As with prayer, so with fasting. No ostentation. If we do it to parade our piety, we are revealing our lack of the same. As with other religious acts, fasting should be done privately and quietly. By our sad, distorted facial expressions, we should not suggest, “Oh, look, world, I’ve fasted now for twenty-five hours!” The Lord actually encourages us to “appear not unto men to fast.” Quiet devotion brings open blessings.
Here are some suggestions for fasting. Plan and prepare a schedule. Have a particular purpose. Start the fast with a private prayer. Keep the Spirit by using Saturday evening as part of the fasting period, and fast a full twenty-four hours, refraining from all food and also drink, if possible. Plan specific activities: Study the scriptures, write in a journal, and attend church meetings; maybe even participate in a family testimony meeting. Pay a generous fast offering. Set aside some time to ponder and meditate. Consider Moroni 7 or 10, or Mosiah 4, or Isaiah 53, or some other particularly powerful chapter of scripture. And finally, end the fast with a private prayer.
The combination of fasting and praying can cause humble followers of the Savior to “wax stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God” (Helaman 3:35).