We often have ward fasts and prayers to help people who are sick or have some unusual health problem. How many of you have had a ward prayer for a young man who has been losing his testimony? Have you ever of heard of that happening? I was really quite struck by when it says, "And Alma caused that the priests should assemble themselves"—these were priesthood holders in the church. And Alma basically said, "We are going to have a fast." I do not think he said, "We are going to fast for two days and two nights." They did fast for two days and two nights, but that was because at the end of the second day, their prayers were answered. I wonder how long they would have continued that vigil of fasting and praying.
They prayed to the Lord their God that he would "open the mouth of Alma that he might speak, and also that his limbs might receive their strength, that the eyes of the people might be opened to see and know of the goodness and glory of God" (Mosiah 27:22). Those words are very poignant. They tell us what they were asking for in their prayers. What if the bishop were to say, "Elders, I would like you to have a special fast. I would like you to pray to help a young man in our ward who really is in need of the influence of the Spirit of God’? Maybe a bishop could say, "There is a family that is struggling." We need to unite our priesthood power and our ward faith and pray that the Lord will bless people with these exact objectives. I would like to see that kind of thing happen. There are such needs out there.
Book of Mormon Central, "Why Does the Lord Require People to Live the Laws of Tithing and Fasting? (3 Nephi 24:10)," KnoWhy 305 (April 6, 2017).