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Is Not This the Fast?

Israel files a complaint that fasting isn’t working, the Lord answers, and the Sabbath turns out to be a delight, not a list

  • 🔥 Youth 14–15
  • Week 42
  • 📅 Sunday, October 18, 2026
🤔 Forehead Guess🏆 Showdown
💡 The big idea

Fasting and the Sabbath aren’t rules for getting God’s attention; they’re ways to draw close to Him and do His work of freeing, feeding and lifting people.

I can fast and keep the Sabbath to draw closer to the Lord and help lift someone else’s burden, not just to check a box.

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. On the outside, the people do everything right. They seek the Lord daily and fast faithfully. Then they ask, in effect, “We fasted, so why aren’t You noticing?” That’s verse 3. The Lord’s answer is blunt, in verses 3–4. On your fast day you chase your own interests, push your workers harder and pick fights. A fast isn’t about looking humble, in verse 5. The fast He chooses loosens the bands of wickedness and lifts heavy burdens. It frees the oppressed, feeds the hungry, houses the poor and clothes the naked. That’s verses 6–7.

Then come some of the best promises in scripture. Your light will break forth like the morning, and your health will spring up. You’ll call, and the Lord will answer, “Here I am,” in verses 8–9. He’ll make you “like a watered garden,” in verse 11. Verses 13–14 turn to the Sabbath. Stop “doing thy pleasure on my holy day” and “call the sabbath a delight.” Then you’ll delight yourself in the Lord. The Church’s fast Sunday grows straight out of this chapter. We go without two meals and give a generous fast offering to care for people in need.

Isaiah 61:1–3 describes the Anointed One. He comes to bind up the brokenhearted, free captives and give “beauty for ashes.” In the synagogue at Nazareth, Jesus stood and read this passage. Then He said, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears,” in Luke 4:16–21. When we fast to lift burdens, we join Him in exactly the work He said He came to do.

Fourteen- to sixteen-year-olds often experience fasting as “being hungry” and the Sabbath as “the day I can’t do stuff.” Don’t fight that with guilt. Isaiah’s own people felt the same way! The For the Strength of Youth section “Love God, love your neighbor” speaks to this. Keeping the Sabbath holy shows God we’ll dedicate a day to Him. Fasting and offerings show Him His work matters more to us than things. Let the youth wrestle honestly with real Sabbath dilemmas. You’re after a better question, “What does this choice say to God?” You’re not after a rulebook.

Only have 5 minutes?

Read Isaiah 58:3–14 and Luke 4:16–21. Ask the honest hunger question. Tell The Complaint Department from Teach Mode and ask each scene’s question. Say Isaiah 58:6 together. The Hand Lock works if you have no yarn. Hold Sabbath Court with the Name Spinner. Close with a fast that changed something for you. Brought nothing? Tap “I brought nothing.” Every step still works.

What to bring3 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. Read Isaiah 58 slowly, then Luke 4:16–21. Tell the story out loud once in your own words.
  2. Think of a fast that really mattered to you and what you noticed. You’ll share it in a minute or less. Ask your bishop how fast offerings help locally, in case someone asks.
  3. Optional: text a youth: “Will you lead the key verse, Isaiah 58:6, with a piece of yarn? Be ready to ask what ‘bands’ people our age get stuck in.”

If your class is wild

  • Don’t hand out Sabbath rulings. When a youth asks “Is it OK to…?” turn it back. Ask what it would say to God, and what their parents and the Spirit would say. That builds judgment.
  • Some youth have family situations that make the Sabbath complicated, like work schedules, part-member families or sports. Keep the tone warm. Never single anyone out.
  • Tell the story instead of reading the screen word for word. The questions on the scenes are real questions. Wait for real answers.
  • If a debate gets heated, call a timeout. Ask each side to say the other side’s strongest point. It cools things fast.
  • Fasting can be sensitive for youth with health issues or eating concerns. Mention that fasting looks different for some people. They can talk with parents and the bishop about what’s right for them.

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 Honest Hunger Check

3 min

Admitting what fasting usually feels like makes room for Isaiah’s question: what is a fast actually for?

  1. SAY“No judgment. Raise your hand if you’ve ever fasted and spent most of it thinking about food.”
  2. Raise your hand too.
  3. SAY“Raise your hand if Sunday has ever felt like ‘the day I can’t do stuff.’”
  4. Laugh with them. Then ask what most people their age honestly think fasting and the Sabbath are for. Take a few answers without correcting any.
  5. SAY“In Isaiah fifty-eight, a whole nation felt the same way. They fasted perfectly. Then they complained that God wasn’t noticing. The Lord’s answer surprised them.”
🌪️ If someone jokes that fasting is a diet, go with it. Say, “Isaiah would say that’s exactly the fast that misses the point. Let’s see why.”

Class screen: 🍽️ Ever fasted and mostly just thought about food? · What are fasting and the Sabbath actually for?

2. Story

The Complaint Department

8 min

Hearing Isaiah 58 told as a complaint and a reply shows the difference between a fast for show and the fast the Lord chose, and ties it to the Savior’s own mission in Luke 4.

  1. SAY“Isaiah fifty-eight starts with a complaint filed against God. I’ll tell it. When a question comes up on the screen, just answer out loud.”
  2. Tell scenes 1 to 3 briskly. You read the Lord’s words. Take one or two quick answers per question and keep moving.
  3. Slow down for scenes 4 to 6. The Lord’s fast frees people and feeds people. His promise is “Here I am.”
  4. For scenes 7 and 8, read Luke 4:18–21 yourself. Let three seconds of quiet sit after verse 21.
  5. Ask what was wrong with their fast, then what the Lord’s fast does instead. Listen for this. Theirs was for show. His frees, lifts and feeds.
🌪️ Tell it, don’t read it. Glance at each scene, look up at the class, and ask like you really want to know.

Class screen: 😤 The Complaint Department: “We fasted! Why didn’t You notice?” · Isaiah 58 · Luke 4

3. Scripture

Unlock the Bands

4 min

A simple object lesson on the key verse shows that the Lord’s fast is about freedom, for us and for others.

  1. SAY“Here’s the Lord’s answer in one verse.”
  2. Show Isaiah 58:6. You or the youth you texted teach the motions. Say it together twice. Then loosely loop yarn around a volunteer’s wrists.
  3. Ask what bands people our age get stuck in. For each real answer, unwind one loop. Ask how fasting and prayer could loosen that one.
  4. Read Isaiah 58:7, then President Henry B. Eyring’s words: “Your fast offering will do more than help feed and clothe bodies. It will heal and change hearts.”
  5. SAY“The fast frees other people too. Fast offerings feed and help people in our own ward, and all around the world.”
🌪️ Keep the yarn loose and on the wrists only. If the volunteer wriggles free early, let them. It makes the point even better.

Class screen: 🔓 “Is not this the fast that I have chosen?” · Isaiah 58:6 · Loose the bands · undo the burdens · break every yoke

No supplies? Do this instead

Instead of: About 3 feet of yarn or string (for loosely looping a volunteer’s wrists)

Unlock the Bands (Hand Lock)

  1. SAY“Here’s the Lord’s answer in one verse.”
  2. Show Isaiah 58:6. Teach the motions and say it together twice.
  3. A volunteer clasps their hands tightly, fingers locked. Ask: “What bands or yokes do people our age get stuck in?”
  4. For each real answer, the volunteer loosens one finger. Ask how fasting and prayer could loosen that one.
  5. Read Isaiah 58:7. Then read President Eyring’s words from Conference quotes about fast offerings healing and changing hearts.

Class screen: 🔓 Every answer loosens one finger. Loose the bands! · Isaiah 58:6

4. Talk it over

Sabbath Court

6 min

Real Sabbath and fasting dilemmas build judgment and the habit of asking what a choice says to God instead of hunting for loopholes.

  1. SAY“Sabbath Court is in session. I’m not handing out rulings. The only question is this. What would this choice say to God?”
  2. Tap the Name Spinner to pick who answers each case. Give them twenty seconds, then open it to the room.
  3. Families decide some of these differently. Say so kindly. Point them to their parents and the Spirit for the hard ones.
  4. Read Isaiah 58:13.
  5. SAY“He doesn’t just say to keep the Sabbath. He says to call it a delight. That part is our choice.”
💬 Ask the class
  • Your club team has a tournament on Sunday, and the coach is counting on you. What would your choice say to God?
  • You left a huge assignment until Sunday night. What do you do now?
  • You plan to spend all Sunday afternoon scrolling. What would make it a real delight instead?
  • What would make fast Sunday feel less like “being hungry” and more like drawing close to God?
  • Jesus said Isaiah 61 was His mission. Heal the brokenhearted. Free the captives. How could our class join that work this month?
🌪️ If a debate gets heated, ask each side to say the strongest point of the other side. It cools things fast.
🎡 Name Spinner (a class game in the Gospel Sparks app)

Class screen: ⚖️ Sabbath Court: what would this choice say to God?

5. Testimony

Here I Am

3 min

A short, real testimony shows that the Lord still answers, “Here I am.”

  1. SAY“Let me tell you about a fast that mattered to me.”
  2. Share what you fasted for and what you noticed, even if the answer surprised you.
  3. Read Isaiah 58:9: “Thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am.”
  4. SAY“I believe that promise, because…”
  5. Finish that sentence in your own words. Give the challenge and invite a youth to pray.

Class screen: 🙋 Call, and He will answer: “Here I am.” · Isaiah 58:9

6. Wiggle break

Delight or Duty?

3 minBONUS

Moving between two walls helps youth honestly notice how they feel about Sabbath activities, without anyone being judged.

  1. SAY“The window wall is delight. The door wall is duty. No wrong answers. Walk toward the one that matches how this usually feels. The middle is fine too.”
  2. Call out each one. Sacrament meeting. A long nap. Family dinner. Calling a grandparent. Reading scriptures. Doing something kind for someone.
  3. Ask what moves something from the duty wall to the delight wall. Listen for people you love, choosing it yourself, knowing why and feeling the Spirit.

Class screen: ↔️ Delight or duty? Walk to the side that feels true. · No wrong answers · Isaiah 58:13

7. Game

Scripture Showdown

4 minBONUS

A quick team quiz reviews Isaiah 58–66.

  1. SAY“Two teams. It’s Scripture Showdown, Isaiah 58 through 66.”
  2. Tap Scripture Showdown. Give ten seconds per question and a bonus point for finding the verse.
▶ Play Scripture Showdown on the web

Class screen: 🏆 Scripture Showdown: Isaiah 58–66

Story and questions

The Complaint Department

Isaiah 58:1–11; 61:1–3; Luke 4:16–21 ↗

Scenes

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

    The Lord tells Isaiah, don’t hold back. These people seem religious. They pray every day. They like knowing God’s ways. They fast. But something is badly off. And Isaiah has to say it loud.

    🙌 Ask: “What does it look like to seem religious but have something off?”

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

    The people file a complaint. They did the fast. They looked miserable. They skipped the meals. So why isn’t God responding? It’s like they paid for something and the order never showed up.

    🙌 Ask: “Ever done everything right and felt like God didn’t notice?”

  3. 🧹😩 Meanwhile, back at the house…

    The Lord answers. On your fast day, you do whatever you want. You make your workers work harder. You argue and you fight. You fast to be seen, not to change.

    🙌 A youth reads Isaiah 58:3–4. Ask: “So what was really wrong with their fast?”

  4. 🔓⛓️ The fast the Lord actually chose

    Then the Lord describes the fast He wants. Loosen the bands of wickedness. Undo the heavy burdens. Let the oppressed go free. Break every yoke. It isn’t about looking sad. It’s about freeing people, starting with yourself.

    🙌 Everyone reads Isaiah 58:6 together, then pulls their wrists apart like snapping a chain.

  5. 🍞🚪 Open the door. Share the bread.

    And don’t hide from people in need. Feed the hungry. Bring the poor into your home. Clothe the cold. That hungry neighbor was outside the door the whole time. And nobody noticed.

    🙌 A youth reads Isaiah 58:7. Ask: “Who’s outside the door at our school or in our ward?”

  6. 🌅🙋 Call, and He will say, “Here I am”

    Now come the promises. Your light breaks out like the sunrise. Your healing comes quickly. And when you call, the Lord answers, “Here I am.” He’ll guide you. He’ll make you like a garden that never dries up.

    🙌 Read Isaiah 58:8–9. Pause on “Here I am.” Let it land.

  7. 📜🕍 Centuries later, a synagogue in Nazareth

    Hundreds of years later, Jesus stands up in the synagogue in His hometown. It’s the Sabbath. He’s handed the scroll of Isaiah. He finds the place we call Isaiah 61. Every eye is on Him.

    🙌 Read Luke 4:18–19 slowly. Ask: “Which of these would you most want Him to do for you?”

  8. ✨👀 “This day is this scripture fulfilled”

    He rolls up the scroll and sits down. Then He says the prophecy is fulfilled that day, in their hearing. The One who frees captives and heals broken hearts is standing right in front of them.

    🙌 Read Luke 4:20–21. Hold three seconds of quiet. Then say, “When we fast His way, we do His work.”

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: loosen what’s tying you to sin, lift heavy loads off people, free the people being pushed down, and break every chain.
🙌 “the fast that I have chosen” = hand on stomach, then point up · “loose the bands” = wrists together, then pull apart · “undo the heavy burdens” = lift an invisible weight off a neighbor’s shoulders · “let the oppressed go free” = open hands and release a bird · “break every yoke” = snap a stick over your knee.

More verses

Isaiah 58:9 ↗
“Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am.”
In plain words: When you call out to Him, He answers: “I’m right here.”
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”
In plain words: Stop treating the Lord’s day as just another day for whatever you want, and start seeing it as a delight.
Isaiah 61:3 ↗
“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: He trades our ashes for beauty, our grief for joy, and our heaviness 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 words16 words

  • 🍽️ Fast
  • 💝 Fast offering
  • 🕊️ Sabbath
  • 🎺 Trumpet
  • 🪵 Yoke
  • ⛓️ Bands
  • 🌿 Watered garden
  • 🧱 Repairer of the breach
  • 🌸 Beauty for ashes
  • 🕍 Nazareth
  • 📜 Scroll
  • 🔓 Captives
  • 💔 Brokenhearted
  • 🌅 Sunrise
  • ✨ Arise, shine
  • 🙋 Here I am
Clues for each word
  • Fast: Skip two meals to draw near to God
  • Fast offering: Money given to help people in need
  • Sabbath: Call it a delight (58:13)
  • Trumpet: Isaiah lifts his voice like one
  • Yoke: Break every one (58:6)
  • Bands: Loose the ___ of wickedness
  • Watered garden: What the Lord makes you like (58:11)
  • Repairer of the breach: Title for people who rebuild (58:12)
  • Beauty for ashes: What He trades us (61:3)
  • Nazareth: Jesus read Isaiah 61 in its synagogue
  • Scroll: Jesus was handed Isaiah’s
  • Captives: He came to proclaim liberty to them
  • Brokenhearted: He came to bind them up
  • Sunrise: “Thy light break forth as the morning”
  • Arise, shine: Isaiah 60:1’s first two words
  • Here I am: What the Lord answers when you call
▶ Play Forehead GuessFull screen, 60-second timer, works on any phone.

Scripture Showdown9 questions

  1. In Isaiah 58:3, what did the people complain about?
    • A. The temple was closed
    • B. God didn’t seem to notice their fast
    • C. The food was bad
    Show answer

    ✅ B. God didn’t seem to notice their fast “Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not?”

  2. What were they doing on their fast day that the Lord called out?
    • A. Singing too loudly
    • B. Sleeping in
    • C. Working others hard and fighting
    Show answer

    ✅ C. Working others hard and fighting Isaiah 58:3–4. The fast was for show, not for change.

  3. Isaiah 58:6: the Lord’s fast will “loose the bands of…”
    • A. wickedness
    • B. the temple
    • C. your shoes
    Show answer

    ✅ A. wickedness Fasting has power to help free us from sin and heavy burdens.

  4. According to Isaiah 58:7, who should we share bread with?
    • A. Only family
    • B. The hungry
    • C. The king
    Show answer

    ✅ B. The hungry The fast is meant to bless people in need. That’s what fast offerings do.

  5. When you call, what does the Lord answer in Isaiah 58:9?
    • A. “Wait”
    • B. “Not now”
    • C. “Here I am”
    Show answer

    ✅ C. “Here I am” One of the kindest promises in Isaiah.

  6. What should we “call the sabbath” in Isaiah 58:13?
    • A. A delight
    • B. A burden
    • C. A rest from church
    Show answer

    ✅ A. A delight We choose what the Sabbath is to us.

  7. Where did Jesus read Isaiah 61 and say it was fulfilled?
    • A. Jerusalem’s temple
    • B. Nazareth’s synagogue
    • C. The Sea of Galilee
    Show answer

    ✅ B. Nazareth’s synagogue Luke 4:16–21, in the town where He grew up.

  8. Isaiah 61:3: the Lord gives “beauty for…”
    • A. gold
    • B. ashes
    • C. silence
    Show answer

    ✅ B. ashes He turns mourning into joy and heaviness into praise.

  9. Isaiah 58:11 says the Lord will make you like a…
    • A. mighty tower
    • B. watered garden
    • C. bright star
    Show answer

    ✅ B. watered garden A garden with a spring “whose waters fail not.”

▶ Play Scripture ShowdownTeams take turns on one screen.

From general conference

“Your fast offering will do more than help feed and clothe bodies. It will heal and change hearts.”

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

Share at the end of Unlock the Bands, when the youth talks about fast offerings.

Read the talk ↗

Songs

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

    Fasting and prayer go together; this hymn asks whether we remembered to ask for help. Find it ↗

  • Come, Follow Me Hymns, no. 116

    Following the Savior means joining His work of lifting and freeing people, the work He announced from Isaiah 61. Find it ↗

This week’s challenge

A Fast with a Purpose

Next fast Sunday, fast with a specific purpose. Maybe it’s a person you want to help, or a band you want loosened in your own life. Start and end your fast with a prayer about it. This Sunday, pick one thing that would make the Sabbath a delight for you. Pick one for someone in your family too. Do both.

Text the parents

This week in class we heard Isaiah 58 as The Complaint Department. People fasted perfectly on the outside and complained that God didn’t notice. The Lord’s answer is in Isaiah 58:6–7. The fast He chooses loosens bands, lifts burdens and feeds the hungry. He promises that when we call, He’ll say, “Here I am.” We also talked about how to “call the sabbath a delight,” in 58:13. Ask your teen what one thing would make Sunday a delight in our home.

📝 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?

🧱 Repairers of the Breach · 4 min

  1. Read Isaiah 58:12. A breach is a hole in a city wall.
  2. Ask: “What breaches do you see around you? Broken friendships, families, divided groups at school?”
  3. Challenge each youth to be a repairer this week. Fix one small breach, like an apology, a message or an invitation.

🌅 Arise, Shine · 3 min

  1. Read Isaiah 60:1–3. Turn off the lights. One youth turns on a phone flashlight. Watch everyone’s eyes go to it.
  2. Ask: “How can one person’s light draw other people to Jesus Christ?”
  3. As youth share someone whose light helped them, turn on flashlights one at a time.

👑 Titles of the Savior · 4 min

  1. Pairs race to find titles of the Savior in Isaiah 59:20, 60:16, 61:1 and 63:8–9.
  2. Each pair picks the title that means the most to them right now. They explain why in one sentence.

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 14–15 lessons