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Bible Verses About Fasting: What Scripture Says and How to Fast

Bible verses about fasting, with context: why people fasted, the types of fasts in Scripture, how fasting and prayer fit together, and how to begin.

Published 2026-10-25

Bible Verses About Fasting: What Scripture Says and How to Fast

Bible Verses About Fasting: What Scripture Says and How to Fast

Woman praying during a fast at home

The Bible’s verses about fasting say that a fast is a time of going without, usually food, to seek God. Nothing in them treats it as a way to earn favor. People fasted to repent, to ask for guidance, to grieve and to stand with the needy. Jesus assumed His followers would fast, and He taught how to do it: quietly, honestly and with your eyes on the Father. Below you’ll find the key passages, what each one means, the kinds of fasts Scripture describes, and a simple way to begin.

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TL;DR

Table of Contents

What the Bible means by fasting

In Scripture, fasting is mostly abstaining from food for a specific period of time for the purpose of seeking God. One Anglican guide describes it as an act of self-denial that humbles a person before God and restores reliance on Him. Andrews University researchers call it a physical and spiritual discipline that acknowledges our need for God and builds faith.

The same sources note that the principle can reach beyond meals: giving up any activity or pleasure for a season, in order to draw near to God, follows the same logic. That matters for readers who cannot safely go without food, and we come back to it below.

Hunger is the signal, not the goal. Every time your stomach complains, you are meant to turn toward God in prayer. A fast that produces only irritation or pride has missed the point.

The key Bible verses about fasting

These passages cover most of what Scripture teaches. Each one is short enough to memorize or write on a card. Quotations are from the King James Version.

Matthew 6:16-18: how Jesus taught us to fast

Jesus begins with “when ye fast,” not “if.” He then warns against turning a fast into a performance: the hypocrites disfigured their faces so that people would notice. His instruction is to anoint your head and wash your face, “That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret.” The promised result is that the Father who sees in secret “shall reward thee openly.”

The practical lesson: you do not need to announce a fast, look gaunt or make it a topic at dinner. Keep it between you and God, unless you are fasting with a church or family and are doing it together.

Isaiah 58:6-7: the fast God chooses

Isaiah records a people who fasted yet wondered why God did not respond. The answer is direct: “Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?” Verse 7 adds sharing bread with the hungry and bringing the poor into your house.

This passage answers the question of which fasting pleases God. Skipping meals while treating coworkers, family or workers unjustly is empty. The World Council of Churches makes the same connection, describing true fasting as linked to sharing resources with those in need. A good habit is to give the money you saved on food to someone who needs it.

Isaiah 58:6-7: the fast God chooses — overview diagram

Joel 2:12: return with all your heart

“Turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning.” Joel calls for an inward turning, and the next verse says to “rend your heart, and not your garments.” Fasting here is an outward sign of repentance, never a replacement for it.

Acts 13:2-3: fasting while seeking direction

The church at Antioch “ministered to the Lord, and fasted,” and the Holy Spirit directed them to send out Barnabas and Saul. They then fasted and prayed again before laying hands on them. Scholars note that in Acts, believers fasted while seeking guidance from the Lord. If you face a decision, our guide to Bible verses about guidance gives you passages to pray through during a fast.

Matthew 4:2: Jesus fasts in the wilderness

After His baptism Jesus fasted forty days and forty nights, and was then tempted. He answered each temptation with Scripture. Fasting does not make temptation disappear, and it often brings it closer, which is why it helps to have verses ready. We collected them in Bible verses about temptation.

Daniel 9:3: fasting with prayer and humility

Daniel writes, “And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.” The prayer that follows is a confession on behalf of his people. Fasting sits right beside prayer throughout his book.

Psalm 35:13 and Ezra 8:23: humbling and asking

David says, “I humbled my soul with fasting,” while praying for friends who were sick. In Ezra 8:21-23 the returning exiles fasted to ask God for a safe journey, and Ezra reports, “So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was intreated of us.” Both show fasting used for intercession, for other people and for protection.

Jonah 3:5: a city fasts

“So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least.” The whole city turned, and God relented. Corporate repentance is one of the clearest biblical purposes for fasting.

Matthew 9:15: the bridegroom is taken away

Asked why His disciples did not fast, Jesus said the wedding guests cannot mourn while the bridegroom is with them, but “then shall they fast.” Christians have long read this as permission, even expectation, to fast in the time after His ascension.

Why people fasted in the Bible

Scripture gives several reasons. Seeing them side by side helps you choose a purpose for your own fast.

Purpose Example Reference
Repentance Israel at Mizpah; Nineveh 1 Samuel 7:6; Jonah 3:5
Seeking guidance The church at Antioch Acts 13:2-3
Protection and help Ezra’s company Ezra 8:21-23
Grief and mourning David after Saul’s death 2 Samuel 1:12
Intercession David for the sick Psalm 35:13
Spiritual preparation Jesus in the wilderness Matthew 4:2
Justice and mercy The fast God chooses Isaiah 58:6-7

Fasting is associated with repentance of sins, including at Mizpah and Nineveh. The same World Council of Churches piece says fasting aims to humble oneself, clarify prayer and worship, and evoke empathy with those who are hungry.

Fasting and prayer belong together

The Bible rarely mentions fasting without prayer. In the Old Testament, fasting frequently accompanies prayer, and Ezra’s journey is one example. Without prayer, a fast is only hunger.

A simple way to use the time you would spend eating:

  1. Read a short passage, such as Matthew 6:16-18 or Isaiah 58, slowly.
  2. Pray for the one thing you are fasting for, by name.
  3. Pray for someone else.
  4. Sit in silence for a few minutes and write down what comes to mind.

If you want a broader scriptural overview of how fasting deepens communion with God, this study of fasting in Scripture walks through many of the same passages.

People who fasted in the Bible

The Anglican guide names a long list of biblical figures who fasted: Moses, David, Elijah, Daniel, Paul and Jesus. Their references are:

Groups fasted as well. The men of Jabesh fasted seven days after recovering the bodies of Saul and Jonathan, and David’s men fasted until evening when they heard of the deaths, according to Bible.org’s survey of fasting in Scripture.

Types of fasting in the Bible

The Bible does not hand us a menu, but its examples fall into a few kinds.

Partial fast. Daniel asked for vegetables and water instead of the king’s food (Daniel 1:12). Later he ate no delicacies such as meat and wine for three weeks (Daniel 10:3). This is the gentlest model and a practical starting point for many people.

Normal fast. Going without food but drinking water, as Jesus is described in Matthew 4:2, where the text mentions hunger but not thirst.

Absolute fast. No food and no water, as Esther requested (Esther 4:15-16) and as Paul experienced for three days (Acts 9:9). Bible.org points out that such a fast should be limited, because people can survive without liquid for only about three days. These are emergency fasts, not routines, and no one should attempt one without medical advice.

Corporate fast. A community fasts together: Nineveh, or Israel at Mizpah. National fast days were rare before the exile and became more frequent afterward, to remember the destruction of the temple.

Four types of fasting described in Scripture

Required fast. The only fast the Old Testament law required was the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:31; 23:27-32; Numbers 29:7), according to a Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society article. Every other fast in Scripture was voluntary or called for a particular moment.

How to fast biblically: a simple plan

  1. Name your purpose. Repentance, guidance, a burden for someone, or simply wanting to know God better. Write it in one sentence.
  2. Choose the kind and length. Start small: one meal, then a day. The Anglican guide suggests a three-day fast is especially suited to seeking guidance on weighty matters, but nothing requires you to begin there.
  3. Plan the time you will pray. Replace the meal with Scripture and prayer rather than just surviving until the next one.
  4. Keep it quiet. Follow Matthew 6:17-18. Do your normal work and do not advertise it.
  5. Do justice and mercy. Give what you saved, or serve someone, as Isaiah 58 asks.
  6. End gently. Break the fast with a light meal, and thank God for it.

When not to fast from food

If you are pregnant, nursing, diabetic, taking medication that needs food, or recovering from illness, speak to your doctor before changing how you eat. If you have, or are recovering from, an eating disorder, do not fast from food at all. Talk to your doctor or counselor, and fast from something else: social media, television, online shopping or late-night scrolling. Scripture’s idea of fasting allows for this, since the principle is giving up a pleasure to draw near to God. Some readers who fast also notice sadness or loneliness rising. If that happens, stop, eat, and reach out to a pastor, friend or counselor. Nothing in Scripture asks you to harm yourself.

Bible verses to read while you fast

Have a few passages ready so hunger turns into prayer instead of distraction. Here is a short set, grouped by what you may need.

Morning is often the hardest hour to skip a meal. A short practice from our collection of Bible verses for morning can fill that time.

Our perspective on fasting

At BibleManna we organize Scripture by the situations people actually bring to it, and fasting comes up again and again: before a decision, in a season of grief, in a family crisis. What we have noticed is that readers rarely need more rules. They need the verses in context, so that the fast stays tied to the God who invites it.

That is why we read these passages together rather than one at a time. Matthew 6 warns against showing off, Isaiah 58 warns against fasting without mercy, and Joel 2 warns against outward show without the heart. The three together protect you from the most common errors: pride, self-reliance and religious performance.

We would also say plainly that fasting is not a technique that forces God’s hand. It humbles us, and it clears away noise so we can hear. Begin small, keep it honest, and let it lead you into prayer and into generosity.

— Nkosi

Go deeper with BibleManna

BibleManna offers topical verse collections with full text and context, plus tools like a translation comparison, so you can read a fasting passage in several versions side by side. You can browse all our themes on the BibleManna home page. If you read Spanish or Italian, we also have fasting guides in those languages: Versículos sobre el ayuno and Cosa dice la Bibbia sul digiuno.

FAQ

What scriptures should I read while fasting?

Start with Matthew 6:16-18, Isaiah 58:6-7, Joel 2:12-13 and Acts 13:1-3. Add Psalm 51 if you are fasting in repentance, or Matthew 4:1-11 if you are facing temptation. Read slowly and pray over a single verse rather than racing through many.

Which fasting pleases God?

Isaiah 58 says the fast God chooses involves freeing the oppressed, sharing food with the hungry and caring for the poor. Jesus adds in Matthew 6 that it should be done sincerely, not to be seen. A fast with a humble heart, a prayerful focus and acts of mercy fits both passages.

How long should a biblical fast last?

Scripture gives examples from one day to forty days, but it sets no standard length for believers. Many people begin with a meal or a day. Longer fasts, especially from food, should be discussed with a doctor first.

Do Christians have to fast?

The only fast required in the Old Testament law was the Day of Atonement. In the New Testament, Jesus speaks of what to do “when ye fast” and says His disciples will fast after He is gone, but He gives no schedule. Churches differ on how and when to practice it, so ask your pastor how your community observes it.

Sources

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