27 Bible Verses about Fasting, Reasons For

And when all Jabeshgilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul, all the valiant men arose and took away the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons and brought them to Jabesh and buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh and fasted seven days.

And when the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul, all the valiant men arose and went all night and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Bethshan and came to Jabesh and burnt them there. And they took their bones and buried them under a tree at Jabesh and fasted seven days.

Then David took hold on his clothes and rent them and likewise all the men that were with him. And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son and for the people of the LORD, and for the house of Israel because they had fallen by the sword.

Then David said to Joab and to all the people that were with him, Rend your clothes and gird yourselves with sackcloth and mourn before Abner. And King David himself followed the bier. And they buried Abner in Hebron, and the king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner, and all the people wept. And the king lamented over Abner and said, Abner died the death of a fool!read more.
Thy hands were not bound nor thy feet put into fetters. Thou didst fall as a man falls before wicked men. And all the people wept again over him. And when all the people came to cause David to eat food while it was yet day, David swore, saying, So do God to me, and more also if I taste bread or anything else until the sun is down.

And this would happen year by year when she went up to the house of the LORD, so she would provoke her; therefore, she would weep and not eat.

So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food the second day of the new moon, for he was grieved for David and because his father had done him shame.

And Ahab came into his house, sad and angry, because of the word which Naboth of Jezreel had spoken to him, for he had said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. And he lay down upon his bed and turned away his face and would eat no bread. And Jezebel, his wife, came to him and said unto him, Why is thy spirit so sad that thou dost eat no bread? And he said unto her, Because I spoke with Naboth of Jezreel and said unto him, Give me thy vineyard for money; or else, if it please thee, I will give thee another vineyard for it; and he answered, I will not give thee my vineyard.

My knees are weak through fasting, and my flesh fails for lack of fatness.

Then the king went to his palace and lay down without eating; neither were instruments of music brought before him, and his sleep fled from him.

And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take food, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye have waited and continued fasting, having taken nothing.

And Samuel said, Gather all Israel in Mizpeh, and I will pray for you unto the LORD. And they gathered together in Mizpeh 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 sons of Israel in Mizpeh.

Now in the twenty-fourth day of this month, the sons of Israel were assembled with fasting and with sackcloth and earth upon them. And the seed of Israel had separated themselves from all strangers and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. And they stood up in their place and read in the book of the law of the LORD their God one fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed and worshipped the LORD their God.

And I turned my face unto the Lord God, seeking him in prayer and supplication, in fasting and sackcloth, and ashes: and I prayed unto the LORD my God and made my confession and said, Now O Lord, thou great God who is worthy to be feared, who keeps the covenant and the mercy with those that love thee and keep thy commandments; we have sinned, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly, and we have been rebels, and we have departed from thy commandments and from thy judgments.read more.
We have not hearkened unto thy slaves the prophets, who spoke in thy name to our kings and to our princes, to our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

And whiles I was speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God;

Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the present and the drink offering is taken away from the house of your God. Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the earth into the house of the LORD your God and cry unto the LORD.

Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn unto me with all your heart and with fasting and with weeping, and with mourning: and rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and great in mercy, and he does repent of chastisement. Who knows if he will return and repent and leave a blessing behind him even a present and a drink offering unto the LORD your God?read more.
Blow the shofar in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:

So the people of Nineveh believed God and proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he threw his robe from him and covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing; let them not feed, nor drink water:read more.
but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth and cry mightily unto God; and let each one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent and turn away from his fierce anger, that we not perish?

And Nathan departed unto his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah's wife had given birth unto David, and it was very sick. David, therefore, besought God for the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night upon the earth. And the elders of his house arose and went to him to raise him up from the earth, but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them.

Then some came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, There comes a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea, and from Syria; and, behold, they are in Hazazontamar, which is Engedi. Then Jehoshaphat feared and set himself to seek the LORD and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah gathered themselves together, to consult the LORD; and out of all the cities of Judah they came to consult the LORD.

Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us and for our little ones and for all our substance.

But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth; I humbled my soul with fasting, and my prayer rose up in my bosom. I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother; I bowed down heavily, as one that mourns for his mother.

Then all the sons of Israel and all the people went up and came unto the house of God and wept and sat there before the LORD and fasted that day until evening and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD. And the sons of Israel enquired of the LORD (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, and Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days), saying, Shall I yet again go out to battle against the sons of Benjamin, my brother, or shall I cease? And the LORD said, Go up, for tomorrow I will deliver them into thy hand.

When I climbed up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant which the LORD made with you, then I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights, without eating bread or drinking water;

In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans; in the first year of his reign, I Daniel saw diligently in the books the number of the years, of which the LORD spoke unto Jeremiah the prophet, which would conclude the desolation of Jerusalem in seventy years. And I turned my face unto the Lord God, seeking him in prayer and supplication, in fasting and sackcloth, and ashes:

In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia the Word was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the Word was true, but the time appointed was long: and he understood the Word, and had intelligence in the vision. In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three weeks of days.

Now there were in the congregation that was at Antioch prophets and teachers: Barnabas and Simeon that was called Niger and Lucius of Cyrene and Manaen, who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work unto which I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they released them.

And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together and they vowed under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. And they were more than forty who had made this conspiracy.