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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 days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then will they fast in those days.
Then said he to me, "Do not be afraid, Daniel; for from the first day that you did set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard. And I have come because of your words.
Sanctify a fast. Call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders, and all the inhabitants of the land, to the house of YHWH, your God, and cry to YHWH.
Cornelius said, "Four days ago until this hour, the ninth hour, I was praying in my house, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing,
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.
Is such the fast that I have chosen? the day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a rush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to YHWH?
'Why have we fasted,' say they, 'and you do not see? Why have we afflicted our soul, and you take no knowledge?' "Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and exact all your labors.
"Yet even now," says YHWH, "turn to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning."
"Moreover when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with sad faces. For they disfigure their faces, that they may be seen by men to be fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.
But you, when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face;
so that you are not seen by men to be fasting, but by your Father who is in secret, and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.
"Isn't this the fast that I have chosen: to release the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke?
Isn't it to distribute your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor who are cast out to your house? When you see the naked, that you cover him; and that you not hide yourself from your own flesh?
"Yet even now," says YHWH, "turn to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning."
Tear your heart, and not your garments, and turn to YHWH, your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and relents from sending calamity.
"Isn't this the fast that I have chosen: to release the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke?
The people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
As they served the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, "Separate Barnabas and Saul for me, for the work to which I have called them."
Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.
He was there with YHWH forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread, nor drank water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.
But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth. I afflicted my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into my own bosom.
When they had appointed elders for them in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they had believed.
Then you shall call, and YHWH will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, 'Here I am.' "If you take away from the midst of you the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking wickedly;
and if you draw out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul: then your light shall rise in darkness, and your obscurity be as the noonday;
and YHWH will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in dry places, and make strong your bones; and you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek of him a straight way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.
For I was ashamed to ask of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way, because we had spoken to the king, saying, "The hand of our God is on all those who seek him, for good; but his power and his wrath is against all those who forsake him."
So we fasted and begged our God for this: and he was entreated of us.
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness
for forty days, being tempted by the devil. He ate nothing in those days. When they were completed, he was hungry.
Jehoshaphat was alarmed, and set himself to seek to YHWH. He proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
Judah gathered themselves together, to seek help from YHWH. They came out of all the cities of Judah to seek YHWH.
Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came to Bethel, and wept, and sat there before YHWH, and fasted that day until evening; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before YHWH.
Do not deprive one another, unless it is by consent for a season, that you may give yourselves to prayer, and may be together again, that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
They gathered together to Mizpah, and drew water, and poured it out before YHWH, and fasted on that day, and said there, "We have sinned against YHWH." Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpah.
They said to him, "The disciples of John often fast and pray, likewise also the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink."
He said to them, "Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast, while the bridegroom is with them?
But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them. Then they will fast in those days."
"Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, 'When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month for these seventy years, did you at all fast to me, really to me?
It happened, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days; and I fasted and prayed before the God of heaven,
Then you shall call, and YHWH will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, 'Here I am.' "If you take away from the midst of you the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking wickedly;
and if you draw out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul: then your light shall rise in darkness, and your obscurity be as the noonday;
Jehoshaphat was alarmed, and set himself to seek to YHWH. He proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
"Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, 'When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month for these seventy years, did you at all fast to me, really to me?
When you eat, and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?
The people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
The news reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
He made a proclamation and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, "Let neither man nor animal, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed, nor drink water;
but let them be covered with sackcloth, both man and animal, and let them cry mightily to God. Yes, let them turn everyone from his evil way, and from the violence that is in his hands.
Who knows whether God will not turn and relent, and turn away from his fierce anger, so that we might not perish?"
God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way. God relented of the disaster which he said he would do to them, and he did not do it.
It happened in these days, that he went out to the mountain to pray, and he continued all night in prayer to God.
How shall I come before YHWH, and bow myself before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?
Will YHWH be pleased with thousands of rams? With tens of thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my disobedience? The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He has shown you, O man, what is good. What does YHWH require of you, but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?
Then John's disciples came to him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?"
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.
For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, that you may not do the things that you desire.
Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God.
In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.
But those who wait for YHWH will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run, and not be weary. They will walk, and not faint.
Watch and pray, that you do not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."
But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth. I afflicted my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into my own bosom.
I behaved myself as though it had been my friend or my brother. I bowed down mourning, as one who mourns his mother.
Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service.
for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty in God to the throwing down of strongholds,
throwing down imaginations and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ;
Therefore let us also, seeing we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three whole weeks.
I had no pleasing food, neither meat nor wine came into my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, until three whole weeks were fulfilled.
For many walk, of whom I told you often, and now tell you even weeping, as the enemies of the cross of Christ,
whose end is destruction, whose god is the belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who think about earthly things.
Therefore be watchful all the time, praying that you may be able to escape all these things that will happen, and to stand before the Son of Man."
But seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me.
Do not throw me from your presence, and do not take your holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation. Uphold me with a willing spirit.
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.
For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, that you may not do the things that you desire.
Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek of him a straight way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.
But you, when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face;
so that you are not seen by men to be fasting, but by your Father who is in secret, and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.
"Moreover when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with sad faces. For they disfigure their faces, that they may be seen by men to be fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.
Every man who strives in the games exercises self-control in all things. Now they do it to receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible.
I therefore run like that, as not uncertainly. I fight like that, as not beating the air,
but I beat my body and bring it into submission, lest by any means, after I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected.
And I turned to the Lord God, to seek by prayer and petitions, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.