Fall Break: Last Good Thing

The last day of Fall Break was Sunday. Dog Walker was invited to speak at church long before we all got sick. I wanted you to hear his talk. He did a great job!

I was asked to give a talk on fasting and prayer. Fasting has never been my favorite subject. But I don’t think I really understand the concept that well, because I have always thought of fast Sunday as the day when I can’t eat until after church and it has never made me very happy. 

So I decided to do some research.

Bro Payne gave me an article in the June 2023 Liahona with an example of fasting. According to the author, Valerie Lewis Chandler, there is a power in fasting that doesn’t only involve skipping a meal, but it involves other things that bring us closer to Heavenly Father. When Valerie was a little girl, her ward gathered in prayer to break their fast for a young woman who had cancer. The fast provoked an outpouring of prolonged love and support shown to the woman and her family by a chapel full of praying saints. The woman died from cancer, but not before she was given all the love and service from these disciples of Jesus Christ. That was one of the most powerful moments in Valerie’s life. In Helaman 3:35, it says, “They did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation.”

Since I have never had a specific time in my life to experience real fasting, I turned to my favorite sources (after the scriptures, of course) and I asked some of my siblings if they had any experiences with fasting. 

You might be happy that I am only sharing from 2 of them…

Kiy told me this story. “When I was in middle school, one of the boys I knew got in a car crash. Everyone in the car died but him, and he was in very bad shape. All of the kids that knew him got together on a Saturday and did a fast. I had fasted before, but that was the first time I felt like my fast made a difference. Usually, fasting just made me hungry and grumpy, but this time, the fasting was easy. I felt like I was connected with Heavenly Father in prayer all day. At the end, we donated our time and money in a bake sale to help his family with medical costs. I have come to learn that fasting is all about sacrifice and connecting with Heavenly Father. It took a long time, but my friend did eventually get better, but I think even if he hadn't, my testimony of fasting would have still grown from this experience, because, regardless of what the outcome was, I knew the Lord heard my prayers and accepted my effort to help those in need.”

I was happy to see that fasting helped build Kiy’s faith in Christ, giving her a more firm foundation, just like the scriptures said.

Kaylan had an experience too.

"When I was serving my mission in the Philippines there was a young boy named Jeric that we were teaching. His dad was an abusive drunk who couldn't hold a job and his mom was a sweet and shy woman with a whole lot of faith but not a whole lot of financial or physical bandwidth. She had a bad hip that caused her to walk with a major limp and she did everything she could to provide for her family. She desperately wanted her son to get baptized and would always send him to church, but she had a hard time getting to church as she couldn't pay for the fare and her hip made walking difficult and painful. The area presidency guidelines in the Philippines require prospective minor converts to have an adult member of their family frequently attending church in order to get baptized. So until she could come to church consistently, Jeric could not be baptized. We prayed and tried multiple means to help this mother and her son get to church, but time after time the plans fell through. One Sunday we decided to include them in our fast. We had spoken with them earlier that week and invited them to come to church, but they said that they were low on money and wouldn't be able to pay the fare that week. She asked us to pray for a financial miracle. 

Fast forward to that fast Sunday. We were very hopeful that they would be able to get enough money to get to church, but based on their past financial track record, it didn't seem likely. You can only imagine our surprise and joy when we saw this good sister limp into the chapel that Sunday with her son in tow. Our astonishment grew further when we discovered that no money had come. Instead, this family had spent over an hour that morning walking very, very slowly to church. That day I learned that fasting doesn't always remove the obstacles we face. Sometimes it gives us the strength to face them head on with the knowledge that God will be with us and angels will be walking alongside us, cheering us on, lifting up our hands when they hang down, and strengthening our feeble knees."

My sisters have amazing testimonies about the power of the Fast, but that is only part of the gift. We should all feel that good when fasting. But fasting isn't the only thing that can bring us closer to Heavenly Father. Fasting requires praying to Him and prayer can also bring us closer. He answers all of our prayers, sometimes in ways that we expect and sometimes not. What’s important to know is that Heavenly Father wants to speak to each and every one of us, even in our minds and in our hearts, just like we all want to speak to Him. We just have to be willing and able to listen to His guidance and love. Sometimes we pray to Heavenly Father in a natural and brief way and sometimes we pray in a sincere and heartfelt way. 

I was listening to a talk by President Milton Camargo, First Counselor in the Sunday School General Presidency. He teaches us from Alma’s mission in Ammonihah. In Alma 9:22 it says, 

“Yea, and after having been delivered of God out of the land of Jerusalem, by the hand of the Lord; having been saved from famine, and from sickness, and all manner of diseases of every kind; and they having waxed strong in battle, that they might not be destroyed; having been brought out of bondage time after time, and having been kept and preserved until now; and they have been prospered until they are rich in all manner of thing.”

President Camargo was taught a little routine by his mom about how to pray. She told him that she would pray first and then after, he would pray. Our children learn by example and this is a great way to show them correct principles.

President Nelson gave a similar invitation, “Pray in the name of Jesus Christ about your concerns, your fears, your weaknesses—yes, the very longings of your heart. And then listen! Write the thoughts that come to your mind. Record your feelings and follow through with actions that you are prompted to take. As you repeat this process day after day, month after month, year after year, you will ‘grow into the principle of revelation.' In coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.” When I was married, there were times that I was struggling with trying to be a good husband. Allie had a lot of depression and she grew distant from me. I wanted to help her out, and I prayed to Heavenly Father for help on how I could try to help her. But after more than 4 years and my best efforts, she just refused to seek help.

Unfortunately, after many failed attempts, I just didn’t know what else I could do. So I prayed alone to Heavenly Father with a sincere heart and asked what else I could do. I pondered for a few minutes and then I felt Heavenly Father telling me that it was time to let her go. I was really surprised and heartbroken to feel that from Heavenly Father. But tough decisions in life can sometimes be for the better. Allie then told me that I could just pack my things up and go back to living with my parents while she did the same. I wasn’t really liking the idea behind all of it, but I was reminded of my feelings when I had asked Heavenly Father what I should do. All my life, I’ve been taught that we believe in eternal families and it made it sound like divorce was one of the sins that we shouldn’t commit to. But I’ve also been taught that no matter what circumstances we live in, whether we are members of the Church or not, Heavenly Father still loves us and we’re still His children. He knows and wants what’s best for us.

Even throughout the very long while of grief and pain, and also the worries about divorce, I still felt Heavenly Father’s love for me. He knew that I was struggling with one of the hardest adjustments of my life, but he blessed me with knowing that I still had family, friends, and ward members who cared about me. We all face times when we can receive powerful answers to our prayers if we just ask. The answer I was given was only for me, but you can get down on your knees and Heavenly Father will give the answer you need. 

We’ve been taught to always pray to Heavenly Father and receive many blessings from Him. There have been many times that I’ve prayed aloud to Heavenly Father with a sincere heart when being around either my family or with this ward, just because I get asked to. Some of the times, when being by myself, either at work, or on my days off, I just get the feeling that I could only pray in time of need, instead of all the time. Satan wants us to think that we don’t have anything to discuss with Heavenly Father about what we’re blessed for, but that doesn’t mean we should just give in and give Heavenly Father the silent treatment. 

 One of my favorite rock n’ roll songs is “Living On a Prayer” by Bon Jovi. In the song it says, “We’ve gotta hold on to what we’ve got. It doesn’t make a difference if we make it or not. We got each other and that’s a lot for love. We’ll give it a shot. Oh! We’re halfway there. Whoa! Living on a prayer. Take my hand, we’ll make it I swear. Whoa! Living on a prayer.”

 What that all means to me is that when we always pray, we remember the Plan of Salvation that Heavenly Father has given us. When we live closer to the spirit, it can feel like we’re halfway to heaven to live with Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and our loved ones again. “Take my hand,” could also be us reaching up to Heavenly Father and knowing that He’ll bring us back to live with Him again.

 We can all be living on a prayer by always remembering the Savior, Jesus Christ, for His atoning sacrifice and love for all of us. No matter how much you pray, even if it is a short or long prayer, He can still hear us and answer our prayers. Praying and fasting aren’t only meant to be requirements to feel closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. They’re meant to be gifts. I would like to bear my testimony that Heavenly Father will always give us blessings as long as we do our part by fasting and praying to Him. May we remember that by next Fast Sunday and to know that no matter what, we will receive blessings from Him. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.