Fasting

A friend of mine asked me about fasting and so I decided to read up on it before explaining it. Here are some of my favorite thoughts about fasting:

To fast is to go without food and drink voluntarily for a certain period of time. Fasting combined with sincere prayer can strengthen us spiritually, bring us closer to God, and help us prepare ourselves and others to receive His 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 our personal efforts to live the gospel. If we have a weakness or sin that we have struggled to overcome, we may need to fast and pray in order to receive the help or forgiveness we desire. Like the demon that Christ cast out, our difficulty may be the kind that will go out only through prayer and fasting.