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Is Not This the Fast?

A hangry fast that missed the point, where your fast offering actually goes, and a Sabbath you might like

  • 🧭 Youth 12–13
  • Week 42
  • 📅 Sunday, October 18, 2026
🤔 Forehead Guess🏆 Showdown
💡 The big idea

The Lord’s kind of fast is about loving people and drawing close to Him, and it brings light, guidance, and joy.

I can fast and keep the Sabbath in ways that help other people and bring me closer to the Lord.

Study it yourself firstRead Isaiah 58–66 in Gospel LibraryCome, Follow Me manualOpen this week (Isaiah 58–66)
Know the chapters

Isaiah 58 opens with a complaint. The people were fasting and going through the motions, and they asked the Lord, in effect, “Why don’t You notice?” (58:2–3). His answer is blunt: on your fast days you still chase your own interests, push your workers harder, and argue and fight (58:3–4). Bowing your head like a drooping reed and sitting in sackcloth and ashes is not the point (58:5). The fast He chooses loosens the bands of wickedness, lifts heavy burdens, frees the oppressed, feeds the hungry, shelters the poor, clothes the naked, and doesn’t hide from your own family (58:6–7).

Then come some of the best promises in the Old Testament: your light will break out like the morning, your healing will come quickly, you’ll call and the Lord will answer, “Here I am,” He’ll guide you continually, and you’ll be like a watered garden whose water never runs dry (58:8–11). Verses 13–14 add the Sabbath: when we turn it from “my own pleasure” into a day focused on the Lord and call it a delight, He promises joy. The rest of the block looks forward: “Arise, shine; for thy light is come” (60:1), “beauty for ashes” (61:3), and new heavens and a new earth where the wolf and lamb feed together (65:17–25).

Jesus Christ read Isaiah 61:1–2 aloud in the synagogue in Nazareth and said, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears” (Luke 4:16–21). He is the One who heals broken hearts and trades our ashes for beauty. In the Church today, fast Sunday usually comes once a month. Those who are able go without food and drink for two meals, pray with a purpose, and give a fast offering, at least what the meals would have cost and more if they can. The bishop uses fast offerings to help people in need, and in many wards the deacons help gather them. Anyone whose health could be affected should talk with their parents or a doctor; there are other ways to take part.

For 11- to 14-year-olds: many are fasting on their own for the first time, and “hangry” is real. Be honest that fasting is hard, and help them see the why: fasting is aimed at people and at the Lord, not at looking holy. On the Sabbath, avoid giving them a list of don’ts. Talk about what helps them feel close to the Lord and rested, and let them wrestle with the gray areas (phones, games, homework).

Only have 5 minutes?

Ask the Hangry Scale question. Then run the readers’ theater from their seats. A Narrator reads the screens, one reader is The People, and one is Isaiah. Teach Isaiah 58:6. Show the donation slip and read President Eyring’s quote about fast offerings. Play one quick round of Delight or Drag. End with Isaiah 61:1–3 and your testimony. Brought nothing? Tap “I brought nothing.” The slip becomes an invisible envelope.

What to bring4 items

Tick what you have. Forgot something? Every step that needs a supply has a no-supplies version in the plan below.

Before class

  1. Pick up a donation slip from the ward clerk or near the bishop’s office.
  2. Choose three readers. Pick a confident Narrator, a big voice for The People, and a steady Isaiah who bookmarks Isaiah 58.
  3. Think of one short, true time a fast or a Sabbath brought you light, an answer or healing. You’ll share it at the end.

If your class is wild

  • Readers stay in their seats. No acting and no costumes. The words are funny and sharp enough on their own.
  • Let The People sound really annoyed. Their complaint is the funniest line in Isaiah 58.
  • Everyone without a part counts promises on their fingers in scenes 6 and 7. It keeps the whole room listening.
  • Some youth can’t fast for health reasons. Say plainly that fasting looks different for different people. Encourage them to talk with their parents.
  • End quiet. The Luke 4 moment lands best with the lights down and a long pause.

The 25-minute plan24 min + bonus

Bonus steps are for when you have extra time. Steps that mention Teach Mode, the Sound Board or other class games refer to the Gospel Sparks app; on the web you can play Forehead Guess and Scripture Showdown from this page.

1. Hook

The Hangry Scale

3 min

Youth laugh about how hungry they get, then face the real question: why would anyone skip meals on purpose?

  1. SAY“Honest question. How hangry do you get when you miss a meal? Show me, one to ten.”
  2. Let a couple of tens explain. Then ask, “So why would anyone skip two meals on purpose?” Listen for feeling close to God and helping people in need.
  3. SAY“In Isaiah 58, people fasted and then complained that God didn’t notice. His answer was surprising.”

Class screen: 😤 How hangry do you get? 1–10. · So why skip meals on purpose?

2. Story

Readers’ Theater: The Hangry Fast

8 min

Hearing Isaiah 58 as a real back-and-forth shows that the Lord’s fast is about lifting people, not looking holy, and that it comes with huge promises.

  1. SAY“Isaiah 58 is an argument between the Lord and people who fasted the wrong way. Three readers, from your seats. No acting.”
  2. Tap Roles in Teach Mode and assign Narrator, The People and Isaiah. The Narrator reads each screen. The others read their verses when the screen says.
  3. Everyone else counts every promise in scenes 6 and 7 on their fingers.
  4. Ask, “What was wrong with their fast?” Then ask, “What would ‘bowing like a bulrush’ look like at church today?” Think of doing religious things to be seen.

Class screen: 📣 We fasted! Why didn’t You notice?! · Isaiah 58:1–11

No supplies? Do this instead

Instead of: Scriptures for readers: Bibles, a quad, or the Gospel Library app on phones

  1. SAY“Isaiah 58 is an argument between the Lord and people who fasted the wrong way. Three readers, from your seats. No acting.”
  2. Assign Narrator, The People and Isaiah. The Narrator and The People read from the screen. Hand Isaiah your scriptures, open to Isaiah 58.
  3. Everyone else counts every promise in scenes 6 and 7 on their fingers.
  4. Ask, “What was wrong with their fast?” Then ask, “What would ‘bowing like a bulrush’ look like at church today?”
3. Scripture

Where Does It Go? Isaiah 58:6

5 min

Youth memorize Isaiah 58:6 and connect the Lord’s fast to fast offerings, the bishop, and the deacons who help gather them.

  1. SAY“Here’s the fast the Lord chose.”
  2. Teach Isaiah 58:6 with the motions. Say it twice together.
  3. Point to “Fast offerings” on the slip. Say, “If we can, we skip two meals and give at least what they’d cost. The bishop uses it to help people.”
  4. Read President Henry B. Eyring’s quote from this lesson’s Conference quotes. Ask, “Why do you think the Lord tied our hunger to feeding someone else?”
  5. Ask the deacons, “How are fast offerings gathered in our ward?” Point out that youth can give their own fast offering, even a small one.

Class screen: 🧾 Your skipped lunch becomes someone else’s groceries. · Isaiah 58:6–7

No supplies? Do this instead

Instead of: A “Tithing and Other Offerings” donation slip (ask the ward clerk or look near the bishop’s office)

The Invisible Envelope

  1. SAY“Here’s the fast the Lord chose.”
  2. Teach Isaiah 58:6 with the motions. Say it twice together.
  3. Hold up an invisible envelope. Say, “The slip in here has a line for fast offerings. The bishop uses them to help people with food, bills and the basics.”
  4. Read President Henry B. Eyring’s quote from this lesson’s Conference quotes. Ask, “Why do you think the Lord tied our hunger to feeding someone else?”
  5. Ask the deacons, “How are fast offerings gathered in our ward?” Point out that youth can give their own fast offering, even a small one.

Class screen: ✉️ Your skipped lunch becomes someone else’s groceries. · Isaiah 58:6–7

4. Talk it over

Delight or Drag?

5 min

A quick Sabbath vote and honest questions help youth own fasting and the Sabbath for themselves.

  1. SAY“Isaiah 58:13 says to call the Sabbath a delight. Thumbs up for delight, down for drag, sideways for ‘it depends.’”
  2. Read these fast: FaceTime a grandparent. A two-hour scroll. A family walk. Homework due Monday. Cookies for a neighbor. A nap. Ask one sideways voter why.
  3. Then pick two questions from the screen. Anyone can pass, and share your own answer too.
💬 Ask the class
  • What helps you with the hardest part of fasting?
  • Fasting with a purpose is different from just skipping meals. What’s something or someone worth fasting for?
  • Isaiah 58:7 says, “hide not thyself from thine own flesh.” That means your own family. How could fasting and the Sabbath help at home?
  • What makes Sunday feel like a delight for you?
  • Jesus read Isaiah 61 and said it was about Him. Where have you seen Him give someone “beauty for ashes”?

Class screen: ⚖️ Sabbath delight or Sabbath drag? · 👍 Delight · 👎 Drag · 👉 Depends

5. Testimony

Beauty for Ashes

3 min

Ending with Jesus reading Isaiah 61 shows that the Savior Himself is the One who heals and lifts through fasting and the Sabbath.

  1. SAY“Hundreds of years after Isaiah, Jesus stood up in the synagogue in Nazareth. They handed Him the scroll of Isaiah. He read chapter sixty-one.”
  2. Read Isaiah 61:1–3 slowly. Then read Luke 4:21: “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.”
  3. Share your short story of a fast or a Sabbath that brought light or an answer. Testify that the Savior still gives beauty for ashes.
  4. Share the Plan a Real Fast challenge. Then invite a youth to pray.

Class screen: 🌸 He gives beauty for ashes, joy for mourning. · Isaiah 61:3 · Luke 4:21

6. Wiggle break

Bulrush or Sunrise?

2 minBONUS

A quick command game turns Isaiah 58 and 60 into movement and contrasts fake fasting with real light.

  1. SAY“Everybody up. Do the move I call, fast.”
  2. “Bulrush!” means droop like a wilted reed. “Arise, shine!” means jump and burst your arms open.
  3. “Loose the bands!” means pull your wrists apart. “Watered garden!” means grow from a crouch into tall, swaying branches.
  4. Trick call: “Hide thyself!” Isaiah 58:7 says hide NOT thyself. Anyone who hides does three jumping jacks. End on “Arise, shine!”

Class screen: 🌅 Bulrush! Arise, shine! Loose the bands! Watered garden! · Isaiah 58:5–11 · 60:1

7. Game

Scripture Showdown

5 minBONUS

A quick team quiz reviews fasting, the Sabbath, and Isaiah 58–66.

  1. SAY“Team Morning against Team Garden. Ten seconds to whisper, then point.”
  2. Tap Scripture Showdown. The winning team earns a bonus point if they can name the verse.
▶ Play Scripture Showdown on the web

Class screen: 🏆 Scripture Showdown: Team Morning vs. Team Garden!

Readers’ theater

Readers’ Theater: The Hangry Fast

Isaiah 58:1–11 ↗

Reading parts (volunteers, from their seats)

  • NarratorReads the words on each screen from their seat.
  • The PeopleReads the people’s complaint in Isaiah 58:3 with real attitude, from their seat.
  • IsaiahReads the Lord’s answers in Isaiah 58 from a Bible or Gospel Library, from their seat.

Scenes

  1. 📣🎺 “Lift up thy voice like a trumpet!”

    The Lord told Isaiah to speak up, loud and clear, and show the people their sins. The strange part? These people looked very religious. They went to worship every day and said they loved drawing near to God.

    🙌 Isaiah reads Isaiah 58:1–2. Everyone else listens for the strange part.

  2. 😤🍽️ “We fasted! Why didn’t You notice?”

    So the people had a complaint. They had fasted. They had gone hungry. And as far as they could tell, God hadn’t even noticed.

    🙌 The People read Isaiah 58:3: “Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not?”

  3. 💼👊 Fasting while bossing and fighting

    The Lord answered. On your fast day you still do whatever you want. You push your workers harder. You argue and fight. You can’t fast like that and expect to be heard on high.

    🙌 Isaiah reads the rest of Isaiah 58:3, then 58:4.

  4. 🌾😔 A head bowed like a bulrush

    Is fasting just about looking miserable? Head drooping like a wilted reed? So everyone can see how holy you are? The Lord asks, is that what you call a fast?

    🙌 Isaiah reads Isaiah 58:5. Everyone droops like a wilted reed.

  5. 🔓🍞 “Is not this the fast that I have chosen?”

    Then the Lord describes the fast He actually wants. It isn’t about looking hungry. It’s about what your hunger does for someone else.

    🙌 Isaiah reads Isaiah 58:6–7. Everyone listens for who gets helped.

  6. 🌅💡 Your light will break forth like the morning

    Now the promises. When you fast His way, light, healing and answers come. You call, and the Lord answers, “Here I am.”

    🙌 Isaiah reads Isaiah 58:8–9. Everyone else counts the promises on their fingers.

  7. 🌱💧 Like a watered garden that never runs dry

    And there’s more. Guidance all the time. A full soul, even in dry seasons. A life like a watered garden. You’ll even be called “the repairer of the breach.” That’s someone who fixes what’s broken.

    🙌 Isaiah reads Isaiah 58:11. Everyone holds up their promise count.

Key verse

Isaiah 58:6 ↗
“Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?”
In plain words: This is the kind of fast I want: break the chains that hold people down, lift heavy loads off them, set people free, and smash everything that traps them.
🙌 “Is not this the fast that I have chosen?” = hand on chin, eyebrows up · “loose the bands of wickedness” = pull your wrists apart like breaking a chain · “undo the heavy burdens” = lift an invisible load off your shoulders · “let the oppressed go free” = open your hands like releasing a bird · “break every yoke” = snap an invisible stick over your knee.

More verses

Isaiah 58:11 ↗
“And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.”
In plain words: The Lord will guide you all the time, fill you up even in dry, hard times, and make you like a garden that never runs out of water.
Isaiah 58:13 ↗
“If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable”
In plain words: If you make Sunday about the Lord instead of just what you feel like doing, and call it a delight, He will bless you with joy.
Isaiah 61:3 ↗
“To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness”
In plain words: Jesus Christ trades our ashes for beauty, our sadness for joy, and our heavy spirits for praise.
Isaiah 60:1 ↗
“Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.”
In plain words: Get up and shine! Your light has come, and the Lord’s glory is shining on you.

Forehead Guess words18 words

  • 📣 Isaiah
  • 🍽️ Fasting
  • 🧾 Fast offering
  • 🧑‍💼 Bishop
  • 🤝 Deacon
  • 😤 Hangry
  • 🌾 Bulrush
  • 👕 Sackcloth
  • 🐂 Yoke
  • 🌱 Watered garden
  • 📅 Sabbath
  • 😄 Delight
  • 🏘️ Nazareth
  • 📜 Scroll
  • 🌸 Beauty for ashes
  • 🌅 Arise, shine
  • 🐺 Wolf and lamb
  • 🕊️ Millennium
Clues for each word
  • Isaiah: Told to lift up his voice like a trumpet
  • Fasting: Going without food to draw close to God
  • Fast offering: Money given to help people in need
  • Bishop: Uses fast offerings to help ward members
  • Deacon: May help gather fast offerings
  • Hangry: Hungry plus angry
  • Bulrush: A drooping reed; a show-off fast
  • Sackcloth: Scratchy clothes worn to look sorry
  • Yoke: Wooden harness; the Lord says break every one
  • Watered garden: What you become when you fast His way
  • Sabbath: The Lord’s holy day
  • Delight: What Isaiah says to call the Sabbath
  • Nazareth: Jesus’s hometown, where He read Isaiah 61
  • Scroll: What Jesus was handed in the synagogue
  • Beauty for ashes: What the Savior gives those who mourn
  • Arise, shine: Isaiah 60:1: your light is come
  • Wolf and lamb: Feed together in the new earth
  • Millennium: Christ’s thousand-year reign of peace
▶ Play Forehead GuessFull screen, 60-second timer, works on any phone.

Scripture Showdown9 questions

  1. What did the people in Isaiah 58:3 complain about?
    • A. The food was bad
    • B. God didn’t notice their fasting
    • C. It rained too much
    Show answer

    ✅ B. God didn’t notice their fasting They felt they’d done their part. The Lord showed them what they’d missed.

  2. What were they still doing on their fast days?
    • A. Fighting and pushing their workers
    • B. Feeding the poor
    • C. Reading scriptures
    Show answer

    ✅ A. Fighting and pushing their workers Isaiah 58:3–4. You can’t fast that way and expect to be heard on high.

  3. A fake fast bows the head like a what?
    • A. sunflower
    • B. donkey
    • C. bulrush
    Show answer

    ✅ C. bulrush Isaiah 58:5. A drooping reed: looking miserable to be seen.

  4. Which is part of the fast the Lord has chosen?
    • A. Complaining loudly
    • B. Sharing bread with the hungry
    • C. Skipping church
    Show answer

    ✅ B. Sharing bread with the hungry Isaiah 58:7. Fasting points outward, to people in need.

  5. When you call, Isaiah 58:9 says the Lord will answer…
    • A. “Here I am”
    • B. “Not now”
    • C. “Try again later”
    Show answer

    ✅ A. “Here I am” One of many promises to those who fast His way.

  6. Isaiah 58:11 says you’ll be like a…
    • A. mighty oak
    • B. desert rock
    • C. watered garden
    Show answer

    ✅ C. watered garden A spring whose waters fail not, even in drought.

  7. What does a fast offering usually equal, at least?
    • A. One dollar
    • B. The cost of the skipped meals
    • C. A tenth of your income
    Show answer

    ✅ B. The cost of the skipped meals At least what the meals would have cost, and more if you can. A tenth is tithing.

  8. Where did Jesus read Isaiah 61 and say it was fulfilled?
    • A. Nazareth
    • B. Babylon
    • C. Rome
    Show answer

    ✅ A. Nazareth Luke 4:16–21, in the synagogue of His hometown.

  9. What does Isaiah 58:13 say to call the Sabbath?
    • A. A rest stop
    • B. A delight
    • C. A duty
    Show answer

    ✅ B. A delight When we focus on the Lord, the Sabbath becomes a joy.

▶ Play Scripture ShowdownTeams take turns on one screen.

From general conference

“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.”

— President Henry B. Eyring, ““Is Not This the Fast That I Have Chosen?”,” April 2015

Read it in Where Does It Go?, right after you explain the fast offerings line on the slip.

Read the talk ↗

Songs

  • Did You Think to Pray? Hymns, no. 140

    Fasting and prayer go together. A good opener before the Hangry Scale. Find it ↗

  • Redeemer of Israel Hymns, no. 6

    Isaiah 59–63 keeps calling the Lord our Redeemer. Sing it after “Beauty for Ashes.” Find it ↗

This week’s challenge

Plan a Real Fast

Before your ward’s next fast Sunday, talk with your parents about how long you’ll fast. Pick one person or problem to fast for, and plan your own fast offering, even a small one. This Sunday, try a Sabbath delight experiment. Do one thing that helps you feel close to the Lord, and notice how the day feels.

Text the parents

This week we studied Isaiah 58–66. Youth read Isaiah 58 aloud as a readers’ theater. The people complained that God didn’t notice their fasting. The Lord answered with the fast He really wants: lifting burdens and feeding the hungry. We talked about where fast offerings go and debated what makes the Sabbath a delight. Ask your youth what they decided about Sunday activities. Who might they fast for next fast Sunday?

📝 After class

What worked? Who needs a check-in this week? Jot it here on a printed copy, or in the app’s private class notes.

Got extra time?

🔦 Arise, Shine · 3 min

  1. Turn the lights off. Read Isaiah 60:1–3 by flashlight or phone light.
  2. Ask: “How is the gospel like light in a dark room? Who has been a light for you?”
  3. Pass the light around. Each youth names one way to shine this week without being preachy.

🐺 New Heaven, New Earth · 4 min

  1. Read Isaiah 65:17–25 together. Pairs list everything that will be different when the Savior reigns.
  2. Ask: “Which change are you most excited for? Which one surprises you?”
  3. Ask: “What can we do now to get ready for the Savior’s Second Coming?”

📦 Sabbath Delights Box · 3 min

  1. Each youth writes on a slip of paper one Sunday activity they really enjoy that helps them feel close to the Lord.
  2. Put the slips in a box. Pull and read a few aloud.
  3. Invite everyone to snap a picture of the list and try one idea they’ve never tried.

Sources

Scripture quotations are from the King James Version, the Bible used by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Tap or click a reference to open it in Gospel Library. Start with the official Come, Follow Me manual; these ideas are here to help it come alive.

All Youth 12–13 lessons