38 Bible Verses about Fasting And Prayer

[However, this kind does not come out except by prayer and fasting.]”

And He told them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer [and fasting].”

“Whenever you fast, don’t be sad-faced like the hypocrites. For they make their faces unattractive so their fasting is obvious to people. I assure you: They’ve got their reward!

But when you fast, put oil on your head, and wash your face,

Then after they had fasted, prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them off.

Do not deprive one another sexually—except when you agree for a time, to devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again; otherwise, Satan may tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

and was a widow for 84 years. She did not leave the temple complex, serving God night and day with fasting and prayers.

Then they said to Him, “John’s disciples fast often and say prayers, and those of the Pharisees do the same, but Yours eat and drink.”

As they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work I have called them to.”

so that you don’t show your fasting to people but to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

You fast with contention and strife
to strike viciously with your fist.
You cannot fast as you do today,
hoping to make your voice heard on high.

So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and petitions, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.

In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three full weeks.

Even now—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
turn to Me with all your heart,
with fasting, weeping, and mourning.

After He had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, He was hungry.

Then John’s disciples came to Him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?”

Jehoshaphat was afraid, and he resolved to seek the Lord. Then he proclaimed a fast for all Judah,

David pleaded with God for the boy. He fasted, went home, and spent the night lying on the ground.

Cornelius replied, “Four days ago at this hour, at three in the afternoon, I was praying in my house. Just then a man in a dazzling robe stood before me

Announce a sacred fast;
proclaim an assembly!
Gather the elders
and all the residents of the land
at the house of the Lord your God,
and cry out to the Lord.

When I heard these words, I sat down and wept. I mourned for a number of days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

So we fasted and pleaded with our God about this, and He granted our request.

My knees are weak from fasting,
and my body is emaciated.

“Don’t be afraid, Daniel,” he said to me, “for from the first day that you purposed to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your prayers were heard. I have come because of your prayers.

I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get.’

“Go and assemble all the Jews who can be found in Susa and fast for me. Don’t eat or drink for three days, day or night. I and my female servants will also fast in the same way. After that, I will go to the king even if it is against the law. If I perish, I perish.”

“Why have we fasted, but You have not seen?
We have denied ourselves, but You haven’t noticed!”
“Look, you do as you please on the day of your fast,
and oppress all your workers.

Samuel said, “Gather all Israel at Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord on your behalf.”

Yet when they were sick,
my clothing was sackcloth;
I humbled myself with fasting,
and my prayer was genuine.

The men of Nineveh believed in God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth—from the greatest of them to the least.

“Ask all the people of the land and the priests: When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and in the seventh months for these 70 years, did you really fast for Me?

In the letters, she wrote:

Proclaim a fast and seat Naboth at the head of the people.

When they had appointed elders in every church and prayed with fasting, they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

I proclaimed a fast by the Ahava River, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask Him for a safe journey for us, our children, and all our possessions.

Isn’t the fast I choose:
To break the chains of wickedness,
to untie the ropes of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free,
and to tear off every yoke?

“The Lord of Hosts says this: The fast of the fourth month, the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth will become times of joy, gladness, and cheerful festivals for the house of Judah. Therefore, love truth and peace.”

But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the preaching ministry.”

On the twenty-fourth day of this month the Israelites assembled; they were fasting, wearing sackcloth, and had put dust on their heads.