To fast is to go without food and drink voluntarily for a
certain period of time. Fasting combined with sincere prayer
can help you prepare yourself and others to receive God’s
blessings.
Purposes of Fasting
On one occasion, the Savior cast a devil out from a child
and used this experience to teach His disciples about the
power of prayer and fasting. His disciples asked Him, “Why
could not we cast him out?” Jesus answered: “Because of
your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a
grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain,
Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and
nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind
goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.” (See Matthew
17:14–21.)
This account teaches that prayer and fasting can give
added strength to those giving and receiving priesthood
blessings. The account can also be applied to your personal
efforts to live the gospel. If you have a weakness or sin that
you have struggled to overcome, you may need to fast and
pray in order to receive the help or forgiveness you desire.
Like the demon that Christ cast out, your difficulty may be
the kind that will go out only through prayer and fasting.
You can fast for many purposes. Fasting is one way of
worshiping God and expressing gratitude to Him (see Luke
2:37; Alma 45:1). You can fast as you ask Heavenly Father to
bless the sick or afflicted (see Matthew 17:14–21). Fasting
may help you and those you love receive personal revelation
and become converted to the truth (see Alma 5:46; 6:6).
Through fasting you can gain strength to resist temptation
(see Isaiah 58:6). You can fast as you strive to humble yourself
before God and exercise faith in Jesus Christ (see Omni
1:26; Helaman 3:35). You may fast to receive guidance in
sharing the gospel and magnifying Church callings (see Acts
13:2–3; Alma 17:3, 9; 3 Nephi 27:1–2). Fasting may accompany
righteous sorrow or mourning (see Alma 28:4–6; 30:1–2).
Fast Sunday
The Church designates one Sunday each month, usually
the first Sunday, as a day of fasting. Proper observance of
fast Sunday includes going without food and drink for two
consecutive meals, attending fast and testimony meeting,
and giving a fast offering to help care for those in need.
Your fast offering should be at least the value of the two
meals you do not eat. When possible, be generous and give
much more than this amount.
In addition to observing the fast days set aside by
Church leaders, you can fast on any other day, according to
your needs and the needs of others. However, you should
not fast too frequently or for excessive periods of time.
The True Fast
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught the true form
of fasting. He spoke against hypocrites who, when they fast,
“disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to
fast.” Rather than putting on an outward show of righteousness,
you should fast “unto thy Father which is in secret: and
thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly”
(Matthew 6:16–18).
The prophet Isaiah also taught of the true spirit of the
fast: “Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the
bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let
the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not
to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor
that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked,
that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from
thine own flesh?” (Isaiah 58:6–7).
Isaiah also testified of the blessings that come when we
obey the law of the fast: “Then shall thy light break forth as
the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily:
and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the
Lord shall be thy rereward. Then shalt thou call, and the
Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I
am. . . . 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
58:8–11).
Additional references: 3 Nephi 13:16–18; D&C 59:12–14; 88:76, 119
See also Prayer
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