I'm about to go and give a talk at the Vietnamese branch. I was great to refresh my mind to the importance of these two principles.
Prayer and Fasting
I pray that I may be worthy of the Lord’s guidance and His Spirit today to speak to you about the importance and influence of prayer and fasting. While on my mission in Chile, I read a plaque above someone’s door that said, “To live without prayer is to live without God.” I know that without the ability to communicate with our Heavenly Father, we would be lost and without purpose, but with heartfelt and sincere prayer and fasting, we can come to know of the love that our Maker has for us.
The Bible Dictionary says, “Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other. The object of prayer is not to change the will of God, but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant, but that are made conditional on our asking for them. Blessings require some work or effort on our part before we can obtain them. Prayer is a form of work, and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings.”
The adversary would have you believe that your prayers are no more than silent words of the weak but I testify that sincere faithful prayer can change your life and others for the better. We learn in the scriptures of the many lives that were saved by someone else’s prayer and faith. In Mosiah 27: 11-14 it says:
11 And as I said unto you, as they were going about rebelling against God, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto them; and he descended as it were in a cloud; and he spake as it were with a voice of thunder, which caused the earth to shake upon which they stood;
12 And so great was their astonishment, that they fell to the earth, and understood not the words which he spake unto them.
13 Nevertheless he cried again, saying: Alma, arise and stand forth, for why persecutest thou the church of God? For the Lord hath said: This is my church, and I will establish it; and nothing shall overthrow it, save it is the transgression of my people.
14 And again, the angel said: Behold, the Lord hath heard the prayers of his people, and also the prayers of his servant, Alma, who is thy father; for he has prayed with much faith concerning thee that thou mightest be brought to the knowledge of the truth; therefore, for this purpose have I come to convince thee of the power and authority of God, that the prayers of his servants might be answered according to their faith.
The sons of Mosiah and Alma were actually working against the kingdom of God and by true prayer they were given an opportunity to return to the Lord’s fold. I would challenge you to consider within yourself what you must do to have prayers be so powerful in your life, that the very lives of those you love will be changed for the better.
We also learn from the scriptures that fasting plays an important and sometimes necessary role in receiving an answer to our prayers. After casting a devil from a child, the Savior taught his disciples a very important lesson. In Matthew 17: 19-21 we read:
19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
20 And Jesus said unto them, 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.
21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
Often times the reason our efforts do not end with the results we were looking for is because of our lack of faith. Jesus taught in the above referenced scripture that the reason why His disciples could not cast the devil out themselves is because they had not the sufficient faith. He also then taught that those with the faith to carry out His will, “goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.” Another example of what the Lord requires of us to receive an answer to our prayers is found in Doctrine and Covenants 67: 1-3. It says:
1 Behold and hearken, O ye elders of my church, who have assembled yourselves together, whose prayers I have heard, and whose hearts I know, and whose desires have come up before me.
2 Behold and lo, mine eyes are upon you, and the heavens and the earth are in mine hands, and the riches of eternity are mine to give.
3 Ye endeavored to believe that ye should receive the blessing which was offered unto you; but behold, verily I say unto you there were fears in your hearts, and verily this is the reason that ye did not receive.
Where there is fear there cannot be faith! How often do we find ourselves going through the motions of prayer or doubt in what we ask for? It has been told to me that there is no reason that we would not obtain that which the Lord commands unless that reason is one we put upon ourselves. It is by our faith, not the Lord’s, that we gain Salvation. Therefore, it is the faith in our prayers that determine the outcome of our existence.
My mission taught me of the miracles that can take place when there is sincere prayer and humble fasting. I saw the hearts of those who once rejected the gospel change as an answer to those who prayed they would accept the love that their God has for them. I saw lives spared as they and those who administered the blessing of health were faithful and in tune with the Lord’s will through a special fast. Prayer accompanied by fasting will move mountains, whether they are the mountains that you see or the personal mountains in your own life. In Alma 17:2-4 we learn that if we search the scriptures, pray frequently, fast frequently, and work hard we will receive the spirit of prophecy and revelation, knowledge of the word of God, and be able to teach with the power and authority of God so that we may ultimately bring many to the knowledge of truth through the power of your words. What a recipe for success! We must believe that we all can play a role in the building up of the Kingdom of God even by our prayers alone.
We also must remember that our prayers and fasts are sacred and personal and not meant to be advertised somehow for attention. Jesus taught in Matthew 6: 16-18:
16 ¶ Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;
18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
If the attention of man is what you seek from your prayers and fasts that is ultimately all you will receive.
Remember that secret prayer does not mean silent. The Lord teaches us to pray vocally in Doctrine and Covenants 19:28 when He says:
28 And again, I command thee that thou shalt pray vocally as well as in thy heart; yea, before the world as well as in secret, in public as well as in private.
Personally, I’ve found that if I can find a place to have my personal prayers where I can pray vocally, it is easier for me to feel the influence of the Spirit. While kneeling and praying vocally do not necessarily make a prayer more powerful, it helps us recognize the sanctity of it.
While preparing for this talk, I’ve become aware of my complacency especially in regards to fasting. I once could not imagine what my life would be like without it as I had been part of such amazing miracles while fasting. As my circumstances in life changed, I allowed myself to slowly forget, until now, the importance fasting plays a role in my life. I wish to commit once again to incorporate fasting in my life so that I may be a more worthy instrument in the Lord’s hands. I invite all of you to do the same. May we also remember how fast offerings can better the lives of those we impart them to! I once had a bishop recommend me to estimate the amount of my fast offerings by how much it “hurt” me financially. He went on to say that if we currently can easily pay the amount we are paying, then maybe we should find the faith within so that the amount we pay stretches our faith a little more each time.
I would like to conclude my talk with my heartfelt testimony. It has been witnessed to me by the Holy Ghost that this gospel and all its principles and doctrines are true. Prayer and fasting are requisite towards our salvation. It is by prayer that all of us can come to know of the truthfulness of this gospel. My prayers have been answered and I hope that you persevere until your prayers are answered as well. The Lord loves all of us and He would have us be with Him again. May all our prayers be sincere and faithful so that they may change the lives of those that are in them. Of this I testify, in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
