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 they shall fast in those days.

And he said unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst give thy heart to understand and to afflict thy soul before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come because of thy words.

¶ Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the earth into the house of the Lord your God and cry unto the Lord.

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 Jesus said unto them, Can the sons 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 they shall fast.

Then he touched 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 the Lord?

¶ Why have we fasted, they say, and thou dost not see? why have we afflicted our soul, and thou dost take no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find your own pleasure and exact your own estates.

¶ Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn unto 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 already have their reward.But thou, when thou dost fast, anoint thine head, and wash thy facethat thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father who is in secret; and thy Father, who sees in secret, shall reward thee openly.

Is not rather the fast that I have chosen, to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the ties of oppression, to release into freedom those who are broken, and that ye break every yoke?Is it not to share thy bread with the hungry and that thou bring the poor that are cast out into thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou not hide thyself from thy brother?

¶ Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn unto 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 the Lord your God for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and great in mercy, and he does repent of chastisement.

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

Is not rather the fast that I have chosen, to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the ties of oppression, to release into freedom those who are broken, and that ye break every yoke?

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

As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work unto which I have called them.And after that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet.And afterward they asked for a king, and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king, to whom also he gave testimony, saying, I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who shall fulfil all my will.Of this man’s seed has God according to his promise raised up Jesus as Saviour unto Israel:John, having first proclaimed before his coming, the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.And as John fulfilled his course, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not he. But, behold, there comes one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose.Men and brethren, sons of the lineage of Abraham, and whosoever among you fears God, unto you is this word of saving health sent.For those that dwell at Jerusalem and their princes, because they knew him not nor yet the voices of the prophets who are read every sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him.And without finding cause of death in him, yet they asked Pilate that he should be slain.And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a sepulchre.And when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they released them.

¶ And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did not 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 rose up in my bosom.

And having ordained elders for them in every congregation {Gr. ekklesia – called out ones} and having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord on whom they believed.

¶ Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava that we might afflict ourselves before our God, 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 defend us against the enemy in the way because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all those that seek him for good; but his power and his wrath is against all those that forsake him.So we fasted and besought our God for this, and he was intreated of us.

¶ And Jesus being full of the Holy Spirit returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wildernessfor it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee,and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.And having finished all temptation, the devil departed from him for a season.¶ And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee, and his fame went out through all the region round about.And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up; and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day and stood up to read.And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those that are broken,to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.for forty days and was tempted of the devil. And in those days he ate nothing; and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.

Then Jehoshaphat feared and set himself to seek the Lord and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.So the kingdom of Jehoshaphat had rest, for his God gave him rest round about.¶ Thus Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah; he was thirty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi.And he walked in the way of Asa, his father, and did not depart from it, doing that which was right in the sight of the Lord.With all this the high places were not taken away, for as yet the people had not prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers.Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Jehu, the son of Hanani, who is mentioned in the book of the kings of Israel.After these things, Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, joined himself with Ahaziah, king of Israel, who was given over to wickedness;he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish, and they made the ships in Eziongeber.Then Eliezer, the son of Dodavah of Mareshah, prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the Lord shall destroy thy works. And the ships were broken, and they were not able to go to Tarshish.And Judah gathered themselves together, to consult the Lord; and out of all the cities of Judah they came to consult the Lord.

When I wept with fasting of my soul, thou hast been a reproach unto me.

¶ Then all the sons of Israel and all the people went up and came unto the house of God and wept and sat there before the Lord and fasted that day until evening and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.

Do not defraud one another, except it be with mutual consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer and come together again, that Satan not tempt you for your incontinency.

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

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

Then 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 sons 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 God of the heavens

Then Jehoshaphat feared and set himself to seek the Lord and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, 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 ate, and when ye drank, did ye not eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?

¶ And it came to pass in those days that he went out into the mountain to pray and continued all night in prayer to God.

¶ With what shall I present myself before the Lord, and how shall I worship the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my rebellion, the fruit of my bowels for the sin of my soul?He has declared unto thee, O man, what is good and what the Lord requires of thee: only to do right judgment, and to love mercy, and to humble thyself to walk with thy God.

¶ Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but thy disciples do not fast?And Jesus said unto them, Can the sons 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 they shall fast.

For the flesh lusts 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.

¶ Therefore, I beseech you brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies in living sacrifice, holy, well pleasing unto God, which is your rational worship.loving one another with brotherly love, with honour preferring one another;not slothful in earnest care, but fervent in the Spirit, serving the Lord,rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, constant in prayer,sharing for the needs of the saints, and given to hospitality.Bless those who persecute you: bless, and do not curse.Rejoice with those that rejoice and weep with those that weep.Be unanimous among yourselves, not high minded, but accommodating the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.Not repaying anyone evil for evil; procuring that which is good not only in the sight of God, but even in the sight of all men.If it can be done, as much as is possible on your part, live in peace with all men.Not defending yourselves, dearly beloved; but rather give place unto the wrath of God, for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.And be not conformed to this age, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your soul that ye may experience what is that good and well pleasing and perfect will of God.

Be anxious for nothing, but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

but those that wait for the Lord shall have new 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 rose up in my bosom.I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother; I bowed down heavily, as one that mourns for his mother.

¶ Therefore, I beseech you brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies in living sacrifice, holy, well pleasing unto God, which is your rational worship.

I fast two meals every sabbath; I give tithes of all that I possess.

(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God for the destruction of strong holds),casting down reasonings and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and leading captive every thought into the obedience of the Christ

¶ As the hart pants after the water brooks, so does my soul pant after thee, O God.It is as death in my bones when my enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God?Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? Wait thou for God, for I shall yet praise him, who is the saving health of my countenance and my 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 for lack of fatness.

¶ Therefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, leaving behind all the weight of the sin which surrounds us, let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three weeks of days.Then said he, Knowest thou why I have come unto thee? Because now I must return to fight with the prince of the Persians; and when I am gone forth, next the prince of Grecia shall come.But I will interpret unto thee that which is written in the scripture of truth: and there is no one that holds with me in these things, but Michael your prince.I ate no pleasant bread, neither did flesh nor wine come into my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all until the three weeks of days 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 cross {Gr. stauros – stake} of Christ;whose end shall be perdition, whose God is their belly and whose glory 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 heart and fulfil all thy counsel.

But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto 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 unto me the joy of thy saving health, and thy spirit of liberty shall uphold me.

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.For the flesh lusts 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 God 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 God, to seek of him a right way for us and for our little ones and for all our substance.

But thou, when thou dost fast, anoint thine head, and wash thy facethat thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father who is in secret; and thy Father, who sees in secret, shall reward thee openly.

Howbeit this lineage of demons does not go 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 already have their reward.

And every man that strives for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we, an incorruptible one.I therefore so run, not as unto an uncertain thing; so I fight, not as one that beats the air;but I keep my body under, and bring it into subjection, lest preaching to others, I myself should become reprobate.

And I turned my face unto the Lord God, seeking him in prayer and supplication, in fasting and sackcloth, and ashes:

Prayer