LDS Quotes on Fasting
What if there were a way to overcome our habits, addictions, and burdens? What if there were a way to gain sufficient confidence in the Lord that you could call down the powers of heaven? What if there were principles you could teach your loved ones that, if applied, would allow them to overcome personal weaknesses and draw closer to God? As we properly understand and live the law of the fast, these desired blessings can be ours.”
“If you want to get the spirit of your office and calling as a new president of a quorum, a new high [councilor], a new bishop [or, I might say, a Relief Society president]—try fasting for a period. I don’t mean just missing one meal, then eating twice as much the next meal. I mean really fasting, and praying during that period. It will do more to give you the real spirit of your office and calling and permit the Spirit to operate through you than anything I know.”
| The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson (1988), 331–32.
“Pray earnestly and fast with purpose and devotion. Some difficulties, like devils, do not come out save by fasting and by prayer. Ask in righteousness and you shall receive. Knock with conviction and it shall be opened unto you.”
“We hope that through the payment of liberal fast offerings there will be more than enough to provide for the needs of the less fortunate. If every member of this church observed the fast and contributed generously, the poor and the needy – not only of the Church, but many others as well, would be blessed and provided for. Every giver would be blessed in body and spirit, and the hungry would be fed, the naked clothed according to need.”
| “Rise to a Larger Vision of the Work,” Ensign, May 1990, p. 95
“When we fast, brethren and sisters, we feel hunger. And for a short time, we literally put ourselves in the position of the hungry and the needy. As we do so, we have greater understanding of the deprivations they might feel.”
“Fasting and prayer have been used by those seeking inspiration in calling men to Church positions, for relieving the suffering of those in bondage, for asking guidance in war, and in conjunction with mourning. People fasted to receive deliverance from their enemies, to heal the sick, to receive revelation, for the success of missionary work, and for the souls of those who do not have the gospel.”
“We control the disposition of our means and resources, but we account to God for this stewardship over earthly things. It is gratifying to witness your generosity as you contribute to fast offerings and humanitarian projects. Over the years, the suffering of millions has been alleviated, and countless others have been enabled to help themselves through the generosity of the Saints. Nevertheless, as we pursue the cause of Zion, each of us should prayerfully consider whether we are doing what we should and all that we should in the Lord’s eyes with respect to the poor and the needy.
“We might ask ourselves, living as many of us do in societies that worship possessions and pleasures, whether we are remaining aloof from covetousness and the lust to acquire more and more of this world’s goods. Materialism is just one more manifestation of the idolatry and pride that characterize Babylon. Perhaps we can learn to be content with what is sufficient for our needs.”
| “Come to Zion,” Ensign, October 2008
“Recently, living prophets have counseled us to ‘remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, and to live the law of the fast. Obedience to this prophetic counsel provides a way for us to be obedient to God’s commandment to love Him and our neighbor as we increase our faith in Jesus Christ and extend our hand to love and care for others.”
| “If Ye Love Me, Keep My Commandments,” Sunday afternoon session
“If Latter-day Saints faithfully fulfilled the law of the fast, and if they prayed in connection therewith as commanded and paid an honest fast offering, they would be blessed more abundantly – both temporally and spiritually – and there would be ample funds in the Church to provide for all our poor, as the Lord has commanded. He has given us the way, but sad as it may seem, we are negligent about the payment of an honest fast offering.
“Many of us may sometimes wonder why blessings are seemingly withheld from us. It could well be that the laws on which those blessings are predicated have escaped our attention or that we underestimate the necessity for obedience to those laws. It may well be therefore, that many of our desired blessings are never realized because we do not more faithfully obey the law of fasting and prayer and contribute for the blessing of the poor the full value of the meals not consumed on Fast Day.”
| General Conference, April 1962
“Upon practicing the law of the fast, one finds a personal well-spring of power to overcome self-indulgence and selfishness.”
| In Conference Report, Apr. 1978, 121.
“The law of the fast is probably as old as the human family. … In ancient times, prophet-leaders repeatedly gave to church members the commandment to observe the law of fasting and praying.”
“Let this be an [example] to all saints, and there will never be any lack for bread: When the poor are starving, let those who have, fast one day and give what they otherwise would have eaten to the bishops for the poor, and everyone will abound for a long time. … And so long as the saints will all live to this principle with glad hearts and cheerful countenances they will always have an abundance.”
| History of the Church, 7:413.
“Let me promise you here today that if the Latter-day Saints will honestly and conscientiously from this day forth, as a people, keep the monthly fast and pay into the hands of their bishops the actual amount that they would have spent for food for the two meals from which they have refrained . . . we would have all the money necessary to take care of all the idle and all the poor.”
| Teachings of the Presidents of the Church, Harold B. Lee, p. 182
“Sometimes … we find that even when we do our best to serve the Lord, we still suffer. You may know someone who faces these most challenging of circumstances: consider the parent whose child becomes ill, for whom everyone prays and fasts with all their heart and soul, but who ultimately dies. Or the missionary who sacrifices to go on a mission, then develops a terrible illness that leaves him or her severely disabled or in chronic pain. … The key is to remember that faith and obedience are still the answers—even when things go wrong, perhaps especially when things go wrong.”
| "Faith Is the Answer," Ensign, May 2005, 73
“Every living soul among the Latter-day Saints that fasts two meals once a month will be benefitted spiritually and be built up in the faith of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ – benefitted spiritually in a wonderful way.”
“Some difficulties, like devils, do not come out save by fasting and by prayer.”
“Sometimes we have been a bit penurious and figured that we had for breakfast one egg and that cost so many cents and then we give that to the Lord. I think that when we are affluent, as many of us are, that we ought to be very, very generous. . . .I think we should . . . give, instead of the amount saved by our two meals of fasting, perhaps much, much more – ten times more when we are in a position to do it.”
| Conference Report, April 1974, p. 184
“A certain kind of devil goes not out except by fasting and prayer, the scriptures tell us. (See Matt. 17:14-21.) Periodic fasting can help clear up the mind and strengthen the body and the spirit. The usual fast, the one we are asked to participate in for fast Sunday, is to abstain from food and drink for two consecutive meals. Some people, feeling the need, have gone on longer fasts of abstaining from food but have taken the needed liquids. Wisdom should be used, and this fast should be broken with light eating. To make a fast most fruitful, it should be coupled with prayer and meditation; physical work should be held to a minimum, and one should ponder on the scriptures and the reason for the fast.”
| “Do Not Despair,” Ensign, October 1986, p. 4
“Fast offerings are used for one purpose only: to bless the lives of those in need. Every dollar given to the bishop as a fast offering goes to assist the poor. When donations exceed local needs, they are passed along to fulfill the needs elsewhere.
“As an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, I have traveled the world testifying of Him. I come before you today to bear another witness – a witness to the suffering and need of millions of our Heavenly Father’s children. Far too many in the world today – thousands upon thousands of families – experience want each day. They hunger. They ache with cold. They suffer from sickness. They grieve for their children. They mourn for the safety of their families. These people are not strangers and foreigners but children of our Heavenly Father. They are our brothers and our sisters. They are “fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.” Their fervent prayers ascend to heaven pleading for respite, for relief from suffering. At this very hour on this very day, some members even in our Church are praying for the miracle that would allow them to surmount the suffering that surrounds them. If, while we have the means to do so, we do not have compassion for them and spring to their aid, we are in danger of being among those the prophet Moroni spoke of when he said, “Behold, ye do love money, and your substance, and your fine apparel . . . more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted.”
| “The Law of the Fast,” Ensign, May 2001, p. 73
“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. … A new measure of concern and unselfishness would grow in the hearts of people everywhere.”
| “The State of the Church,” Ensign, May 1991, 52–53.
“Be liberal in your giving, that you yourselves may grow. Don’t give just for the benefit of the poor, but give for your own welfare. Give enough so that you can give yourself into the kingdom of God through consecrating of your means and your time.”
| “The Way of the Lord,” Ensign, Nov. 1977, 8.
“We should all give some attention to the matter of fasting. We haven’t really called on the Lord so that we can reach him intimately if we don’t fast occasionally, and pray often. Many of our personal problems can be solved by so doing. Do you remember what the Savior said to his disciples who couldn’t cast out the evil spirit, after they had asked why they couldn’t do it when Jesus had done it so easily? He replied, “This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.” (Matt. 17:21)
| “The Blessings of the Fast,” Ensign, July 1982, p. 4
“We should all give some attention to the matter of fasting. We haven’t really called on the Lord so that we can reach him intimately if we don’t fast occasionally, and pray often. Many of our personal problems can be solved by so doing.”