Contributed by: Ann Scriptures
Luke 2:37
37 And she was a widow of about fourscore and
four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers
night and day.
Acts 13:2
2 As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted,
the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called
them.
Omni 1:26
26 And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye
should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and
the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering
unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord
liveth ye will be saved.
Mosiah 27:22-23
22 And he caused that the priests should
assemble themselves together; and they began to fast, and to pray to the Lord their God
that he would open the mouth of Alma, that he might speak, and also that his limbs might
receive their strength-- that the eyes of the people might be opened to see and know of
the goodness and glory of God.
23 And it came to pass after they had fasted and prayed for the space of two days and
two nights, the limbs of Alma received their strength, and he stood up and began to speak
unto them, bidding them to be of good comfort:
Alma 5:46
46 Behold, I say unto you they are made known
unto me by the Holy Spirit of God. Behold, I have fasted and prayed many days that I might
know these things of myself. And now I do know of myself that they are true; for the Lord
God hath made them manifest unto me by his Holy Spirit; and this is the spirit of
revelation which is in me.
Alma 6:6
6 Nevertheless the children of God were
commanded that they should gather themselves together oft, and join in fasting and mighty
prayer in behalf of the welfare of the souls of those who knew not God.
Alma 17:3
3 But this is not all; they had given themselves
to much prayer, and fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of
revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and authority of God.
Alma 17:9
9 And it came to pass that they journeyed many
days in the wilderness, and they fasted much and prayed much that the Lord would grant
unto them a portion of his Spirit to go with them, and abide with them, that they might be
an instrument in the hands of God to bring, if it were possible, their brethren, the
Lamanites, to the knowledge of the truth, to the knowledge of the baseness of the
traditions of their fathers, which were not correct.
Hel. 3:35
35 Nevertheless they did fast and pray oft, and
did wax stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of
Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying
and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their
yielding their hearts unto God.
Hel. 9:10
10 And it came to pass that on the morrow the
people did assemble themselves together to mourn and to fast, at the burial of the great
chief judge who had been slain.
D&C 88:76
76 Also, I give unto you a commandment that ye
shall continue in prayer and fasting from this time forth.
Esth. 4:11
11 All the king's servants, and the people of
the king's provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the
king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death,
except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I
have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days.
Esth. 4:16
16 Go, gather together all the Jews that are
present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or
day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is
not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.
Quotation
Quote 1
"Most of us fast in conjunction with our
membership in the Church and its law of the fast. Generally speaking, there are three
purposes for such a fast. First is to increase humility and spirituality of the individual
fasting. Second is to provide assistance to the needy by contributing fast offerings
equivalent to the value of the food which has not been consumed. Third, physical benefits
may be derived personally" (Russell M. Nelson, "I Have a Question," Ensign,
Apr. 1976, p. 32).
Quote 2
"The generous offering to the bishop is
understood to represent the financial equivalent of at least two meals. A liberal donation
so reserved and dedicated to the poor is ennobling to the soul and helps one develop
charity, one of the greatest attributes of a noble human character. (See 1 Cor. 13.)"
(Russell M. Nelson, "I Have a Question," p. 33).
Quote 3
President Spencer W. Kimball had this to say
about the amount we contribute for a fast offering: "I think we should be very
generous and give, instead of the amount we saved by our two meals of fasting, perhaps
much, much more—ten times more where we are in a position to do it" (in
Conference Report, Apr. 1974, p. 184).
Quote 4
"The inadvisability of excessive fasting
was explained in some detail in the June 1972 Priesthood Bulletin, ‘We are informed
that some … engage in rather lengthy fasting. It is not advisable that they do this.
If there is a special matter for which they should fast, if they would fast one day and
then go to the Lord humbly and ask for his blessings, that should suffice.’ Moreover,
Joseph F. Smith wisely counseled, ‘Many are subject to weakness, others are delicate
in health, and others have nursing babies; of such it should not be required to fast.
Neither should parents compel their little children to fast.’ (Gospel Doctrine, p.
244)" (Russell M. Nelson, "I Have a Question," pp. 32-33).
Quote 5
"Fasting, with prayer, its companion, is
designed to increase spirituality, to foster a spirit of devotion and a love of God, to
increase faith in the hearts of men, thus assuring divine favor; to encourage humility and
contrition of soul; to aid in the acquirement of righteousness; and to teach man his
nothingness and dependence upon God; and to hasten along the path of salvation those who
properly comply with this law of fasting" (Thorpe B. Isaacson, in Conference Report,
Apr. 1962, p. 67; or Improvement Era, June 1962, p. 438).
Stories
Story 1-A
The following story is about Elder Hugh B. Brown
when he was a young missionary in England. Elder Brown had been leaving missionary tracts
at some homes in Cambridge. His lack of success caused him to return to his apartment
feeling tired, discouraged, and sorry for himself. A short time later, a man came to his
door asking to see him. The man said:
" ‘Last Sunday there were 17 of us heads of families left the Church of
England. We went to my home where I have a rather large room. Each of us has a large
family, and we filled the large room with men, women and children. We decided that we
would pray all through the week that the Lord would send us a new pastor. When I came home
tonight I was discouraged, I thought our prayer had not been answered. But when I found
this tract under my door, I knew the Lord had answered our prayer. Will you come tomorrow
night and be our new pastor?’ "
Story 1-B
(Story Continued)
"Now, I hadn’t been in the mission field three days. I didn’t know
anything about missionary work, and he wanted me to be their pastor. But I was reckless
enough to say, ‘Yes, I’ll come.’ And I repented from then till the time of
the meeting.
"He left, and took my appetite with him! I called in the lady of the house and
told her I didn’t want any [food]. I went up to my room and prepared for bed. I knelt
at my bed. My young brothers and sisters, for the first time in my life I talked with God.
I told Him of my predicament. I pleaded for His help. I asked Him to guide me. I pleaded
that He would take it off my hands. I got up and went to bed and couldn’t sleep and
got out and prayed again, and kept that up all night—but I really talked with God.
"The next morning I told the landlady I didn’t want any breakfast and I went
up on the campus in Cambridge and walked all morning. I came in at noon and told her I
didn’t want any lunch. Then I walked all afternoon. I had a short-circuited
mind—all that I could think of was that I have got to go down there tonight and be a
pastor.
"I came back to my room at 6:00 and I sat there meditating, worrying, wondering.
… Finally it came to the point where the clock said 6:45. I got up and put on my long
Prince Albert coat, my stiff hat which I had acquired in Norwich, took my walking cane
(which we always carried in those days), my kid gloves, put a Bible under my arm, and
dragged myself down to that building, literally. I just made one track all the way.
"Just as I got to the gate the man came out, the man I had seen the night before.
He bowed very politely and said, ‘Come in, Reverend, sir.’ I had never been
called that before. I went in and saw the room filled with people, and they all stood up
to honor their new pastor, and that scared me to death.
"Then I had to come to the point where I began to think what I had to do, and I
realized I had to say something about singing. I suggested that we sing ‘O My
Father.’ I was met with a blank stare. We sang it—it was a terrible cowboy solo.
Then I thought, if I could get these people to turn around and kneel by their chairs, they
wouldn’t be looking at me while I prayed. I asked them if they would and they
responded readily. They all knelt down and I knelt down, and for the second time in my
life I talked with God. All fear left me. I didn’t worry any more. I was turning it
over to Him.
"I said to Him, among other things, ‘Father in Heaven, these folks have left
the Church of England. They have come here tonight to hear the truth. You know that I am
not prepared to give them what they want, but Thou art, O God, the one that can; and if I
can be an instrument through whom You speak, very well, but please take over.’
"When we arose most of them were weeping, as was I. Wisely I dispensed with the
second hymn, and I started to talk. I talked 45 minutes. I don’t know what I said. I
didn’t talk—God spoke through me, as subsequent events proved. And He spoke so
powerfully to that group that at the close of that meeting they came and put their arms
around me, held my hands. They said, ‘This is what we have been waiting for. Thank
God you came.’
"I told you I dragged myself down to that meeting. On my way back home that night
I only touched ground once, I was so elated that God had taken off my hands an insuperable
task for man.
"Within three months every man, woman and child in that audience was baptized a
member of the Church. I didn’t baptize them because I was transferred. But they all
joined the Church and most of them came to Utah and Idaho. I have seen some of them in
recent years. They are elderly people now, but they say they never have attended such a
meeting, a meeting where God spoke to them" (Hugh B. Brown, "Father, Are You
There?" [Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 1967], pp. 13-15).
Story 2
Elder Matthew Cowley, a former member of the
Council of the Twelve, told the story of how a humble bishop blessed a young boy:
"Of course there are times when you don’t have time to fast much; you
don’t have time to pray much, emergencies, you have to rush. But on the other hand I
think if we have a little time, and we intend to go and bless someone, it doesn’t do
any harm to do a little fasting. I think God accepts of that fasting.
"We have a mutual friend in Honolulu, … a man who is a young bishop down
there, very wealthy, and yet a young man with a lot of humility. He was called one day
from the Queen’s Hospital to come and bless a boy who had polio. A native sister had
called him. He was her bishop, and she said, ‘Bishop, come up here, my boy is
stricken with polio, and I want you to come up here and administer to him and bless
him.’ All day she waited for him, and the bishop never showed up. All night he never
showed up, the next morning he never showed up, but early in the afternoon here he came.
She turned loose on him. She called him everything she could think of. ‘You, my
bishop, I call you and tell you my boy is here stricken with polio. And you your own boss,
you have your cars; you have a beautiful yacht; you have everything you want; and your
time is your own; and you don’t show up. You just come now after a whole day.’
After she had finished and couldn’t think of anything more to call him, he smiled and
said, ‘Well, after I hung up the receiver yesterday, I started to fast, and I’ve
been fasting and praying for twenty-four hours. I’m ready now to bless your
boy.’ At five o’clock that evening the boy was released from the hospital
entirely cured of his polio. ‘… this kind goeth not out but by prayer and
fasting.’
"Now I doubt very much if he had gone up there the day before that would have
happened. I think that prayer and that fasting were needed" (Matthew Cowley, Matthew
Cowley Speaks [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1954], pp. 149-50).
Story 3 (Scripture
story)
A righteous woman, through her obedient living,
can bless not only herself and her whole family, but an entire nation. Such a woman was
Esther. Her story is told in the Old Testament (see Esther 1-10).
Esther was a Jewish woman who found favor with the king and became his queen. In the
same country was a powerful prince named Haman who was a bitter enemy of Mordecai,
Esther’s uncle, because Mordecai refused to bow down before him. Haman, in order to
gain vengeance, made a plan to kill all the Jews.
When Mordecai heard this tragic news, he sent word to Esther requesting her to go
before the king and seek his protection. Esther explained the law and replied,
"Whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who
is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king
shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in
unto the king these thirty days" (Esther
4:11).
Mordecai replied that if Esther did not act, everyone would be killed, including her
own family. Esther realized her responsibility, for she answered, "Go, gather
together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor
drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go
in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish" (Esther 4:16).
Esther, without regard for her own life, went fasting and praying before the king. The
king held out his sceptre so she could approach. Because she decided to put her life and
this problem into the hands of the Lord, she was spared, and the king allowed the Jews to
defend themselves and survive.
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