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 shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.

Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy Elohim, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.

Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of Yahweh your Elohim, and cry unto Yahweh,

And 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,

And Yahshua said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.

Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.

Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to Yahweh?

Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.

Therefore also now, saith Yahweh, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:

Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;

That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?

Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

Therefore also now, saith Yahweh, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:

And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto Yahweh your Elohim: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.

Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:

Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?

So the people of Nineveh believed Elohim, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.

As they ministered to the Master, and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Separate me Barnabah and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.

And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

And he was there with Yahweh forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.

But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom.

And when they had ordained them elders in every assembly, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Master, on whom they believed.

Then shalt thou call, and Yahweh shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;

And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday:

And Yahweh shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our Elah, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.

For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our Elah is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him.

So we fasted and besought our Elah for this: and he was intreated of us.

And Yahshua being full of the Holy Spirit returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,

Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.

And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek Yahweh, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of Yahweh: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek Yahweh.

When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach.

Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto the house of Elohim, and wept, and sat there before Yahweh, and fasted that day until even, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before Yahweh.

Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.

And they gathered together to Mizpeh, and drew water, and poured it out before Yahweh, and fasted on that day, and said there, We have sinned against Yahweh. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpeh.

And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward hungry.

And they said unto him, Why do the disciples of John fast often, and make prayers, and likewise the disciples of the Pharisees; but thine eat and drink?

And he said unto them, Can ye make the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them?

But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.

Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?

And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the Elohim of heaven,

Then shalt thou call, and Yahweh shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;

And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday:

And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek Yahweh, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

Humble yourselves in the sight of Yahweh, and he shall lift you up.

Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?

And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?

So the people of Nineveh believed Elohim, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.

For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.

And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:

But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto Elohim: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.

Who can tell if Elohim will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?

And Elohim saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and Elohim repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.

And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to Elohim.

Wherewith shall I come before Yahweh, and bow myself before the high Elohim? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?

Will Yahweh be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth Yahweh require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy Elohim?

Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not?

And Yahshua said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.

For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of Elohim, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto Elohim, which is your reasonable service.

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of Elohim.

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto Elohim.

And the peace of Elohim, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through the Messiah Yahshua.

But they that wait upon Yahweh shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Watch and pray, that ye enter not 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 humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom.

I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother: I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth for his mother.

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of Elohim, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto Elohim, which is your reasonable service.

I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through Elohim to the pulling down of strong holds;

Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of Elohim, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of the Messiah;

Maschil, for the sons of Korah. As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O Elohim.

My soul thirsteth for Elohim, for the living El: when shall I come and appear before Elohim?

My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh faileth of fatness.

Therefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks.

I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.

For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the stake of the Messiah:

Whose end is destruction, whose elohim is their belly, and whose dignity is in their shame, who mind earthly things.

Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

Grant thee according to thine own heart, and fulfil all thy counsel.

But seek ye first His kingdom and righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Create in me a clean heart, O Elohim; and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.

Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

So we fasted and besought our Elah for this: and he was intreated of us.

And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.

Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our Elah, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.

But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;

That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.

I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:

But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

And I set my face unto Yahweh Elohim, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:

Prayer