Sunday's Talk|8 August 2010

Fasting and Prayer

Let me begin by mentioning something about the Sacrament.

In Primary when we were teaching the younger kids closer to 8 years old the stories about the Savior, I would try to keep in mind that they, like the Savior are perfect. The manuals said to keep this in mind and I would try and emphasize it to the children.

We all remember how we felt on our baptism day when we had just stepped out of the waters of baptism. We felt clean and perfect. I've had people tell me... 'If I could just go back'.

We have just taken the Sacrament. We have renewed our baptismal covenants. When we partake of the Sacrament in the right spirit we are washed clean and are as perfect as we were on that day.

Let's open up our minds and our hearts and learn of Christ today. When we feel a little bit irritated let's try not to go there. When we're tempted to make a wrong choice let's put it off and just remain perfect a little bit longer.

My name is Barry Swensen.

I've worked in the Primary for the last 6 years.

Brother Park and I team teach.

I also home teach 5 families along with Brother Loosli.

I really enjoy each of my callings very much.

Luke 10:

30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

As members of the Church, we fast one day each month. This means that we abstain from food and drink for two meals. But fasting is more than just going without food and drink. When we fast, we should concentrate on spiritual things.

Everyone who can do so should fast. However, “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).

In a revelation to the prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord commanded us to "continue in prayer and fasting from this time forth". (D&C 88:76)

Prayer and fasting is defined as voluntarily going without food or water in order to focus on prayer and communion with God. Our fasting should be accompanied by sincere prayer, and we should begin and end our fasting with prayer. It is when fasting and prayer are combined that they reach their full effectiveness. Having a dedicated time of prayer and fasting is not a way of manipulating God into doing what you desire. Rather, it is simply forcing yourself to focus and to rely on God for the strength, provision, and wisdom you need.

Fasting can have many purposes. We can overcome weaknesses or problems by fasting and praying. Sometimes we may wish to fast and pray for help or guidance for others, such as a family member who is ill and needs a blessing (see Mosiah 27:22–23). Through fasting we can come to know the truth of things just as did the prophet Alma in the Book of Mormon. He said: “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” (Alma 5:46).

We can fast for our nonmember friends to become converted to the truth. Fasting can help comfort us in times of sorrow and mourning (see Alma 28:4–6). Fasting can help us become humble and feel closer to our Heavenly Father (see Helaman 3:35).

Jesus fasted for forty days and forty nights in the desert soon after He was baptized. During His fast, Satan appeared to Him, mocking Him, asking Him to prove His divinity by using His God-given power. Jesus refused to give into Satan’s temptations. (See Matthew 4)

No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good. A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all, you find the strength of the German army by fighting against it, not by giving in. You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it not by lying down. A man who gives into the temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it; and Christ, because He was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation really means - the only complete realist.

Author: C.S. Lewis, Source: Mere Christianity, Macmillian 1952 version

Far too often the focus of prayer and fasting is on abstaining from food. Instead, the purpose of fasting should be to take our eyes off the things of this world and focus our thoughts on God.

Years ago when President Hinckley asked everyone to read the Book of Mormon. I accepted the challenge. Daily scripture study took me to a higher plane. I felt as if I was truly not of the world. I felt like I could watch the world with all of it's problems and not get caught up on it all.

Along those same lines, it seemed like the members of the church were all on the same track. My mission president used to speak of synergy. Fast Sunday should help us as a people accomplish amazing things through synergy.

By taking our eyes off the things of this world through prayer and fasting, we can focus better on Christ. The Lord counseled: "When ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly." (Matthew 6:16-18)

We should be cheerful when we fast and not advertise our fasting to others.

Spending time in prayer and fasting is not automatically effective in accomplishing the desires of those who fast. God only promises to answer our prayers when we ask according to His will. 1 John 5:14-15 tells us, "And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him."

5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

In Primary we are keeping a scripture Journal. Earlier this year I wrote about James 1:5. When Joseph Smith read that passage, because he was in tune with the Spirit, he was determined to go find out for himself. James 1:5 was a precursor to the first vision.

In the prophet Isaiah's time, the people grumbled that they had fasted, yet God did not answer in the way they wanted (Isaiah 58:3-4). Isaiah responded by proclaiming that the external show of fasting and prayer, without the proper heart attitude, was futile (Isaiah 58:5-9).

When we fast each month, the Lord asks us to help those in need. One way we do this is by giving through the proper priesthood authority either the food or the money we would have spent on food for the two meals. We should give as generously as we are able. Through our fast offerings we become partners with the Lord in administering to the needs of our less fortunate brothers and sisters.

President Gordon B. Hinckley

"Think, my brethren, of what would happen if the principles of fast day and the fast offering were observed throughout the world. The hungry would be fed, the naked clothed, the homeless sheltered. Our burden of taxes would be lightened. The giver would not suffer but would be blessed by his small abstinence. A new measure of concern and unselfishness would grow in the hearts of people everywhere. Can anyone doubt the divine wisdom that created this program which has blessed the people of this Church as well as many who are not members of the Church?" Conference Report, Apr. 1991, 73; or Ensign, May 1991, 52–53.

I have always paid tithing and it eventually became something I just did. I also give a Fast Offering, sometimes generous but usually without any thought of being generous at all. If I have it I give it. If I don't have it I don't bother to stretch myself. I have realized many generous blessings when I give. I have realized that I need to be more consistent and more generous in my giving.

Isaiah wrote of the Lord’s rich promises to those who fast and help the needy. We are promised peace, improved health, and spiritual guidance. Isaiah tells us that when we 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 reward. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am” (Isaiah 58:8–9).

As I have prepared and studied for this talk I have noticed that the things I have trouble with are exactly the things that fasting helps. I've never taken the fast seriously and I don't think I have ever really fasted before.

Fasting helps us gain strength of character. This reason alone makes fasting important (see David O. McKay, True to the Faith, p. 81). When we fast properly, we will learn to control our appetites, our passions, and our tempers. Solomon said, “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city” (Proverbs 16:32). Even fasting for only two meals can give us a feeling of success. We are a little stronger by having proved to ourselves that we have self-control. If we teach our children to fast, they will develop the willpower to overcome greater temptations later in their lives.

When we fast wisely and prayerfully, we develop our faith. With that faith we will have greater spiritual power. Alma tells the story of meeting again with the sons of Mosiah many years after their miraculous conversion. He felt great joy when he learned that they had strengthened their faith and had developed great spiritual power. They had gained this power because “they had given themselves to much prayer, and fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation” (Alma 17:3).

The sons of Mosiah had been preaching for fourteen years to the Lamanites. Because the sons of Mosiah had fasted and prayed, the Spirit of the Lord increased the power of their words. This gave them great success in their missionary work. (See Alma 17:4.)

The Savior has said to those who fast properly, “Thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly” (Matthew 6:18).

In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

--
Barry Swensen

Salvation costs you nothing, but discipleship will cost you everything. Salvation occurs in a moment, but discipleship takes a lifetime. Jesus asks whether or not you truly want to live a life of discipleship. If you are a disciple, do not quit. Everything that matters is hard. Everything that matters is costly. Do not quit. Don’t waste your life. Make your death count. Do not raise your hand unless you’re ready to see it through to the end. -- Pastor Mark Driscoll

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