Why We Fast:
Doctrine and Covenants 88:76—To obey God’s commandment.
Luke 2:37—To serve God.
Mosiah 27:22–23—To receive special blessings, such as healing.
Alma 5:46—To gain a testimony.
Alma 17:3—To gain the spirit of prophecy and revelation and the ability to teach.
Alma 6:6—For the conversion of people who are not yet members of the Church.
Isaiah 58:6–7—To feed the hungry and clothe the naked.
Joel 2:12—To draw closer to God.
Also another great story that the writer used by Joseph B Wirthlin and his wagon as a little boy right here:
5. I am using Joseph B. Wirthlin's red wagon story from "The Law of the Fast". I'm going to bring a red wagon to fill. I will tape quotes about prayer and fasting (when we fast, the examples of the sons of Mosiah and Nephites, why we fast, etc.) onto cans and boxes of food and a blanket. The children will pick one item at a time, discuss the quote, then place the item in the wagon to fill it by the end. Here is the wagon story: How well I remember my father, the bishop of our ward, filling my small red wagon with food and clothing and then directing me—as a deacon in the Church—to pull the wagon behind me and visit the homes of the needy in our ward. I remember visiting one family in particular: a sickly mother, an unemployed and discouraged father, and five children with pallid faces, all disheartened and hungry. I remember the gratitude that beamed in their faces when I walked up to their door with my wagon nearly spilling over with needed supplies. I remember how the children smiled. I remember how the mother wept. And I remember how the father stood, head bowed, unable to speak. Brothers and sisters, in a sense, you too can bring to a needy family a wagon brimming with hope. How? By paying a generous fast offering. -JOSEPH B. WIRTHLIN (Idea shared by EmmaLee Hammond / ga06282012)
5. I am using Joseph B. Wirthlin's red wagon story from "The Law of the Fast". I'm going to bring a red wagon to fill. I will tape quotes about prayer and fasting (when we fast, the examples of the sons of Mosiah and Nephites, why we fast, etc.) onto cans and boxes of food and a blanket. The children will pick one item at a time, discuss the quote, then place the item in the wagon to fill it by the end. Here is the wagon story: How well I remember my father, the bishop of our ward, filling my small red wagon with food and clothing and then directing me—as a deacon in the Church—to pull the wagon behind me and visit the homes of the needy in our ward. I remember visiting one family in particular: a sickly mother, an unemployed and discouraged father, and five children with pallid faces, all disheartened and hungry. I remember the gratitude that beamed in their faces when I walked up to their door with my wagon nearly spilling over with needed supplies. I remember how the children smiled. I remember how the mother wept. And I remember how the father stood, head bowed, unable to speak. Brothers and sisters, in a sense, you too can bring to a needy family a wagon brimming with hope. How? By paying a generous fast offering. -JOSEPH B. WIRTHLIN (Idea shared by EmmaLee Hammond / ga06282012)
Here's another story from another 8 year old boy in the Friend Magazine. I'll use this next time he's having hunger pangs:
Prayer and Fasting Work
Andrew Schurman, age
8
LaSalle Ward
Montreal Quebec Mount Royale Stake
LaSalle Ward
Montreal Quebec Mount Royale Stake
Andrew Schurman, “Prayer and Fasting Work,” Friend, Apr. 2000, 48
Before I was baptized, I decided to invite my friend Thomas to church. He said OK, and we went to sacrament meeting and then to Primary. When everything was done, we went home.
I thought that next time I needed to invite every member of Thomas’s family to come to church. On the next fast Sunday, I decided to fast for Thomas and his family. In the morning when I got up, I prayed to Heavenly Father that all of Thomas’s family would agree to come to church. I didn’t eat breakfast or lunch. I took the sacrament but had nothing else to eat or drink. During the day, I prayed about four times for Thomas and his family.
That night we went to the chapel to hear the Christmas Devotional broadcast from Salt Lake City, but the satellite dish wouldn’t work, so we sang Christmas hymns and bore testimonies instead. I got up and bore my testimony for the very first time, and I asked everyone to pray for my friend and his family. A couple of Sundays later, he and his family did come to church, and his mom is now taking the missionary discussions. I think prayer and fasting work.
Going to church can help you learn about Heavenly Father and all that He has given you. If you are a child like me, you can enjoy fun activities while you are learning. Jesus is our Savior, and if you don’t believe me, read the scriptures. I feel good because I can share this with other people, just like the Savior did. They need your help and mine.
