60 Bible Verses about Fasting
Fasting might sound like a big, complicated word, but in the Bible, it’s all about something quite simple—getting closer to God. It’s like taking a break from our regular meals to focus on our faith and draw near to the Lord.
In this article, we’re going to explore what the Bible says about fasting in easy, understandable words. We’ll discover that fasting isn’t just about going without food; it’s about making our hearts and minds hungry for God’s presence.
As we read these verses, we’ll find that people in the Bible fasted for different reasons—sometimes to seek guidance, sometimes to repent for their mistakes, and sometimes just to be closer to God. It’s a way to say, “God, I need You more than anything else.”
Think of this article as a friendly chat about a simple but powerful way to grow in your faith. So, let’s embark on this journey together and see how the act of fasting can help us connect with God in a deeper way.
60 Bible Verses about Fasting
Matthew 6:16-18
“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
Acts 13:2-3
“While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.”
Isaiah 58:6-7
“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?”
Joel 2:12
“Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”
Ezra 8:21
“Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods.”
Daniel 9:3
“Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.”
Matthew 9:14-15
“Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, ‘Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?’ And Jesus said to them, ‘Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.'”
Acts 14:23
“And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.”
Esther 4:16
“Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.”
Psalm 69:10
“When I wept and humbled my soul with fasting, it became my reproach.”
Luke 2:37
“And then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.”
Acts 10:30
“And Cornelius said, ‘Four days ago, about this hour, I was praying in my house at the ninth hour, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing.'”
Nehemiah 9:1
“Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads.”
2 Samuel 12:16
“David therefore sought God on behalf of the child. And David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground.”
Matthew 4:2
“And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.”
Luke 4:1-2
“And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry.”
Acts 27:33-34
“As day was about to dawn, Paul urged them all to take some food, saying, ‘Today is the fourteenth day that you have continued in suspense and without food, having taken nothing.'”
1 Samuel 7:6
“So they gathered at Mizpah 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 people of Israel at Mizpah.”
Matthew 17:21
“But this kind never comes out except by prayer and fasting.”
1 Corinthians 7:5
“Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.”
Luke 18:12
“I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.”
Luke 18:9-14
“He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: ‘Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.'”
Zechariah 8:19
“Thus says the Lord of hosts: The fast of the fourth month and the fast of the fifth and the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth shall be to the house of Judah seasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. Therefore love truth and peace.”
Matthew 6:17
“But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face.”
Jonah 3:5-6
“And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.”
Joel 1:14
“Consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord.”
Isaiah 58:3
“Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’ Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers.”
Zechariah 7:5
“Say to all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth month and in the seventh, for these seventy years, was it for me that you fasted?'”
Luke 5:33-35
“And they said to him, ‘The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.’ And Jesus said to them, ‘Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.'”
Joel 2:15
“Blow the trumpet in Zion; consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly.”
Matthew 15:32
“Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, ‘I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.'”
Luke 2:37
“And then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.”
Acts 9:9
“And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.”
Matthew 6:16
“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.”
Nehemiah 1:4
“As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.”
2 Samuel 12:16
“David therefore sought God on behalf of the child. And David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground.”
Ezra 8:21-23
“Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods. For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, ‘The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.’ So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.”
Acts 13:2-3
“While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.”
Psalm 35:13
“But I, when they were sick— I wore sackcloth; I afflicted myself with fasting; I prayed with head bowed on my chest.”
1 Samuel 7:6
“So they gathered at Mizpah 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 people of Israel at Mizpah.”
Isaiah 58:6
“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?”
Acts 27:9
“Since much time had passed, and the voyage was now dangerous because even the Fast had already gone by, Paul advised them.”
Nehemiah 9:1
“Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads.”
Daniel 10:3
“I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, for the full three weeks.”
Matthew 4:2
“And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.”
Luke 4:2
“For forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry.”
Esther 4:3
“And in every province, wherever the king’s command and his decree reached, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting and weeping and lamenting, and many of them lay in sackcloth and ashes.”
Isaiah 58:4
“Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high.”
Acts 10:30
“And Cornelius said, ‘Four days ago, about this hour, I was praying in my house at the ninth hour, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing.'”
Matthew 15:37
“And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces left over.”
Isaiah 58:5
“Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the Lord?”
Joel 2:12
“Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”
Acts 9:8-9
“Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.”
Luke 2:37
“And then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.”
Nehemiah 9:1
“Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads.”
Matthew 6:16
“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.”
Psalm 69:10
“When I wept and humbled my soul with fasting, it became my reproach.”
Daniel 9:3
“Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.”
2 Chronicles 20:3
“Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.”
Matthew 15:32
“Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, ‘I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.'”
Conclusion
These Bible verses about fasting highlight its various forms, purposes, and historical contexts in the Bible. Fasting can be a powerful spiritual discipline when done with the right heart and intentions, seeking God’s guidance, repentance, and closeness to Him.
Fasting, as we have learned, is not just about going without food, but it’s a spiritual discipline that can help us refocus our hearts and minds on the Almighty.
Throughout the Bible, we see people fasting in times of joy, sorrow, seeking God’s guidance, and repenting for their actions. It’s a way of saying, “God, You are my priority.”
As we conclude, let’s remember that fasting is a personal and intimate act of devotion. It’s not about showing off or being seen by others but about a sincere hunger for God’s presence in our lives. Whether you choose to fast or not, what matters most is the condition of your heart and your desire to grow in your faith journey.
May these verses inspire you to seek God with all your heart, to draw near to Him in times of fasting, prayer, and reflection, and to live a life that honors Him in all you do.
