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 is taken away from them, and then they will they fast in those day.

Then he said to me, Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that thou set thy heart to understand, and to humble thyself before thy God, thy words were heard. And I have come for thy words' sake.

Sanctify a fast. Call a solemn assembly. Gather the old men [and] all the inhabitants of the land to the house of LORD your God, and cry to LORD.

And Cornelius said, Four days ago I was fasting until this hour, and the ninth hour praying in my house. And behold, a man stood before me in bright apparel.

And Jesus said to them, The sons of the wedding hall cannot 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.

Then he touched their eyes, saying, According to your faith may it happen to you.

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 thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to LORD?

Why have we fasted, [they say], and thou see not? We have afflicted our soul, and thou take no knowledge. Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact from all your laborers.

Yet even now, says LORD, turn ye to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning.

And when ye fast, become not like the gloomy looking hypocrites, for they make their faces unsightly, so that they may appear fasting to men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward.But when thou fast, anoint thy head, and wash thy face,so that thou may not appear fasting to men, but to thy Father in secret. And thy Father, who sees in secret, will reward thee.

Is not this the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?Is it not to deal thy bread to a hungry man, and that thou bring the poor who are cast out to thy house, when thou see a naked man, that thou cover him, and that thou not hide thyself from thine own flesh?

Yet even now, says LORD, turn ye 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 to LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and relents 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 bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?

And 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.

And while they were serving the Lord, and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Separate to me now Barnabas and Saul for the work that I have called them.Then, having fasted and prayed and laid hands on them, they sent them away.

And he was there with LORD forty days and forty nights. He neither ate bread, nor drank water, and he wrote upon 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.

And having appointed elders for them in every congregation, having prayed with fasting, they entrusted them to the Lord, in whom they had believed.

Then thou shall call, and LORD will answer, thou shall cry, and he will say, Here I am. If thou take the yoke away from the midst of thee, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking wickedly,and if thou draw out thy soul to a hungry man, and satisfy an afflicted soul, then thy light shall rise in darkness, and thine obscurity be as the noonday.And LORD will guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in dry places, and make strong thy bones. And thou shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters fail not.

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 upon all those who seek him, for good, but his power anSo we fasted and besought our God for this, and he was entreated by us.

And Jesus, full of Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,being tempted forty days by the devil. And he ate nothing in those days, and when they were ended, afterward he was hungry.

And Jehoshaphat was afraid, and set himself to seek for LORD. And he proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.And Judah gathered themselves together, to seek [help] from LORD, even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek LORD.

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

Then all the sons of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came to Bethel, and wept, and sat there before LORD, and fasted that day until evening, and they offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before LORD.

Do not defraud each other except from agreement for a time, so that ye may have time for fasting and prayer. And come together again for the same thing, so that Satan not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

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

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

And they said to him, Why do the disciples of John fast often, and make supplications, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but thine eat and drink.And he said to them, Ye cannot make the sons of the wedding hall fast while the bridegroom is with them.But the days will also 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 ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh [month], even these seventy years, did ye at all fast to 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 I fasted and prayed before the God of heaven,

Then thou shall call, and LORD will answer, thou shall cry, and he will say, Here I am. If thou take the yoke away from the midst of thee, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking wickedly,and if thou draw out thy soul to a hungry man, and satisfy an afflicted soul, then thy light shall rise in darkness, and thine obscurity be as the noonday.

And Jehoshaphat was afraid, and set himself to seek for LORD. And he proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

Be ye made lower in the sight of the Lord, and he will lift you up.

Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh [month], even these seventy years, did ye at all fast to me, even to me?And when ye eat, and when ye drink, do ye not eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?

And 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.And the news reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and laid his robe from him, and covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.And he made proclamation and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed, nor drink water,but let them be covered with sackcloth, both man and beast, and let them cry mightily to God. Yea, let them turn each one 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, that we not perish?And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way. And God relented of the evil which he said he would do to them, and he did not do it.

And he happened in these days to go out onto the mountain to pray, and he was continuing all night in prayer to God.

Why shall I come before LORD, and bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before him with burnt-offerings, with calves a year old?Will LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, [or] with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?He has shown thee, O man, what is good. And what does LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with thy God?

Then the disciples of John come to him, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but thy disciples fast not?And Jesus said to them, The sons of the wedding hall cannot 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 desires against the Spirit, and the Spirit is against the flesh. For these are hostile to each other, so that whatever these things are ye may want, ye may not do.

I beseech you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, your reasonable service.And be not conformed to this age, but be ye transformed by the renewal of your mind, for ye to approve what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Be anxious about nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thankfulness make your requests known to God.And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

But those who wait for LORD shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run, and not be weary. They shall walk, and not faint.

Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation. Truly, the spirit 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 he who bewails his mother.

I beseech you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, your reasonable service.

I fast twice per Sabbath. I tithe all things, as many as I acquire.

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God for the demolition of strongholds,casting down imaginations, and every high thing exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought captive into the obedience of the Christ,

As the hart pants after the water brooks, so my soul pants after thee, O God.My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?

My knees are weak through fasting, and my flesh fails of fatness.

Therefore we also, having so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, having put off every weight and cleverly entangling sin, let us run by perseverance the contest being set before us.

In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three whole weeks.I ate no pleasant bread. Neither flesh nor wine came into my mouth. Neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.

For many walk, who (I told you often, and now also say while weeping) are enemies of the cross of Christ,whose end is destruction, whose god is the belly, and the glory in their shame, who mind earthly things.

Watch ye therefore, making supplication at all times, so that ye may be considered worthy to escape all these things going to happen, and to stand before the Son of man.

grant thee thy heart's desire, and fulfill all thy counsel.

But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy holy Spirit from me.Restore to me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

But I say, walk in Spirit and ye will, no, not fulfill a lust of flesh.For the flesh desires against the Spirit, and the Spirit is against the flesh. For these are hostile to each other, so that whatever these things are ye may want, ye may not do.

So we fasted and besought our God for this, and he was entreated by us.

And he said to them, This kind can come out by nothing, except by prayer and fasting.

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 when thou fast, anoint thy head, and wash thy face,so that thou may not appear fasting to men, but to thy Father in secret. And thy Father, who sees in secret, will reward thee.

But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.

And when ye fast, become not like the gloomy looking hypocrites, for they make their faces unsightly, so that they may appear fasting to men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward.

And every man who strives for mastery exercises self-control in all things. Indeed therefore those men do it so that they might obtain a perishable crown, but we an imperishable.I therefore run this way, not as aimlessly. I fight this way, not as flaying air.But I give my body a black eye and subdue it, lest somehow having preached to others, I myself might become disqualified.

And I set my face to LORD God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.

Prayer