Conference Talk of the Week

Overview

Elder Ulisses Soares teaches that the law of the fast is meant to be more than going without food. He starts with Isaiah 58, where the Lord taught His people the real purpose of fasting and promised that their light would "break forth as the morning" and that when they called, He would answer, "Here I am." He then shows three parts of a higher and holier fast. The first is fasting joined with sincere prayer, which humbles us and helps us receive revelation. The second is the Savior's own 40 days of fasting before His ministry, which shows that fasting brings heaven's strength even when burdens remain. The third is generous fast offerings, which turn a personal act of worship into care for people in need.

Three Key Takeaways

• 1Fasting and prayer belong together. Elder Soares teaches that when they are joined, we become more humble, more aware that we depend on the Lord, and more open to the Holy Ghost and personal revelation. Quoting President Joseph F. Smith, he explains that fasting places "the body in subjection to the spirit."
• 2Jesus Christ fasted and prayed for 40 days in the wilderness to align Himself with His Father's will before His ministry began. His example shows that fasting may not remove every burden, but it brings divine power to overcome or endure, even when answers come differently than we expect.
• 3Isaiah taught that an acceptable fast helps "let the oppressed go free" and "break every yoke." Today that happens through fast offerings, which Elder Soares calls consecrated expressions of compassion that follow the Savior's example of succoring His people.

Reflection Questions

• When you fast, is it mostly a physical test of going without food, or a time of real communion with the Lord? What would need to change for your next fast to feel more like worship?
• Elder Soares says fasting helps align "our expectations with His wisdom." Think of a time when an answer to a fast did not come the way you expected. How did it affect your trust in the Lord?
• Read Isaiah 58:6–11. Which yoke or burden in someone else's life could your fast and fast offering help lift?