The Best 50+ Bible Verses About Fasting

Fasting in the Bible holds a significant place, serving as a powerful spiritual discipline that connects believers with God. These verses are not just historical records but timeless guides that offer profound insights into faith and devotion.

The power of these scriptures lies in their ability to inspire and transform lives. They provide a roadmap for spiritual growth, encouraging believers to seek a deeper relationship with the divine.

By reflecting on these verses, readers can find guidance and strength in their own spiritual journeys. The wisdom contained within these passages can illuminate the path to a more meaningful and fulfilling faith experience.

50 Bible Verses About Fasting

10 Bible Verses on Spiritual Fasting

• "Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly." — Matthew 6:16-18
• "Now, therefore," says the Lord, "Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning." — Joel 2:12
• "Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke?" — Isaiah 58:6
• "Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes." — Daniel 9:3
• "As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, 'Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.'" — Acts 13:2
• "So we fasted and entreated our God for this, and He answered our prayer." — Ezra 8:23
• "So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven." — Nehemiah 1:4
• "But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting; and my prayer would return to my own heart." — Psalm 35:13
• "David therefore pleaded with God for the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground." — 2 Samuel 12:16
• "So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them." — Jonah 3:5

10 Bible Verses on Fasting and Prayer

• "However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting." — Matthew 17:21
• "So He said to them, 'This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.'" — Mark 9:29
• "So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed." — Acts 14:23
• "And this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day." — Luke 2:37
• "Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control." — 1 Corinthians 7:5
• "I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled." — Daniel 10:3
• "Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!" — Esther 4:16
• "And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah." — 2 Chronicles 20:3
• "So Cornelius said, 'Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing.'" — Acts 10:30
• "Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, in sackcloth, and with dust on their heads." — Nehemiah 9:1

10 Bible Verses on Fasting for Guidance

• "Then all the children of Israel, that is, all the people, went up and came to the house of God and wept. They sat there before the Lord and fasted that day until evening; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord." — Judges 20:26
• "Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away." — Acts 13:3
• "So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments." — Exodus 34:28
• "So they gathered together at Mizpah, drew water, and poured it out before the Lord. And they fasted that day, and said there, 'We have sinned against the Lord.' And Samuel judged the children of Israel at Mizpah." — 1 Samuel 7:6
• "So Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord." — 2 Chronicles 20:4
• "Now it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, that they proclaimed a fast before the Lord to all the people in Jerusalem, and to all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem." — Jeremiah 36:9
• "Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him the right way for us and our little ones and all our possessions." — Ezra 8:21
• "In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks. I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled." — Daniel 10:2-3
• "And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank." — Acts 9:9
• "So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God." — 1 Kings 19:8

10 Bible Verses on Fasting in Hard Times

• "When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting, that became my reproach." — Psalm 69:10
• "Consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly; gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord." — Joel 1:14
• "And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son, for the people of the Lord and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword." — 2 Samuel 1:12
• "So it was, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his body, and fasted and lay in sackcloth, and went about mourning." — 1 Kings 21:27
• "Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and You have not seen? Why have we afflicted our souls, and You take no notice?’ In fact, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and exploit all your laborers." — Isaiah 58:3
• "When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence." — Jeremiah 14:12
• "Let us search out and examine our ways, and turn back to the Lord; let us lift our hearts and hands to God in heaven." — Lamentations 3:40-41
• "Say to all the people of the land, and to the priests: ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months during those seventy years, did you really fast for Me—for Me?" — Zechariah 7:5
• "And Jesus said to them, 'Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.'" — Matthew 9:15
• "But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days." — Luke 5:35

10 Bible Verses on Fasting and Repentance

• "Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, 'Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water. But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?' Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it." — Jonah 3:6-10
• "Then those of Israelite lineage separated themselves from all foreigners; and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for one-fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and worshiped the Lord their God." — Nehemiah 9:2-3
• "We have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments." — Daniel 9:5
• "So rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm." — Joel 2:13
• "Is it a fast that I have chosen, a day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Would you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord?" — Isaiah 58:5
• "And Samuel said, 'Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.' So they gathered together at Mizpah, drew water, and poured it out before the Lord. And they fasted that day, and said there, 'We have sinned against the Lord.' And Samuel judged the children of Israel at Mizpah." — 1 Samuel 7:5-6
• "Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib; and when he came there, he ate no bread and drank no water, for he mourned because of the guilt of those from the captivity." — Ezra 10:6
• "You go, therefore, and read from the scroll which you have written at my instruction, the words of the Lord, in the hearing of the people in the Lord’s house on the day of fasting. And you shall also read them in the hearing of all Judah who come from their cities." — Jeremiah 36:6
• "This shall be a statute forever for you: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether a native of your own country or a stranger who dwells among you. For on that day the priest shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord. It is a sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever." — Leviticus 16:29-31
• "Now when much time had been spent, and sailing was now dangerous because the Fast was already over, Paul advised them." — Acts 27:9

What Does the Bible Say About Fasting

The Bible presents fasting as a profound spiritual practice that draws believers closer to God. It is not merely an act of abstaining from food but a means to humble oneself and seek divine guidance. For instance, in Matthew 6:16-18, Jesus teaches that fasting should be done in secret, emphasizing sincerity over outward appearances. This underscores the importance of a genuine heart in spiritual practices.

Fasting is also closely linked with prayer and repentance. In Joel 2:12, God calls His people to return to Him with all their hearts, with fasting, weeping, and mourning. This verse highlights fasting as a way to express deep repentance and a desire to reconnect with God. Similarly, in Jonah 3:6-10, the people of Nineveh fasted and repented, and God showed mercy, demonstrating the transformative power of sincere repentance.

Moreover, fasting is a tool for seeking guidance and strength during challenging times. In Judges 20:26, the Israelites fasted and sought God's direction in battle, showing that fasting can be a way to seek divine intervention and clarity. By incorporating fasting into our spiritual lives, we can find renewed strength, guidance, and a deeper connection with God.

How to Apply Fasting Bible Verses in Daily Life

Applying the teachings of fasting in daily life can be transformative. Start by setting clear intentions for your fast, whether it's for spiritual growth, guidance, or repentance.

Begin with short, manageable fasts. Gradually increase the duration as you become more comfortable with the practice.

• Choose a specific time to fast, such as once a week or during significant religious periods.
• Combine fasting with prayer and meditation to deepen your spiritual connection.
• Use fasting as an opportunity to reflect on your actions and seek forgiveness.

Stay hydrated and listen to your body. Fasting should not harm your health, so adjust as needed.

Engage in acts of kindness and charity during your fast. This aligns with the biblical principle of helping others while seeking spiritual growth.

Document your experiences in a journal. Reflecting on your journey can provide insights and strengthen your faith.

Invite others to join you in fasting. Sharing the experience can provide support and encouragement.

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