Fasting, most often referred to as a voluntary abstinence from food, is a principle of the gospel of Jesus Christ for developing spiritual strength. It is also an ordinance providing an environment where light—Christ—can abide.
Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God (Isaiah 58:2).
The practice of fasting has always existed among true believers. Without a doubt it was understood and practiced by Adam and his posterity from the beginning of time. It was had among all people who worship the Lord.
I was somewhat stunned when I learned that fasting is an ordinance. I hold ordinances in very high regard, and so I needed to understand the meaning of this so much more clearly.
The word ordinance comes from the word order, which means, a rank, a row, a series. Words such as prescribed portion and specific decree are also a part of the definition of ordinations. The word order appears frequently in the scriptures. We read, ". . . all things should be restored to their proper order " (D&C 20:68), "mine house is a house of order" (D&C 132:8). Mormon even defined depravity as being "without order" (Moro.9:18).
The word “ordain”, is a close relative to other words and has, as its first definition, “to put in order, arrange, make ready, prepare”.[1]
"An ordinance is an earthly symbol of a spiritual reality. It is usually also an act symbolizing a covenant or agreement with the Lord. It is an everlasting law[2]. It is nearly always an act in anticipation of a blessing from heaven. An ordinance, then, is distinctly an act that connects heaven and earth, the spiritual and the temporal."[3] All of the ordinances of the gospel pertain to the celestial kingdom.[4]
Evidently ordinance, order and organize are all a part of the process and progressions of attaining a greater state of glory. We learn in D&C 88:119: Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God.
Moses was given a lengthy list of outward ordinances and performances to teach the people through diligent observance the power of coming into the light. We know that Christ fulfilled all things and that the outward observance is a teaching mode. It is by the inward seeking that we fulfill those ordinances and come into the light.
Seeking for more and more light puts our spirits and bodies into a greater state of order. It is light that orders all matter. It is the Light – Christ himself – who spoke, and the world was. His command ordered the elements to come into being.
Close scrutiny leads us to believe that the ordinance of fasting enhances and accelerates the ordering process to go from one prescribed limit or boundary, set by law, to the next; it lifts us up to a higher degree of light. A possible view of understanding the power of fasting as an ordinance, which will accompany other prescribed ordinances, illuminates our understanding of a person rising or progressing from sin to grace; from one step up to the next one.
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