Category
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 day will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.
Then he said, “Daniel, don't be afraid. God has heard your prayers ever since the first day you decided to humble yourself in order to gain understanding. I have come in answer to your prayer.
Give orders for a fast; call an assembly! Gather the leaders and all the people of Judah into the Temple of the Lord your God and cry out to him!
Cornelius said, “It was about this time three days ago that I was praying in my house at three o'clock in the afternoon. Suddenly a man dressed in shining clothes stood in front of me
Jesus answered, “Do you expect the guests at a wedding party to be sad as long as the bridegroom is with them? Of course not! But the day will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.
When you fast, you make yourselves suffer; you bow your heads low like a blade of grass and spread out sackcloth and ashes to lie on. Is that what you call fasting? Do you think I will be pleased with that?
The people ask, “Why should we fast if the Lord never notices? Why should we go without food if he pays no attention?” The Lord says to them, “The truth is that at the same time you fast, you pursue your own interests and oppress your workers.
“But even now,” says the Lord, “repent sincerely and return to me with fasting and weeping and mourning.
“And when you fast, do not put on a sad face as the hypocrites do. They neglect their appearance so that everyone will see that they are fasting. I assure you, they have already been paid in full.
When you go without food, wash your face and comb your hair,
so that others cannot know that you are fasting—only your Father, who is unseen, will know. And your Father, who sees what you do in private, will reward you.
“The kind of fasting I want is this: Remove the chains of oppression and the yoke of injustice, and let the oppressed go free.
Share your food with the hungry and open your homes to the homeless poor. Give clothes to those who have nothing to wear, and do not refuse to help your own relatives.
“But even now,” says the Lord, “repent sincerely and return to me with fasting and weeping and mourning.
Let your broken heart show your sorrow; tearing your clothes is not enough.” Come back to the Lord your God. He is kind and full of mercy; he is patient and keeps his promise; he is always ready to forgive and not punish.
“The kind of fasting I want is this: Remove the chains of oppression and the yoke of injustice, and let the oppressed go free.
The people of Nineveh believed God's message. So they decided that everyone should fast, and all the people, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth to show that they had repented.
While they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said to them, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul, to do the work to which I have called them.”
All of this took about 450 years. “After this he gave them judges until the time of the prophet Samuel.
And when they asked for a king, God gave them Saul son of Kish from the tribe of Benjamin, to be their king for forty years.
After removing him, God made David their king. This is what God said about him: ‘I have found that David son of Jesse is the kind of man I like, a man who will do all I want him to do.’
It was Jesus, a descendant of David, whom God made the Savior of the people of Israel, as he had promised.
Before Jesus began his work, John preached to all the people of Israel that they should turn from their sins and be baptized.
And as John was about to finish his mission, he said to the people, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not the one you are waiting for. But listen! He is coming after me, and I am not good enough to take his sandals off his feet.’
“My fellow Israelites, descendants of Abraham, and all Gentiles here who worship God: it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent!
For the people who live in Jerusalem and their leaders did not know that he is the Savior, nor did they understand the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath. Yet they made the prophets' words come true by condemning Jesus.
And even though they could find no reason to pass the death sentence on him, they asked Pilate to have him put to death.
And after they had done everything that the Scriptures say about him, they took him down from the cross and placed him in a tomb.
They fasted and prayed, placed their hands on them, and sent them off.
Moses stayed there with the Lord forty days and nights, eating and drinking nothing. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.
But when they were sick, I dressed in mourning; I deprived myself of food; I prayed with my head bowed low,
In each church they appointed elders, and with prayers and fasting they commended them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.
There by the Ahava Canal I gave orders for us all to fast and humble ourselves before our God and to ask him to lead us on our journey and protect us and our children and all our possessions.
I would have been ashamed to ask the emperor for a troop of cavalry to guard us from any enemies during our journey, because I had told him that our God blesses everyone who trusts him, but that he is displeased with and punishes anyone who turns away from him.
So we fasted and prayed for God to protect us, and he answered our prayers.
Jesus returned from the Jordan full of the Holy Spirit and was led by the Spirit into the desert,
For the scripture says, ‘God will order his angels to take good care of you.’
It also says, ‘They will hold you up with their hands so that not even your feet will be hurt on the stones.’”
But Jesus answered, “The scripture says, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
When the Devil finished tempting Jesus in every way, he left him for a while.
Then Jesus returned to Galilee, and the power of the Holy Spirit was with him. The news about him spread throughout all that territory.
He taught in the synagogues and was praised by everyone.
Then Jesus went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath he went as usual to the synagogue. He stood up to read the Scriptures
and was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it is written,
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has chosen me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed
and announce that the time has come when the Lord will save his people.”
where he was tempted by the Devil for forty days. In all that time he ate nothing, so that he was hungry when it was over.
Jehoshaphat was frightened and prayed to the Lord for guidance. Then he gave orders for a fast to be observed throughout the country.
so Jehoshaphat ruled in peace, and God gave him security on every side.
Jehoshaphat had become king of Judah at the age of thirty-five and had ruled in Jerusalem for twenty-five years. His mother was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi.
Like his father Asa before him, he did what was right in the sight of the Lord;
but the pagan places of worship were not destroyed. The people still did not turn wholeheartedly to the worship of the God of their ancestors.
Everything else that Jehoshaphat did, from the beginning of his reign to its end, is recorded in The History of Jehu Son of Hanani which is a part of The History of the Kings of Israel.
At one time King Jehoshaphat of Judah made an alliance with King Ahaziah of Israel, who did many wicked things.
At the port of Eziongeber they built ocean-going ships.
But Eliezer son of Dodavahu, from the town of Mareshah, warned Jehoshaphat, “Because you have made an alliance with Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy what you have built.” And the ships were wrecked and never sailed.
From every city of Judah people hurried to Jerusalem to ask the Lord for guidance,
Then all the people of Israel went up to Bethel and mourned. They sat there in the Lord's presence and did not eat until evening. They offered fellowship sacrifices and burned some sacrifices whole—all in the presence of the Lord.
Do not deny yourselves to each other, unless you first agree to do so for a while in order to spend your time in prayer; but then resume normal marital relations. In this way you will be kept from giving in to Satan's temptation because of your lack of self-control.
So they all gathered at Mizpah. They drew some water and poured it out as an offering to the Lord and fasted that whole day. They said, “We have sinned against the Lord.” (It was at Mizpah where Samuel settled disputes among the Israelites.)
Some people said to Jesus, “The disciples of John fast frequently and offer prayers, and the disciples of the Pharisees do the same; but your disciples eat and drink.”
Jesus answered, “Do you think you can make the guests at a wedding party go without food as long as the bridegroom is with them? Of course not!
But the day will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.”
He said, “Tell the people of the land and the priests that when they fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months during these seventy years, it was not in honor of me.
When I heard all this, I sat down and wept. For several days I mourned and did not eat. I prayed to God,
Jehoshaphat was frightened and prayed to the Lord for guidance. Then he gave orders for a fast to be observed throughout the country.
He said, “Tell the people of the land and the priests that when they fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months during these seventy years, it was not in honor of me.
And when they ate and drank, it was for their own satisfaction.”
What shall I bring to the Lord, the God of heaven, when I come to worship him? Shall I bring the best calves to burn as offerings to him?
Will the Lord be pleased if I bring him thousands of sheep or endless streams of olive oil? Shall I offer him my first-born child to pay for my sins?
No, the Lord has told us what is good. What he requires of us is this: to do what is just, to show constant love, and to live in humble fellowship with our God.
Then the followers of John the Baptist came to Jesus, asking, “Why is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples don't fast at all?”
Jesus answered, “Do you expect the guests at a wedding party to be sad as long as the bridegroom is with them? Of course not! But the day will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.
For what our human nature wants is opposed to what the Spirit wants, and what the Spirit wants is opposed to what our human nature wants. These two are enemies, and this means that you cannot do what you want to do.
So then, my friends, because of God's great mercy to us I appeal to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him. This is the true worship that you should offer.
Love one another warmly as Christians, and be eager to show respect for one another.
Work hard and do not be lazy. Serve the Lord with a heart full of devotion.
Let your hope keep you joyful, be patient in your troubles, and pray at all times.
Share your belongings with your needy fellow Christians, and open your homes to strangers.
Ask God to bless those who persecute you—yes, ask him to bless, not to curse.
Be happy with those who are happy, weep with those who weep.
Have the same concern for everyone. Do not be proud, but accept humble duties. Do not think of yourselves as wise.
If someone has done you wrong, do not repay him with a wrong. Try to do what everyone considers to be good.
Do everything possible on your part to live in peace with everybody.
Never take revenge, my friends, but instead let God's anger do it. For the scripture says, “I will take revenge, I will pay back, says the Lord.”
Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God—what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect.
Don't worry about anything, but in all your prayers ask God for what you need, always asking him with a thankful heart.
And God's peace, which is far beyond human understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with Christ Jesus.
But those who trust in the Lord for help will find their strength renewed. They will rise on wings like eagles; they will run and not get weary; they will walk and not grow weak.
Keep watch and pray that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
But when they were sick, I dressed in mourning; I deprived myself of food; I prayed with my head bowed low,
as I would pray for a friend or a brother. I went around bent over in mourning, as one who mourns for his mother.
So then, my friends, because of God's great mercy to us I appeal to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him. This is the true worship that you should offer.
The weapons we use in our fight are not the world's weapons but God's powerful weapons, which we use to destroy strongholds. We destroy false arguments;
we pull down every proud obstacle that is raised against the knowledge of God; we take every thought captive and make it obey Christ.
As a deer longs for a stream of cool water, so I long for you, O God.
I am crushed by their insults, as they keep on asking me, “Where is your God?”
Why am I so sad? Why am I so troubled? I will put my hope in God, and once again I will praise him, my savior and my God.
I thirst for you, the living God. When can I go and worship in your presence?
As for us, we have this large crowd of witnesses around us. So then, let us rid ourselves of everything that gets in the way, and of the sin which holds on to us so tightly, and let us run with determination the race that lies before us.
At that time I was mourning for three weeks.
He said, “Do you know why I came to you? It is to reveal to you what is written in the Book of Truth. Now I have to go back and fight the guardian angel of Persia. After that the guardian angel of Greece will appear. There is no one to help me except Michael, Israel's guardian angel.
I did not eat any rich food or any meat, drink any wine, or comb my hair until the three weeks were past.
I have told you this many times before, and now I repeat it with tears: there are many whose lives make them enemies of Christ's death on the cross.
They are going to end up in hell, because their god is their bodily desires. They are proud of what they should be ashamed of, and they think only of things that belong to this world.
Be on watch and pray always that you will have the strength to go safely through all those things that will happen and to stand before the Son of Man.”
Instead, be concerned above everything else with the Kingdom of God and with what he requires of you, and he will provide you with all these other things.
Create a pure heart in me, O God, and put a new and loyal spirit in me.
Do not banish me from your presence; do not take your holy spirit away from me.
Give me again the joy that comes from your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.
What I say is this: let the Spirit direct your lives, and you will not satisfy the desires of the human nature.
For what our human nature wants is opposed to what the Spirit wants, and what the Spirit wants is opposed to what our human nature wants. These two are enemies, and this means that you cannot do what you want to do.
There by the Ahava Canal I gave orders for us all to fast and humble ourselves before our God and to ask him to lead us on our journey and protect us and our children and all our possessions.
When you go without food, wash your face and comb your hair,
so that others cannot know that you are fasting—only your Father, who is unseen, will know. And your Father, who sees what you do in private, will reward you.
“And when you fast, do not put on a sad face as the hypocrites do. They neglect their appearance so that everyone will see that they are fasting. I assure you, they have already been paid in full.
Every athlete in training submits to strict discipline, in order to be crowned with a wreath that will not last; but we do it for one that will last forever.
That is why I run straight for the finish line; that is why I am like a boxer who does not waste his punches.
I harden my body with blows and bring it under complete control, to keep myself from being disqualified after having called others to the contest.
And I prayed earnestly to the Lord God, pleading with him, fasting, wearing sackcloth, and sitting in ashes.