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66 Bible verses about the power of Fasting
The power of fasting really lies in honestly opening your heart to the Lord. It's in that space where His love shines through and transforms every part of who you are. Fasting is something you do when you’re truly seeking Jesus, when you're willing to sacrifice physical needs to ask for a deeper connection with Him.
It strengthens your spirit, grows your faith, and draws you closer to God. By saying "no" to the physical demands of your body, you're saying "yes" to a deeper, more intimate relationship with Him. It's about prioritizing that connection above all else.
When you abstain from food or drink for a set time, it’s like a spiritual and physical cleanse. It helps to clear away anything that might be holding you back or weighing you down.
Remember what Matthew 6:16-171 says – it's not about showing off or seeking attention when you fast. It's about humility and sincerity before the Lord.
But the time will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them; and when that day comes, they will fast.
Then he said to me, “Don’t be afraid, Dani’el; because since the first day that you determined to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words have been heard; and I have come because of what you said.
Proclaim a holy fast, call for a solemn assembly, gather the leaders and all who live in the land to the house of Adonai your God, and cry out to Adonai,
Cornelius answered, “Three days ago around this time, I was at minchah prayers in my house, when suddenly a man in shining clothes stood in front of me
Yeshua said to them, “Can wedding guests mourn while the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them; then they will fast.
“Is this the sort of fast I want, a day when a person mortifies himself? Is the object to hang your head like a reed and spread sackcloth and ashes under yourself? Is this what you call a fast, a day that pleases Adonai?
[asking,] ‘Why should we fast, if you don’t see? Why mortify ourselves, if you don’t notice?’ “Here is my answer: when you fast, you go about doing whatever you like, while keeping your laborers hard at work.
“Yet even now,” says Adonai, “turn to me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping and lamenting.”
“Now when you fast, don’t go around looking miserable, like the hypocrites. They make sour faces so that people will know they are fasting. Yes! I tell you, they have their reward already!
But you, when you fast, wash your face and groom yourself,
so that no one will know you are fasting — except your Father, who is with you in secret. Your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
“Here is the sort of fast I want — releasing those unjustly bound, untying the thongs of the yoke, letting the oppressed go free, breaking every yoke,
sharing your food with the hungry, taking the homeless poor into your house, clothing the naked when you see them, fulfilling your duty to your kinsmen!”
“Yet even now,” says Adonai, “turn to me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping and lamenting.”
Tear your heart, not your garments; and turn to Adonai your God. For he is merciful and compassionate, slow to anger, rich in grace, and willing to change his mind about disaster.
“Here is the sort of fast I want — releasing those unjustly bound, untying the thongs of the yoke, letting the oppressed go free, breaking every yoke,
when the people of Ninveh believed God. They proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least.
One time when they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Ruach HaKodesh said to them, “Set aside for me Bar-Nabba and Sha’ul for the work to which I have called them.”
All this took about 450 years. After that, he gave them judges, down to the prophet Sh’mu’el.
Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Sha’ul Ben-Kish, a man from the tribe of Binyamin. After forty years,
God removed him and raised up David as king for them, making his approval known with these words, ‘I found David Ben-Yishai to be a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want.’
“In keeping with his promise, God has brought to Isra’el from this man’s descendants a deliverer, Yeshua.
Now before the coming of Yeshua, Yochanan proclaimed to all the people of Isra’el an immersion in connection with turning to God from sin.
But as Yochanan was ending his work, he said, ‘Who do you suppose I am? Well — I’m not! But after me is coming someone, the sandals of whose feet I am unworthy to untie.’
“Brothers! — sons of Avraham and those among you who are ‘God-fearers’! It is to us that the message of this deliverance has been sent!
For the people living in Yerushalayim and their leaders did not recognize who Yeshua was or understand the message of the Prophets read every Shabbat, so they fulfilled that message by condemning him.
They could not find any legitimate ground for a death sentence; nevertheless they asked Pilate to have him executed;
and when they had carried out all the things written about him, he was taken down from the stake and placed in a tomb.
After fasting and praying, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.
Moshe was there with Adonai forty days and forty nights, during which time he neither ate food nor drank water. [Adonai] wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Words.
But I, when they were ill, wore sackcloth; I put myself out and fasted; I can pray that what I prayed for them might also happen to me.
After appointing elders for them in every congregation, Sha’ul and Bar-Nabba, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord in whom they had put their trust.
Then, there at the Ahava River, I proclaimed a fast; so that we could humble ourselves before our God and ask a safe journey of him for ourselves, our little ones and all our possessions.
For I would have been ashamed to ask the king for a detachment of soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies along the road, since we had said to the king, “The hand of our God is on all who seek him, for good; but his power and fury is against all who abandon him.”
So we fasted and asked our God for this, and he answered our prayer.
Then Yeshua, filled with the Ruach HaKodesh, returned from the Yarden and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness
For the Tanakh says, ‘He will order his angels to be responsible for you and to protect you.
They will support you with their hands, so that you will not hurt your feet on the stones.’”
Yeshua answered him, “It also says, ‘Do not put Adonai your God to the test.’”
When the Adversary had ended all his testings, he let him alone until an opportune time.
Yeshua returned to the Galil in the power of the Spirit, and reports about him spread throughout the countryside.
He taught in their synagogues, and everyone respected him.
Now when he went to Natzeret, where he had been brought up, on Shabbat he went to the synagogue as usual. He stood up to read,
and he was given the scroll of the prophet Yesha‘yahu. Unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written,
“The Spirit of Adonai is upon me; therefore he has anointed me to announce Good News to the poor; he has sent me to proclaim freedom for the imprisoned and renewed sight for the blind, to release those who have been crushed,
to proclaim a year of the favor of Adonai.”
for forty days of testing by the Adversary. During that time he ate nothing, and afterwards he was hungry.
Y’hoshafat was frightened, so he determined to seek Adonai. He proclaimed a fast throughout all Y’hudah,
So Y’hoshafat’s rule was a quiet one, because his God gave him rest all around.
Y’hoshafat ruled over Y’hudah; he was thirty-five years old when he began his reign, and he ruled twenty-five years in Yerushalayim. His mother’s name was ‘Azuvah the daughter of Shilchi.
He lived in the manner of Asa his father and did not turn away from it, doing what was right from Adonai’s perspective;
although the high places were not taken away, and the people had not yet set their hearts toward the God of their ancestors.
Other activities of Y’hoshafat, from beginning to end, are written in the records of Yehu the son of Hanani, which have been inserted in the Annals of the Kings of Isra’el.
It was after this that Y’hoshafat joined up with Achazyah king of Isra’el, who was acting very wickedly.
He joined together with him to build large ships capable of going to Tarshish; they made the ships in ‘Etzyon-Gever.
Then Eli‘ezer the son of Dodavahu from Mareshah prophesied against Y’hoshafat: “Because you joined yourself with Achazyah, Adonai is wrecking your project.” And the ships were wrecked, so that they couldn’t go to Tarshish.
and Y’hudah assembled to seek help from Adonai; they came from all the cities of Y’hudah to seek Adonai.
because zeal for your house is eating me up, and on me are falling the insults of those insulting you.
Then the whole army of Isra’el, all the people, went up to Beit-El and cried and sat there in the presence of Adonai. They fasted that day until evening, offered burnt offerings and peace offerings to Adonai,
Do not deprive each other, except for a limited time, by mutual agreement, and then only so as to have extra time for prayer; but afterwards, come together again. Otherwise, because of your lack of self-control, you may succumb to the Adversary’s temptation.
So they gathered together at Mitzpah, drew water and poured it out before Adonai, fasted that day, and said there, “We have sinned against Adonai.” Sh’mu’el began serving as judge over the people of Isra’el at Mitzpah.
Next they said to him, “Yochanan’s talmidim are always fasting and davvening, and likewise the talmidim of the P’rushim; but yours go on eating and drinking.”
Yeshua said to them, “Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is still with them?
The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; and when that time comes, they will fast.”
“Speak to all the people of the land and to the cohanim. Tell them, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months throughout these seventy years, were you really fasting for me? Was it for me?
On hearing this answer, I sat down and wept; I mourned for several days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
Y’hoshafat was frightened, so he determined to seek Adonai. He proclaimed a fast throughout all Y’hudah,
“Speak to all the people of the land and to the cohanim. Tell them, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months throughout these seventy years, were you really fasting for me? Was it for me?
Rather, when you eat and drink, it’s just to please yourselves, isn’t it?
It was around that time that Yeshua went out to the hill country to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.
“With what can I come before Adonai to bow down before God on high? Should I come before him with burnt offerings? with calves in their first year?
Would Adonai take delight in thousands of rams with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Could I give my firstborn to pay for my crimes, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
Human being, you have already been told what is good, what Adonai demands of you — no more than to act justly, love grace and walk in purity with your God.
Next, Yochanan’s talmidim came to him and asked, “Why is it that we and the P’rushim fast frequently, but your talmidim don’t fast at all?”
Yeshua said to them, “Can wedding guests mourn while the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them; then they will fast.
For the old nature wants what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit wants what is contrary to the old nature. These oppose each other, so that you find yourselves unable to carry out your good intentions.
I exhort you, therefore, brothers, in view of God’s mercies, to offer yourselves as a sacrifice, living and set apart for God. This will please him; it is the logical “Temple worship” for you.
Love each other devotedly and with brotherly love; and set examples for each other in showing respect.
Don’t be lazy when hard work is needed, but serve the Lord with spiritual fervor.
Rejoice in your hope, be patient in your troubles, and continue steadfastly in prayer.
Share what you have with God’s people, and practice hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you — bless them, don’t curse them!
Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.
Be sensitive to each other’s needs — don’t think yourselves better than others, but make humble people your friends. Don’t be conceited.
Repay no one evil for evil, but try to do what everyone regards as good.
If possible, and to the extent that it depends on you, live in peace with all people.
Never seek revenge, my friends; instead, leave that to God’s anger; for in the Tanakh it is written, “Adonai says, ‘Vengeance is my responsibility; I will repay.’”
In other words, do not let yourselves be conformed to the standards of the ‘olam hazeh. Instead, keep letting yourselves be transformed by the renewing of your minds; so that you will know what God wants and will agree that what he wants is good, satisfying and able to succeed.
Don’t worry about anything; on the contrary, make your requests known to God by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving.
Then God’s shalom, passing all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with the Messiah Yeshua.
but those who hope in Adonai will renew their strength, they will soar aloft as with eagles’ wings; when they are running they won’t grow weary, when they are walking they won’t get tired.
Stay awake, and pray that you will not be put to the test — the spirit indeed is eager, but human nature is weak.”
But I, when they were ill, wore sackcloth; I put myself out and fasted; I can pray that what I prayed for them might also happen to me.
I behaved as I would for my friend or my brother; I bent down in sorrow as if mourning my mother.
I exhort you, therefore, brothers, in view of God’s mercies, to offer yourselves as a sacrifice, living and set apart for God. This will please him; it is the logical “Temple worship” for you.
because the weapons we use to wage war are not worldly. On the contrary, they have God’s power for demolishing strongholds. We demolish arguments
and every arrogance that raises itself up against the knowledge of God; we take every thought captive and make it obey the Messiah.
For the leader. A maskil of the descendants of Korach:
I say to God my Rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, under pressure by the enemy?
My adversaries’ taunts make me feel as if my bones were crushed, as they ask me all day long, ‘Where is your God?’ ”
My soul, why are you so downcast? Why are you groaning inside me? Hope in God, since I will praise him again for being my Savior and God.
Just as a deer longs for running streams, God, I long for you.
So then, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us, too, put aside every impediment — that is, the sin which easily hampers our forward movement — and keep running with endurance in the contest set before us,
At that time I, Dani’el, had been mourning for three whole weeks.
Then he said, “Do you know why I came to you? Although now I must return to fight the prince of Persia; and when I leave, the prince of Greece will come;
nevertheless, I will tell you what is written in the Book of Truth. There is no one standing with me against them except Mikha’el your prince;
I hadn’t eaten any food that satisfied me — neither meat nor wine had entered my mouth, and I didn’t anoint myself once, until three full weeks had passed.
For many — I have told you about them often before, and even now I say it with tears — live as enemies of the Messiah’s execution-stake.
They are headed for destruction! Their god is the belly; they are proud of what they ought to be ashamed of, since they are concerned about the things of the world.
Stay alert, always praying that you will have the strength to escape all the things that will happen and to stand in the presence of the Son of Man.”
May he be reminded by all your grain offerings and accept the fat of your burnt offerings. (Selah)
But seek first his Kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Let me hear the sound of joy and gladness, so that the bones you crushed can rejoice.
Turn away your face from my sins, and blot out all my crimes.
Create in me a clean heart, God; renew in me a resolute spirit.
What I am saying is this: run your lives by the Spirit. Then you will not do what your old nature wants.
For the old nature wants what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit wants what is contrary to the old nature. These oppose each other, so that you find yourselves unable to carry out your good intentions.
Then, there at the Ahava River, I proclaimed a fast; so that we could humble ourselves before our God and ask a safe journey of him for ourselves, our little ones and all our possessions.
But you, when you fast, wash your face and groom yourself,
so that no one will know you are fasting — except your Father, who is with you in secret. Your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
“Now when you fast, don’t go around looking miserable, like the hypocrites. They make sour faces so that people will know they are fasting. Yes! I tell you, they have their reward already!
Now every athlete in training submits himself to strict discipline, and he does it just to win a laurel wreath that will soon wither away. But we do it to win a crown that will last forever.
Accordingly, I don’t run aimlessly but straight for the finish line; I don’t shadow-box but try to make every punch count.
I treat my body hard and make it my slave so that, after proclaiming the Good News to others, I myself will not be disqualified.
I turned to Adonai, God, to seek an answer, pleading with him in prayer, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.