Each participant will be more committed to live the law of the fast and give generous fast offerings.
Invite a participant to read the following statement:
“Fasting, accompanied by prayer, is a form of true worship. The Lord has commanded His people to fast in order to help them draw close to Him, overcome worldliness, gain spiritual strength, increase their compassion, and prepare themselves for service. Fasting is fundamental to our spiritual well-being and temporal welfare” (Church Handbook of Instructions, Book 2: Priesthood and Auxiliary Leaders [1998], 255–256).
Ask participants to share examples of how fasting has helped them spiritually and temporally.
Invite a participant to read the following scripture:
“Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?” (Isaiah 58:6–7; see also Isaiah 58:6–12).
Discuss how obeying the law of the fast can “loose the bands of wickedness,” “undo the heavy burdens,” “let the oppressed go free,” and “break every yoke.”
Help participants understand the following points, and discuss them as necessary:
1. Many welfare challenges could be prevented by proper adherence to the law of the fast. President Spencer W. Kimball taught that “upon practicing the law of the fast, one finds a personal well-spring of power to overcome self-indulgence and selfishness” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1978, 121; or Ensign, May 1978, 80).
Ask participants to name some of the welfare challenges that result from self-indulgence. (Answers may include: debt; substance abuse and addictions; emotional, physical or sexual abuse of others; poor health from overeating or improper diet.)
Discuss how fasting may help prevent these challenges (see Isaiah 58:6–12).
2. One of the most important ways Latter-day Saints can care for the needy is through fast offerings (see Church Handbook of Instructions, Book 2 255).
3. Giving a generous fast offering blesses both the giver and the receiver. “Think . . . of what would happen if the principles of fast day and the fast offering were observed throughout the world. The hungry would be fed, the naked clothed, the homeless sheltered. . . . The giver would not suffer but would be blessed by his small abstinence. A new measure of concern and unselfishness would grow in the hearts of people everywhere” (Gordon B. Hinckley, in Conference Report, Apr. 1991, 73; or Ensign, May 1991, 52–53).
4. A generous fast offering may be much more than the value of two meals. President Kimball explained: “Sometimes we have been a bit penurious [stingy] and figured that we had for breakfast one egg and that cost so many cents and then we give that to the Lord. I think that when we are affluent, as many of us are, that we ought to be very, very generous. . . . I think we should . . . give, instead of the amount we saved by our two meals of fasting, perhaps much, much more—ten times more where we are in a position to do it” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1974, 184).
Read or have a participant read the following case study, and discuss what this young family is doing to follow the prophet’s counsel:
Brandon and Emily have a young family. They fast the first Sunday of each month and prayerfully seek the blessings of heaven in important personal and family matters. They are aware of President Kimball’s counsel to be generous in giving a fast offering and want to be faithful and to help those in need around them. They try to decide what would be a generous fast offering for them. They carefully review their financial circumstances, discuss the matter in a family council, and prayerfully consider the matter. They decide that in their circumstances, they could donate significantly more than the value of two meals. While no exact formula is given for determining a generous offering, they feel that this approach, undertaken prayerfully, is acceptable to the Lord.
Invite participants to think of ways they can encourage members of their ward or stake to be generous in their offerings when they are in a position to do so. Ask them to make specific plans to implement the ways they can encourage more generous giving.
Bear testimony of the blessings that come from obeying the law of the fast and giving generous fast offerings.