"One of the important things the Lord has told us to do is to be liberal in our payment of fast offerings.  I would like you to know that there are great rewards for so doing-both spiritual and temporal rewards.  The Lord has said that the efficacy of our prayers depends upon our liberality to the poor.   (See Alma 34:28.)"

     "Be liberal in your giving, that you yourselves may grow.  Don't give just for the benefit of the poor, but give for your own welfare.  Give enough so that you can give yourself into the kingdom of God through consecrating of your means and your time.  Pay an honest tithing and a generous fast offering if you want the blessings of heaven.  I promise every one of you who will do it that you will increase your own prosperity, both spiritually and temporally.  The Lord will reward you according to your deeds.

President Marion G. Romney in the April 1971 welfare meeting, said, "'If the members of  the Church would double their fast offering contributions, the spirituality in the Church would double. We need to keep that in mind and be liberal in our contributions.'"

Russell M. Nelson:  "At least once a month, fast and pray and contribute generous fast offerings.  We will be blessed and protected from apostasy by so doing."

        "I think we should . . . give, instead of the amount we saved by our two meals of fasting, perhaps much, much more--ten times more where we are in a position to do it."

        "Let me promise you here today that if the Latter-day Saints will honestly and conscientiously from this day forth, as a people, keep the monthly fast and pay into the hands of their bishops the actual amount that they would have spent for food for the two meals from which they have refrained; and if in addition to that they will pay their honest tithing, it will solve all of the problems in connection with taking care of the Latter-day Saints.  We would have all the money necessary to take care of all the idle and all the poor.  Every living soul among the Latter-day Saints that fasts two meals once a month will be benefited spiritually and be built up in the faith of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ--benefited spiritually in a wonderful way--and sufficient means will be in the hands of the bishops to take care of all the poor."

Brigham Young  (from the new manual:  Teachings of Presidents of the Church--Brigham Young, p. 150):

        "You know that the first Thursday in each month (now the first Sunday) we hold as a fast day.  How many here know the origin of this day?  Before tithing was paid, the poor were supported by donations.  They came to Joseph and wanted help, in Kirtland, and he said there should be a fast day, which was decided upon.  It was to be held once a month, as it is now, and all that would have been eaten that day, of flour, or meat, or butter, or fruit, or anything else, was to be carried to the fast meeting and put into the hands of a person selected for the purpose of taking care of it and distributing it among the poor."
                                        (DBY, 169)

        "In our fast-day meetings, the Saints meet to express their feelings and to strengthen each other in their faith in the holy Gospel ."     (DBY, 169)

        "Do you not receive as much of the spirit of intelligence, of the spirit of knowledge, and the consoling influences of the Holy Ghost, to have people rise and testify of the things of God which they do know, of those things which they have experienced themselves?  Does not that vividly bring to your minds the goodness of the Lord in revealing to you the truths of the Gospel?  Does not that strengthen your faith, give you an increase of confidence and witness to you that you are a child of God?  Most assuredly it does.  Therefore, when any testify of the things of God, it strengthens their brethren, precisely as it did in days of old when they observed the counsel to, "Speak often one to another," "strengthen the brethren," and so on."  (DBY, 170)

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        "It is expected that each of us will fast, that is, abstain, from two meals a month and give the equivalent value of those meals to the bishop to be used in taking care of the poor.   Nobody suffers.
       "I am satisfied that if everyone in the United States were to observe this simple law, the welfare needs of the nation could be taken care of without raising a single dollar of taxes for this purpose.  Those who give would be blessed, and those who receive would be blessed."

        "Oh, where is our faith?  Oh, how we deprive ourselves of the blessings of the Lord by not being generous in our fast-offering contributions."

        "Fasting is also one of the finest ways of developing our own discipline and self-control.  Plato said,  'The first and the best victory is to conquer self;  to be conquered by self is, of all things, the most shameful and vile.'
        "Fasting helps to teach us self-mastery.  It helps us to gain the discipline we need to have control over ourselves."

        "One of the important ways to feel the Spirit of the Lord is to give service.  Thus I commend to you in this exercise program that you commit a daily act of selfless service. You may want to try a fast in conjunction with this service--not necessarily a fast from food. What if you were to fast from negative or critical or worldly talk?  Or maybe you could fast from a habit that you are trying to change.  As you engage in service and in the fasting from the behavior that takes you away from the Spirit, you will feel a renewal of the Spirit of the Lord.

        "The personal benefits derived from fasting are substantial.  The scriptures tell us that a certain kind of devil goes not out except by fasting and prayer. (See Matt. 17:21.)  The supremacy of the spirit over the appetites of the body is affirmed by the mental discipline of fasting.  This strength fortifies us in our combat with other temptations prompted by physical appetites that, if uncontrolled, would be destructive to our welfare.  While some have physical conditions that preclude fasting, most people are not excluded on this basis.  To me, a successfully completed period of fasting from food and drink on fast day brings a degree of self-confidence.  Fasting is real evidence to oneself and to his maker of gratitude for the gift of health and strength which permits one to be able to fast. Surely this is a great privilege and blessing."

        "Periodic fasting can help clear up the mind and strengthen the body and the spirit. The usual fast, the one we are asked to participate in for fast Sunday, is for 24 hours without food or drink. Some people, feeling the need, have gone on longer fasts of abstaining from food but have taken the needed liquids. Wisdom should be used, and the fast should be broken with light eating. To make a fast most fruitful, it should be coupled with prayer and meditation; physical work should be held to a minimum, and it’s a blessing if one can ponder on the scriptures and the reason for the fast."