Fasting

Fasting means abstaining from food. The "law of the fast" as practiced in Mormonism follows precepts taught in the Old Testament by Isaiah and Malachi, in that fasting is accompanied by an offering or donation that will be used to help the poor and needy, thus blessing both the giver and the receiver.

Through following the law of the fast, members of the Mormon Church feel sanctified, strengthened, and renewed in the inner soul as they reach outward to help lift others so that each community of Saints may follow the pattern of becoming a Zion people (See Helaman 3:35; Moses 7:18).

Members are encouraged to fast (neither eat nor drink) for approximately a 24-hour period (two meals), and to donate money that would have been used to buy the food for those two meals in their family, to a Church fund known as the Fast Offering, that can be drawn upon by the bishops in the Church to aid in helping with the immediate needs of the poor. Historically, in the early days of the Church, the fast offerings were given in kind, meaning you donated food, but today you donate money instead.

Those who have health restrictions are not asked to fast, but are encouraged to participate in the blessings afforded those who share their means to lift the poor. The teachings include the importance of a prayerful, humble attitude and praying in private during the period of fasting to offer gratitude to God and to pray for special help or guidance, either personally or for the benefit of others.

Mormon leaders cite the teachings and promises of Isaiah:

"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?

"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. 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 58:6-11)