In Scripture, prayer and fasting are often linked as disciplines that nurture a deeper relationship with God. Jesus taught His followers about the importance of humble and sincere prayer, warning against hypocritical displays of fasting, as seen in Matthew 6:16-18. The early church in Acts 14:23 and Acts 13:2 also practiced fasting and prayer when making important decisions or seeking guidance. Meanwhile, Isaiah 58:6 emphasizes the need for fasting to be accompanied by genuine repentance and compassion, while 1 Corinthians 7:5 suggests that even in marriage, couples may choose to fast and pray together for spiritual purposes.
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When you fast, do not be somber like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that your fasting will not be obvious to men, but only to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church, praying and fasting as they entrusted them to the Lord, in whom they had believed.
Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen: to break the chains of wickedness, to untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and tear off every yoke?
Do not deprive each other, except by mutual consent and for a time, so you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again, so that Satan will not tempt you through your lack of self-control.
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.”
and then was a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.
And after they had fasted and prayed, they laid their hands on them and sent them off.
When I heard these words, I sat down and wept. I mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
And there by the Ahava Canal I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask Him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions. For I was ashamed to ask the king for an escort of soldiers and horsemen to protect us from our enemies on the road, since we had told him, “The hand of our God is gracious to all who seek Him, but His great anger is against all who forsake Him.” So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and He granted our request.
“Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning.”
“Go and assemble all the Jews who can be found in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day, and I and my maidens will fast as you do. After that, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish! ”
At that time John’s disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Why is it that we and the Pharisees fast so often, but Your disciples do not fast?” Jesus replied, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while He is with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.
But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”
Consecrate a fast; proclaim a solemn assembly! Gather the elders and all the residents of the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD.
I ate no rich food, no meat or wine entered my mouth, and I did not anoint myself with oil until the three weeks were completed.
So Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.
“Why have we fasted, and You have not seen? Why have we humbled ourselves, and You have not noticed?” “Behold, on the day of your fast, you do as you please, and you oppress all your workers.
Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting, but my prayers returned unanswered.
Then the Israelites, all the people, went up to Bethel, where they sat weeping before the LORD. That day they fasted until evening and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings to the LORD.