The Jews wondered why the Lord did not acknowledge their fasting. Through Isaiah, the Lord taught the people about proper fasting and Sabbath observance.
The Lord teaches about proper fasting and Sabbath observance
Invite students to imagine themselves in the following situation:
One Sunday morning, you prepare breakfast and are about to start eating when you realize that it is fast Sunday.
What are the first thoughts that enter your mind?
To ensure students have a basic understanding of fasting, ask:
What is fasting? (“A proper fast day observance typically includes abstaining from food and drink for two consecutive meals in a 24-hour period, attending fast and testimony meeting, and giving a generous fast offering to help care for those in need” [Handbook 2: Administering the Church (2010), 21.1.17].)
When do Church members usually fast? (We can fast at any time, but “the Church designates one Sunday each month, usually the first Sunday, as a day of fasting” [True to the Faith: A Gospel Reference (2004), 67].)
Ask students to reflect on their feelings about fasting. Explain that some people wonder why the Lord has directed us to fast. Invite students to look for principles in Isaiah 58 that can help them understand why we fast and how fasting can be a source of spiritual power.
Summarize Isaiah 58:1–2 by explaining that the Lord directed Isaiah to boldly declare to “the house of Jacob [or Israel] their sins” (verse 1). These sins included outwardly performing religious practices without sincere intent and thus acting “as a nation that did righteousness” (verse 2) and that had not forsaken the Lord, when in fact they had done so.
Explain that one law these Israelites outwardly practiced was fasting. Invite a student to read Isaiah 58:3 aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for what the people asked the Lord about their fasting.
What did the people ask the Lord about their fasting? (They wondered why He did not acknowledge their fasting.)
Point out that verses 3–4 record the Lord’s response to the people. He taught that rather than seeking to be repentant and draw closer to Him while they fasted, they sought worldly pleasures and engaged in worldly activities. Instead of showing compassion to others, they forced others to work, and they were irritable and contentious. The Lord said that because their intentions and actions were improper while they fasted, He would not acknowledge their prayers.
Invite a student to read Isaiah 58:5 aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for what the Lord questioned about the people’s fasting. Explain that a bulrush is a tall, thin grass that droops and that sackcloth is coarse material sometimes made from goat’s hair. In biblical times people often wore sackcloth or sat on sackcloth and ashes to symbolize their humility or sorrow.
What did the Lord question about the people’s fasting? (He questioned whether the outward appearances of fasting reflected the proper spirit of the fast that He intended.)
How might we make similar mistakes when we fast?
Invite students to scan Isaiah 58:6 and to notice the first question the Lord asked in this verse.
How would you phrase this question in your own words?
Write the following incomplete statement on the board: If we fast as the Lord intends, … (Students will complete this statement with three different phrases during the lesson.)
Invite a student to read Isaiah 58:6 aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for what the Lord taught about the intended purposes of fasting.
If we fast as the Lord intends, what can we do for others and ourselves? (Students may suggest a variety of answers, such as the following principle: If we fast as the Lord intends, then we can help relieve others’ burdens and receive relief from our own burdens. Write the second part of this principle on the board.)
What difference can it make if we fast with a specific righteous purpose rather than just going without food?
What are some examples of “bands of wickedness,” “heavy burdens,” oppression, or yokes that can be relieved when we fast? (Possible answers may include things like addictions, unrepentant sin, poverty, and so on.)
When have you or someone you know had burdens relieved through fasting? What did this experience teach you about Heavenly Father?
Invite a student to read Isaiah 58:7 aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for another intended purpose of fasting.
What is another intended purpose of fasting? (Students should identify the following principle: If we fast as the Lord intends, then we will care for the poor and needy. Write the second part of this principle on the board.)
How can we help care for the hungry, poor, and naked through fasting? (One way is through contributing fast offerings.)
Display a Tithing and Other Offerings form, and review the process of donating fast offerings.
To help the class understand how fast offerings are used, consider inviting a student to read aloud the following statement by Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin (1917–2008) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles:
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Joseph B. Wirthlin
“Fast offerings are used for one purpose only: to bless the lives of those in need. Every dollar given to the bishop as a fast offering goes to assist the poor. When donations exceed local needs, they are passed along to fulfill the needs elsewhere” (Joseph B. Wirthlin, “The Law of the Fast,” Ensign, May 2001, 74).
What amount should we give for a fast offering? (Generally, at least the value of the meals not eaten. Prophets have encouraged us to be generous when possible.)
Invite students to ponder how they may have had the opportunity to provide care or relief or to help lift the burdens of others by fasting as the Lord intends, including the payment of fast offerings.
Invite several students to take turns reading aloud from Isaiah 58:8–12. Ask the class to follow along, looking for blessings the Lord promised for fasting as He intends.
In your own words, how would you summarize these promised blessings for fasting as the Lord intends? (Students should express a principle similar to the following: If we fast as the Lord intends, then He can bless us with light, health, righteousness, protection, revelation, and guidance. Write the second part of this principle on the board.)
When have you or someone you know experienced blessings similar to those listed in these verses by fasting as the Lord intends?
Invite students to consider whether they fast as the Lord intends. Ask them to write on pieces of paper a goal for one way they can improve their fasting. Encourage them to put this goal in a place where they can see it often before the next fast Sunday.
Explain that the Lord next taught the people about another law that would be a blessing to them if they kept it. Invite students to scan Isaiah 58:13, looking for what the Lord next taught the Israelites.
What law did the Lord teach about in these verses? (Honoring the Sabbath day.)
Remind students that in lesson 131 they learned that God commanded His children to honor Him on the Sabbath day by doing His will rather than their own. Explain that Isaiah 58:13–14 also records the blessings we may receive from the Lord as we do His will and keep the Sabbath day holy (you may want to remind students that holy means set apart or sanctified for God’s purposes).
Write the following incomplete statement on the board: If we honor the Lord by keeping the Sabbath day holy, …
Invite a student to read Isaiah 58:13–14 aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for the blessings the Lord promised for keeping the Sabbath day holy.
What blessings has the Lord promised to those who keep the Sabbath day holy?
Explain that the phrase “the high places of the earth” in verse 14 can refer to sacred places where revelation can be received and God’s presence can be felt, such as chapels and temples of the Lord. The phrase “the heritage of Jacob” refers to the blessings promised to Jacob and his posterity.
How would you summarize the blessings listed in Isaiah 58:14? (Write students’ responses on the board to complete the phrase “If we honor the Lord by keeping the Sabbath day holy, …” Students should identify a principle similar to the following: If we honor the Lord by keeping the Sabbath day holy, then we will have joy in our relationship with the Lord and obtain both temporal and spiritual blessings.)
Why do you think our relationship with the Lord can become more joyful as we honor the Sabbath day?
In what ways have you experienced joy and temporal and spiritual blessings as a result of honoring the Lord by keeping the Sabbath day holy?
To prepare students to apply what they have learned, invite a student to read aloud the following statement by President M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles:
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M. Russell Ballard
“The power of the Sabbath day is to experience in church and at home the delight, the joy, and the warmth of feeling the Spirit of the Lord without any kind of distraction” (M. Russell Ballard, “Precious Gifts from God,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2018, 10).
Invite students to reflect on how they spent their previous Sabbath day. Ask them to take the piece of paper on which they wrote their goal for fasting and add to it a goal for one way they will better keep the upcoming Sabbath day holy. Encourage students to report back to the class what they experience as a result of applying their goals related to fasting and keeping the Sabbath day holy.
Commentary and Background Information
Isaiah 58:5. “Is it such a fast that I have chosen?”
President Henry B. Eyring of the First Presidency taught the following about the importance of fasting:
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Henry B. Eyring
“There are more hungry, homeless, and lonely children of Heavenly Father than we can possibly reach. And the numbers grow ever farther from our reach. …
“So the Lord has given us a simple commandment with a marvelous promise. In the Church today we are offered the opportunity to fast once a month and give a generous fast offering through our bishop or branch president for the benefit of the poor and the needy. Some of what you give will be used to help those around you, perhaps someone in your own family. The Lord’s servants will pray and fast for the revelation to know whom to help and what help to give. That which is not needed to help people in your local Church unit will become available to bless other Church members across the world who are in need” (Henry B. Eyring, “Is Not This the Fast That I Have Chosen?” Ensign or Liahona, May 2015, 22, 23).
President Eyring then shared about individuals providing relief after natural disasters and stated:
“I knew that what made it possible for them to succor those children of Heavenly Father was fast offerings, given freely by the Lord’s disciples who were far away from them but close to the Lord. …
“Other storms and tragedies will come across the world to people the Lord loves and whose sorrows He feels. Part of your fast offering and mine this month will be used to help someone, somewhere, whose relief the Lord will feel as if it were His own” (Henry B. Eyring, “Is Not This the Fast?” 24)
Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin (1917–2008) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke of the influence of prayer on fasting:
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Joseph B. Wirthlin
“We observe that in the scriptures, fasting almost always is linked with prayer. Without prayer, fasting is not complete fasting; it’s simply going hungry. If we want our fasting to be more than just going without eating, we must lift our hearts, our minds, and our voices in communion with our Heavenly Father. Fasting, coupled with mighty prayer, is powerful. It can fill our minds with the revelations of the Spirit. It can strengthen us against times of temptation” (Joseph B. Wirthlin, “The Law of the Fast,” Ensign, May 2001, 73).
Isaiah 58:6, 8. Loosening “the bands of wickedness,” undoing “heavy burdens,” and receiving additional blessings
Elder Carl B. Pratt of the Seventy taught how the blessings described in Isaiah 58:6 could be experienced by someone in our day:
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Carl B. Pratt
“If we fast and pray with the purpose of repenting of sins and overcoming personal weaknesses, surely we are seeking to ‘loose the bands of wickedness’ in our lives. If the purpose of our fast is to be more effective in teaching the gospel and serving others in our Church callings, we are surely striving to ‘undo the heavy burdens’ of others. If we are fasting and praying for the Lord’s help in our missionary efforts, aren’t we desiring to ‘let the oppressed go free’? If the purpose of our fast is to increase our love for our fellow man and overcome our selfishness, our pride, and having our hearts set upon the things of this world, surely we are seeking to ‘break every yoke’” (Carl B. Pratt, “The Blessings of a Proper Fast,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2004, 48–49).
President Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985) taught the following about keeping the Sabbath day holy:
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Spencer W. Kimball
“The Sabbath is a holy day in which to do worthy and holy things. Abstinence from work and recreation is important but insufficient. The Sabbath calls for constructive thoughts and acts, and if one merely lounges about doing nothing on the Sabbath, he is breaking it. To observe it, one will be on his knees in prayer, preparing lessons, studying the gospel, meditating, visiting the ill and distressed, sleeping, reading wholesome material, and attending all the meetings of that day to which he is expected. To fail to do these proper things is a transgression on the omission side” (Spencer W. Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness [1969], 96–97).