The Law of the Fast: A Personal Responsibility to Care for the Poor and Needy

I invite each of us to become more like the Savior 
by caring for the poor and needy, 
by faithfully keeping the law of the fast, 
and by contributing a generous fast offering.

This is the fast that the Lord has chosen: 

    1.  Loose the bands of wickedness

    2.  Undo the heavy burdens

    3.  Let the oppressed go free

    4.  That ye break every yoke

    5.  Deal thy bread to the hungry

    6.  Bring the poor that are cast out to thy house

    7.  When thou seest the naked, that thou cover him

    8.  That thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh

The wonderful blessings promised by the Lord to those who obey the law of the fast:

    1.  Thy light break forth as the morning

    2.  Thine health shall spring forth speedily

    3.  Thy righteousness shall go before thee

    4.  The glory of the Lord shall be thy rearward

    5.  Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer

    6.  Thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am

"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."

Regarding this scripture, President Harold B. Lee had this to say: “The tremendous blessings that come [from fasting] have been spelled out in every dispensation, and here the Lord is telling us through this great prophet why there is fasting, and the blessings that come from fasting. … If you analyze … the 58th chapter of the book of Isaiah you will find unraveled why the Lord wants us to pay fast offerings, why he wants us to fast. It’s because by qualifying thus we can call and the Lord can answer. We can cry and the Lord will say, ‘Here I am.’”

President Lee adds: “Do we ever want to be in a condition where we can call and he won’t answer? We will cry in our distress and he won’t be with us? I think it is time we are thinking about these fundamentals because these are the days that lie ahead, when we are going to need more and more the blessings of the Lord, when the judgments are poured out without mixture upon the whole earth.”

Our beloved prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, has shared his testimony of these principles—a testimony borne of personal experience. He said: “No member of the Church who has helped provide for those in need ever forgets or regrets the experience. Industry, thrift, self-reliance, and sharing with others are not new to us.”

Fasting, a Principle of the Gospel

Video highlight

Complete talk

More information: http://www.mormon.org

Spirit of Revelation

Patterns of Light, Part III

Based on a talk entitled "The Spirit of Revelation"

Sister CHERYL A. ESPLIN taught the following in Teaching Our Children to Understand:

     In a latter-day revelation through the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord instructs parents to teach their children to understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ, baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. Notice the Lord doesn’t just say we are to “teach the doctrine”; His instructions are to teach our children to “understand the doctrine.” (See D&C 68:25, 28; emphasis added.)

     In Psalms we read, “Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart” (Psalm 119:34).

     Teaching our children to understand is more than just imparting information. It’s helping our children get the doctrine into their hearts in a way that it becomes part of their very being and is reflected in their attitudes and behavior throughout their lives.

     Nephi taught that the role of the Holy Ghost is to carry the truth “unto the hearts of the children of men” (2 Nephi 33:1). Our role as parents is to do all we can to create an atmosphere where our children can feel the influence of the Spirit and then help them recognize what they are feeling.

     President Harold B. Lee taught, “Without experiencing a gospel principle in action, it is … more difficult to believe in that principle” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Harold B. Lee [2000], 121).

     I first learned to pray by kneeling with my family in family prayer. I was taught the language of prayer as I listened to my parents pray and as they helped me say my first prayers. I learned that I could talk to Heavenly Father and ask for guidance.

     Every morning without fail, my mother and father gathered us around the kitchen table before breakfast, and we knelt in family prayer. We prayed at every meal. In the evening before bed, we knelt together in the living room and closed the day with family prayer.

     Although there was much I didn’t understand about prayer as a child, it became such a part of my life that it stayed with me. I still continue to learn, and my understanding of the power of prayer still continues to grow.

     Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said, “We all understand that the success of the gospel message depends upon its being taught and then understood and then lived in such a way that its promise of happiness and salvation can be realized” (“Teaching and Learning in the Church” [worldwide leadership training meeting, Feb. 10, 2007], Liahona, June 2007, 57;Ensign, June 2007, 89).

     Learning to fully understand the doctrines of the gospel is a process of a lifetime and comes “line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little” (2 Nephi 28:30).