Have you ever been in a situation where you are supposed to be the leader or teacher, but you keep finding out that you are the student? That exact thing happened to me the other day. Farmers & ranchers all over our state, and all over the west have been desperately concerned about the lack of water we’ve received this last year and what is currently in our reservoirs. Sometimes we get worried and bogged down with our problems and forget to try and do anything about it. Over the last month or so I have had many farmers and ranchers throughout the state say out loud that we needed to pray for moisture. I have personally done that. I know many others have as well.
 


Recently though, Erin Sorensen (our State Young Farmers & Ranchers committee chair) called me and said that they had just had a committee meeting and they were very concerned about the drought. She said they wanted to have a day of prayer and fasting on Sunday to pray for moisture. As I thought about it, I realized that I had been taught by the faith of our young leaders in agriculture. As fasting and prayer is a tenant of many religions around the world, it does not matter what religion you are, or even where or if you go to church, but the reality is that when we are in those desperate moments in our lives, sometimes our Father in Heaven is the only one that can help us. I believe this to be the case here.
 
The Bible says that faith without works is dead. I believe that with our faith, and the hard work that farmers and ranchers put forth every day, God will bless us. 
 
On behalf of farmers and ranchers in the state of Utah and the Utah Farm Bureau Federation, we respectively invite you to join us in prayer and fasting this Sunday (May 16) so that we might have the necessary moisture to take care of our animals and nurture the crops that we’ve been given stewardship over. It has been said that “eating is an agricultural act.”  Whether you are directly or indirectly involved in agriculture, we invite all to join us in prayer and fasting.