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 dayes will come, when the Bridegrome shall bee taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those dayes.

Then sayd hee vnto me; Feare not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou diddest set thine heart to vnderstand, and to chasten thy selfe before thy God, thy wordes were heard, and I am come for thy words.

Sanctifie yee a fast: call a solemne assembly: gather the Elders, and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, and cry vnto the Lord:

And Cornelius said, Foure daies agoe I was fasting vntill this houre, and at the ninth houre I prayed in my house, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing,

And Iesus saide vnto them, Can the children of the bride-chamber mourne, as long as the bridegrome is with them? But the dayes will come when the bridegrome shall bee taken from them, and then shall they fast.

Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith, bee it vnto you.

Is it such a fast that I haue chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soule? Is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackecloth and ashes vnder him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord ?

Wherefore haue wee fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore haue wee afflicted our soule, & thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and exact all your labours.

Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turne yee euen to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning.

Moreouer, when yee fast, be not as the Hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appeare vnto men to fast: Uerily I say vnto you, they haue their reward.But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face:That thou appeare not vnto men to fast, but vnto thy father which is in secret: and thy father which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

Is not this the fast that I haue chosen? to loose the bandes of wickednesse, to vndoe the heauie burdens, and to let the oppressed goe free, and that ye breake euery yoke?Is it not, to deale thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poore that are cast out, to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou couer him, and that thou hide not thy selfe from thine owne flesh?

Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turne yee euen to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning.And rent your heart and not your garments; and turne vnto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and mercifull, slow to anger, and of great kindnesse, and repenteth him of the euill.

Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctifie a fast, call a solemne assembly.

Is not this the fast that I haue chosen? to loose the bandes of wickednesse, to vndoe the heauie burdens, and to let the oppressed goe free, and that ye breake euery yoke?

So the people of Nineueh beleeued God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackecloth from the greatest of them euen to the least of them.

As they ministred to the Lord, and fasted, the holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul, for the worke whereunto I haue called them.And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their handes on them, they sent them away.

And hee was there with the Lord forty dayes and forty nights: he did neither eat bread, nor drinke water; and he wrote vpon the Tables the words of the couenant, the ten Commandements.

But as for me, when they were sicke, my clothing was sack-cloth: I humbled my soule with fasting, and my prayer returned into mine owne bosome.

And when they had ordeined them Elders in euery Church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they beleeued.

Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answere; thou shalt cry, and he shal say, Here I am: if thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanitie:And if thou draw out thy soule to the hungry, and satisfie the afflicted soule: then shall thy light rise in obscuritie, and thy darkenesse be as the noone day.And the Lord shal guide thee continually, and satisfie thy soule in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters faile not.

Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the riuer Ahaua, that we might afflict our selues before our God, to seeke of him a right way for vs, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of souldiers and horsmen, to helpe vs against the enemie in the way: because wee had spoken vnto the king, saying, The hand of our God is vpon all them for good, that seeke him, but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him.So we fasted, and besought our God for this, and hee was intreated of vs.

And Iesus being full of the holy Ghost, returned from Iordane, and was led by the spirit into the wildernesse,Being fourtie dayes tempted of the deuil, and in those dayes he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungred.

And Iehoshaphat feared, and set himselfe to seeke the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Iudah.And Iudah gathered themselues together, to aske helpe of the Lord: euen out of all the cities of Iudah they came to seeke the Lord.

When I wept, and chastened my soule with fasting, that was to my reproch.

Then all the children of Israel, and all the people went vp, and came vnto the house of God, and wept, and sate there before the Lord, and fasted that day vntill Euen, and offered burnt offerings, and peace offerings before the Lord.

Defraud you not one the other, except it bee with consent for a time, that yee may giue your selues to fasting and prayer, and come together againe, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinencie.

And they gathered together to Mizpeh, and drew water, and powred it out before the Lord, and fasted on that day, and said there, We haue sinned against the Lord. And Samuel iudged the children of Israel in Mizpeh.

And when hee had fasted forty dayes and forty nights, hee was afterward an hungred.

And they said vnto him, Why doe the disciples of Iohn fast often, and make prayers, and likewise the disciples of the Pharisees: but thine eat and drinke?And he said vnto them, Can yee make the children of the Bride-chamber fast, while the Bridegrome is with them?But the dayes will come, when the Bridegrome shall bee taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those dayes.

Speake vnto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fift and seuenth moneth, euen those seuenty yeeres; did ye at all fast vnto me, euen to me?

And it came to passe when I heard these words, that I sate downe and wept, and mourned certaine dayes, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heauen,

Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answere; thou shalt cry, and he shal say, Here I am: if thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanitie:And if thou draw out thy soule to the hungry, and satisfie the afflicted soule: then shall thy light rise in obscuritie, and thy darkenesse be as the noone day.

And Iehoshaphat feared, and set himselfe to seeke the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Iudah.

Humble your selues in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you vp.

Speake vnto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fift and seuenth moneth, euen those seuenty yeeres; did ye at all fast vnto me, euen to me?And when ye did eat, and when ye did drinke, did not ye eat for your selues, and drinke for your selues?

So the people of Nineueh beleeued God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackecloth from the greatest of them euen to the least of them.For word came vnto the King of Nineueh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him and couered him with sackcloth, & sate in ashes.And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineueh (by the decree of the King and his nobles) saying; Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flocke taste any thing; let them not feede, nor drinke water.But let man and beast be couered with sackecloth, and cry mightily vnto God: yea, let them turne euery one from his euill way, and from the violence that is in their hands.Who can tell if God will turne and repent, and turne away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?And God saw their workes, that they turned from their euill way, and God repented of the euill that hee had sayd, that he would doe vnto them, and he did it not.

And it came to passe in those dayes, that hee went out into a mountaine to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.

Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow my selfe before the high God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calues of a yeere olde?Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rammes, or with tenne thousands of riuers of oyle? Shall I giue my first borne for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sinne of my soule?Hee hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doeth the Lord require of thee, but to do iustly, and to loue mercy, and to walke humbly with thy God?

Then came to him the disciples of Iohn, saying, Why doe we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not?And Iesus saide vnto them, Can the children of the bride-chamber mourne, as long as the bridegrome is with them? But the dayes will come when the bridegrome shall bee 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 yee cannot doe the things that yee would.

I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that yee present your bodies a liuing sacrifice, holy, acceptable vnto God, which is your reasonable seruice.And bee not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renuing of your minde, that ye may proue what is that good, that acceptable and perfect will of God.

Bee carefull for nothing: but in euery thing by prayer and supplication with thankesgiuing, let your request be made knowen vnto God.And the peace of God which passeth all vnderstanding, shall keepe your hearts & minds through Christ Iesus.

But they that waite vpon the Lord, shall renew their strength: they shall mount vp with wings as Eagles, they shal runne and not be weary, and they shall walke, and not faint.

Watch and pray, that yee enter not into temptation: The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weake.

But as for me, when they were sicke, my clothing was sack-cloth: I humbled my soule with fasting, and my prayer returned into mine owne bosome.I behaued my selfe as though he had bene my friend, or brother: I bowed downe heauily, as one that mourneth for his mother.

I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that yee present your bodies a liuing sacrifice, holy, acceptable vnto God, which is your reasonable seruice.

I fast twise in the weeke, I giue tithes of all that I possesse.

(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling downe of strong holds.)Casting down imaginations, and euery high thing that exalteth it selfe against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captiuitie euery thought to the obedience of Christ:

[To the chiefe Musician, Maschil, for the sonnes of Korah.] As the Hart panteth after the water brookes, so panteth my soule after thee, O God.My soule thirsteth for God, for the liuing God: when shall I come and appeare before God?

My knees are weake through fasting: and my flesh faileth of fatnesse.

Wherefore, seeing wee also are compassed about with so great a cloude of witnesses, let vs lay aside euery weight, & the sinne which doth so easily beset vs, and let vs runne with patience vnto the race that is set before vs,

In those dayes, I Daniel was mourning three full weekes.I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh, nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoynt my selfe at all, till three whole weekes were fulfilled.

(For many walke, of whome I haue told you often, and now tell you euen weeping, that they are the enemies of the crosse of Christ:Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glorie is in their shame, who minde earthly things.)

Watch ye therefore, and pray alwayes, that ye may be accompted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to passe, and to stand before the sonne of man.

Graunt thee according to thine owne heart, and fulfill all thy counsell.

But seeke ye first the kingdome of God, and his righteousnesse, and all these things shalbe added vnto you.

Create in mee a cleane heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within mee.Cast mee not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy Spirit from me.Restore vnto me the ioy of thy saluation: and vphold mee with thy free Spirit.

This I say then, Walke in the spirit, and ye shall not fulfill 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 yee cannot doe the things that yee would.

So we fasted, and besought our God for this, and hee was intreated of vs.

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

Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the riuer Ahaua, that we might afflict our selues before our God, to seeke of him a right way for vs, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.

But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face:That thou appeare not vnto men to fast, but vnto 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.

Moreouer, when yee fast, be not as the Hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appeare vnto men to fast: Uerily I say vnto you, they haue their reward.

And euery man that striueth for the masterie, is temperate in all things: Now they doe it to obtaine a corruptible crowne, but we an incorruptible.I therefore so runne, not as vncertainely: so fight I, not as one that beateth the ayre:But I keepe vnder my body, and bring it into subiection: lest that by any meanes when I haue preached to others, I my selfe should be a castaway.

And I set my face vnto the Lord God to seeke by prayer, and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.

Prayer