greed. They were performing their religious rituals with their hearts filled with hypocrisy. For good measure, they also worshiped other gods.They would take a break now and then and abstain from eating, and fast in an attempt to impress God and others with their prayers. After sacrificing by going without food, they wondered why their phony prayers weren't answered. They no doubt thought, like many religious folks today, "Hey, if we go hog wild and act out some religious actions, isn't God obligated to give us what you desire?"God called them on their religious hypocrisy. He told them the kind of fast that He desired was not abstaining from food, but to undo heavy burdens, to stop oppressing people, and to break free from wickedness. While they were haphazardly reciting some religious words and maybe a few phrases they learned that may have sounded impressive, they would go on fighting and quarreling with others. God said the real reason they were fasting was just to seek something for themselves.And God didn't stop there. He put the pedal all the way down telling what He wanted them to see and then do. And that was to feed the fainting who were hungry, shelter the shelter-less, and come to grips about their own filthy sins. That's when He spoke that promise in verse 9; "Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am."Friends, one can perform all kinds of religious rituals, but God's heart is not pleased with ritual. He loves righteousness! He deplores hypocrisy and demands holiness! May each of us examine our own heart and get it right with God so that He will hear our faintest yet faithful prayers.