30 Powerful Bible Verses for Fasting: Seeking Spiritual Strength in God’s Word

Fasting is a powerful spiritual discipline that allows us to draw near to God, seek His will, and experience His presence in our lives. These verses reveal the significance of fasting throughout the Scriptures. May these verses inspire you as you go on your fasting journey, leading you into a deeper walk with God and a renewed sense of faith and purpose.

Remember, as you seek God with a humble heart, He will meet you and provide the strength and wisdom you need.

Fasting Bible Verses

Matthew 6:16-18 – “And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get. But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face. Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.”

Joel 2:12 – “That is why the Lord says, ‘Turn to me now, while there is time. Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning.'”

Ezra 8:23 – “So we fasted and earnestly prayed that our God would take care of us, and he heard our prayer.”

Isaiah 58:6 – “No, this is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people.”

Matthew 4:2 – “For forty days and forty nights, he fasted and became very hungry.”

Acts 14:23 – “Paul and Barnabas also appointed elders in every church. With prayer and fasting, they turned the elders over to the care of the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.”

Psalm 35:13 – “Yet when they were ill, I grieved for them. I denied myself by fasting for them, but my prayers returned unanswered.”

Luke 4:2 – “For forty days, Jesus was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over, he was hungry.”

Nehemiah 1:4 – “When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days, I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven.”

Mark 9:29 – “Jesus replied, ‘This kind can be cast out only by prayer and fasting.'”

Daniel 10:2-3 – “When this vision came to me, I, Daniel, had been in mourning for three whole weeks. All that time I had eaten no rich food. No meat or wine crossed my lips, and I used no fragrant lotions until those three weeks had passed.”

Matthew 9:14-15 – “One day the disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus and asked him, ‘Why don’t your disciples fast like we do and the Pharisees do?’ Jesus replied, ‘Do wedding guests mourn while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. But someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.'”

Psalm 69:10 – “When I weep and fast, they scoff at me.”

Luke 2:37 – “Then she lived as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer.”

Joel 1:14 – “Announce a time of fasting; call the people together for a solemn meeting. Bring the leaders and all the people of the land into the Temple of the Lord your God, and cry out to him there.”

1 Corinthians 7:5 – “Do not deprive each other of sexual relations unless you both agree to refrain from sexual intimacy for a limited time, so you can give yourselves more completely to prayer. Afterward, you should come together again so that Satan won’t be able to tempt you because of your lack of self-control.”

2 Samuel 12:16 – “David begged God to spare the child. He went without food and lay all night on the bare ground.”

Jonah 3:5-6 – “The people of Nineveh believed God’s message, and from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow.”

Esther 4:16 – “Go and gather together all the Jews of Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will do the same. And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must die, I must die.”

Acts 13:2-3 – “One day as these men were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Dedicate Barnabas and Saul for the special work to which I have called them.’ So after more fasting and prayer, the men laid their hands on them and sent them on their way.”

Isaiah 58:3 – “They act so pious! They come to the Temple every day and seem delighted to learn all about me. They act like a righteous nation that would never abandon the laws of its God. They ask me to take action on their behalf, pretending they want to be near me.”

Luke 18:12 – “I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.”

Zechariah 7:5 – “Say to all your people and your priests, ‘During these seventy years of exile, when you fasted and mourned in the summer and in early autumn, was it really for me that you were fasting?'”

Isaiah 58:4-5 – “What good is fasting when you keep on fighting and quarreling? This kind of fasting will never get you anywhere with me. You humble yourselves by going through the motions of penance, bowing your heads like reeds bending in the wind. You dress in burlap and cover yourselves with ashes. Is this what you call fasting? Do you really think this will please the Lord?”

Luke 2:37 – “Then she lived as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer.”

Zechariah 8:19 – “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: The traditional fasts and times of mourning you have kept in early summer, midsummer, autumn, and winter are now ended. They will become festivals of joy and celebration for the people of Judah. So love truth and peace.”

1 Samuel 7:6 – “So they gathered at Mizpah and, in a great ceremony, drew water from a well and poured it out before the Lord. They also went without food all day and confessed that they had sinned against the Lord. (It was at Mizpah that Samuel became Israel’s judge.)”

Matthew 9:14 – “One day the disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus and asked him, ‘Why don’t your disciples fast like we do and the Pharisees do?'”

Jeremiah 14:12 – “When they fast, I will pay no attention. When they present their burnt offerings and grain offerings to me, I will not accept them. Instead, I will devour them with war, famine, and disease.”

Daniel 9:3 – “So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and fasting. I also wore rough burlap and sprinkled myself with ashes.”

Short Prayer

Heavenly Father, as we go on this journey of fasting, we seek your presence and guidance. Help us to humble ourselves before you, and draw us closer to you. Open our eyes and ears to your voice, so that we may gain spiritual insight and experience breakthroughs in our lives. Please strengthen and fill us with your grace and love. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.