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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 time will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and on that day they will fast.
Then he said to me, “Don’t be afraid, Daniel. For from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard. I have come for your words’ sake.
Y’all must sanctify a fast. Y’all must call a solemn assembly. Y’all 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 at this very hour, three in the afternoon, I was praying in my house, when suddenly, a man in shining clothes stood before me
Jesus said to them, “The guests of the bridegroom cannot mourn while the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.
Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to y’all’s faith let it be done to y’all.”
Is this the fast that I have chosen? A day for a man to humble his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under himself? Will you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to YHWH?
‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you haven’t seen it? Why have we humbled our soul, and you don’t notice?’ “Look, on the day when y’all fast, y’all find pleasure, and oppress all y’all’s laborers.
“Yet even now,” says YHWH, “y’all must turn to me with y’all’s whole heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning.”
“Moreover, when y’all fast, don’t be like the hypocrites with sullen faces. For they disfigure their faces so that humans will notice them fasting. Truly I tell y’all, they have received their reward.But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,so that humans will not notice you 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 chains of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and that y’all 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, “y’all must turn to me with y’all’s whole heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning.”Y’all must tear your* heart and not your* garments. Y’all must turn to YHWH, your God; for ʜᴇ is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, and relents from sending calamity.
“Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen: to release the chains of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and that y’all break every yoke?
The people of Nineveh believed God, and they proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth, from their most massive to their tiniest.
While they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Y’all must set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”This all took about 450 years. After this, ʜᴇ gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.Then the people asked for a king, and God gave to them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.After removing him, ʜᴇ raised up David to be their king. God testified about him, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who will do all my will.’From this man’s descendants, God has brought the Savior Jesus to Israel, just as he promised.Before Jesus’s public entrance, John preached the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.As John was completing his mission, he said, ‘Who do y’all suppose that I am? I am not the one. But one is coming after me, and I am not worthy to untie his sandals.’“Siblings, children of Abraham’s family, and those among y’all who fear God, the word of this salvation is sent out to y’all.For the residents of Jerusalem and their rulers didn’t know him, and by condemning him they fulfilled the sayings of the prophets that are read every Sabbath.Though they found no cause for death, they still asked Pilate to have him executed.When they had completed all that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb.Then, after they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them off.
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. My prayer returned into my own bosom.
Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting, they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.
Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a straight way for us, for our little ones, and for all our possessions.For I was ashamed to ask of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on 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 granted our request.
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,For it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to carefully guard you,’and, ‘They will lift you up with their hands, so that you won’t strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You must not test the Lord [YHWH] your God.’” When the devil had finished every temptation, he left him until an opportune time.Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread throughout the whole countryside.He began teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.Then he went to Nazareth where he had been brought up. As was his custom, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day. He stood up to read,and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,“The Spirit of the Lord [YHWH] is on me, because ʜᴇ has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. Hᴇ has sent me to proclaim freedom for the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed,and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s [YHWH] favor.” where for forty days, he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing in those days, and when they had ended, he was very hungry.
Jehoshaphat was alarmed, and set himself to seek to YHWH. He proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest all around.So Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he began to reign. He reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.He walked in the way of Asa his father, and didn’t turn away from it, doing that which was right in YHWH’s eyes.However the high places were not taken away, and the people had still not set their hearts on the God of their fathers.Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, are written in the history of Jehu the son of Hanani, which is included in the book of the kings of Israel.After this, Jehoshaphat king of Judah joined himself with Ahaziah king of Israel. The same did very wickedly.He joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish. They made the ships in Ezion Geber.Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have joined yourself with Ahaziah, YHWH has destroyed your works.” The ships were wrecked, so that they were not able to go to Tarshish.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; then they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before YHWH.
Y’all must not deprive one another, unless it is by consent for a season, so that y’all may devote yourselves* to prayer. Then y’all must come together again, so that Satan doesn’t tempt y’all through 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, “John’s disciples often fast and pray, and the disciples of the Pharisees do the same, but yours eat and drink.”He said to them, “Y’all can’t make the friends of the bridegroom fast while he is with them, can y’all?But the time will come when the groom will be taken away from them, then in those days they will fast.”
“You are to speak to all the people of the land and to the priests, saying, ‘When y’all fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month for these seventy years, did y’all really fast and fast for me?
When I heard these words, I sat down and wept. I mourned for several days, and I fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.
Jehoshaphat was alarmed, and set himself to seek to YHWH. He proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
“You are to speak to all the people of the land and to the priests, saying, ‘When y’all fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month for these seventy years, did y’all really fast and fast for me?And when y’all eat and drink, don’t y’all merely eat and drink for yourselves*?
During those days, Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and he spent the whole night in prayer to God.
How should I come before YHWH, and bow myself before the exalted God? Should I come before ʜɪᴍ with burnt offerings, with yearling calves?Will YHWH be pleased with thousands of rams? With ten thousand rivers of oil? Should I give my firstborn for my rebellion? The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?Hᴇ has shown you, human, what is good. What does YHWH require of you? To do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God.
Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples don’t fast?”Jesus said to them, “The guests of the bridegroom cannot mourn while the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.
For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. They are in conflict with one another, so that y’all don’t do whatever y’all want.
Therefore I urge y’all, siblings, by the mercies of God, to present y’all’s bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your* proper sacred service.Be devoted to one another with mutual love and honor one another above yourselves,not lacking in zeal, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord,rejoicing in hope, enduring in oppression, persisting in prayer,contributing to the needs of the saints, and practicing hospitality.Y’all are to bless those who persecute you*; bless and do not curse.Y’all are to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep,being of the same mind toward another, not being high minded, but associating with the lowly. Y’all must not become wise in your own estimation.Y’all must never repay evil for evil; consider what is excellent before all humans.If possible, as far as it depends on y’all, be at peace with all humans.Don’t seek revenge, beloved, but y’all must leave room for God’s wrath. For it is written, “Vengeance belongs to me, I will repay,” says the Lord.Y’all must not be conformed to this world. Instead y’all are to be transformed by the renovation of the mind, so that y’all may test and approve what the will of God is—that which is good, pleasing, and perfect.
Y’all, don’t be anxious about anything, 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 y’all’s hearts and thoughts in Christ Jesus.
but those who wait for YHWH will renew their strength. They will rise up on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not get tired.
Watch and pray so that y’all won’t fall into temptation. 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. 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 y’all, siblings, by the mercies of God, to present y’all’s bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your* proper sacred service.
for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but powerful through God for tearing down fortresses.We tear down arguments and every lofty thing that is elevated against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants after you, God.As with a sword in my bones, my adversaries reproach me, while they continually ask me, “Where is your God?”Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God! For I will still praise ʜɪᴍ, the saving help of my countenance, and my God.My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I come and appear before God?
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles us, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us,
In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three whole weeks.Then he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? Now I will return to fight with the prince of Persia. When I leave, then the prince of Greece will come.But I will tell you what is inscribed in the writing of truth. There is no one who stands firmly with me against these except Michael y’all’s prince.I ate no pleasant food. No meat or wine came into my mouth. I didn’t anoint myself at all, until three whole weeks were fulfilled.
For as I have told y’all often and am telling y’all now as I weep, there are many who walk as enemies of the cross of Christ,whose end is destruction, whose god is the belly, whose glory is in their shame, and who set their mind on earthly things.
But y’all be watchful at all times, praying that y’all may be counted worthy to escape all that is about to happen, and to stand before the Son of Humanity.”
But y’all seek first the Empire of God and ʜɪꜱ righteousness, and all these things will also be given to y’all.
Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me.Don’t throw me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.Restore to me the joy of your salvation. Uphold me with a willing spirit.
But I say, y’all must walk by the Spirit, and then y’all won’t carry out the desire of the flesh.For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. They are in conflict with one another, so that y’all don’t do whatever y’all want.
Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a straight way for us, for our little ones, and for all our possessions.
But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,so that humans will not notice you fasting, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.
“Moreover, when y’all fast, don’t be like the hypocrites with sullen faces. For they disfigure their faces so that humans will notice them fasting. Truly I tell y’all, they have received their reward.
Everyone who strives in the games exercises self-control in everything. They do it to receive a perishable crown, but we an incorruptible one.Therefore I do not run aimlessly, or box like one beating the air.Instead I beat my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself should not be disqualified.
I set my face to the Lord God, to seek by prayer and petitions, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.