Fasting is a powerful spiritual practice found throughout the Bible. It involves giving up food to focus deeply on prayer and seeking God. When prayers seem stuck, fasting can help break through spiritual barriers.
The Bible shows that God’s people fasted when facing difficult situations or needing answers. Jesus himself fasted and taught his followers about this discipline. Through fasting with prayer, believers can experience God’s breakthrough power in impossible situations.
90 Bible Verses About Fasting for Breakthrough
1. Matthew 17:21 (NKJV)
“However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”
2. Joel 2:12 (NIV)
“Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.”
3. Isaiah 58:6 (ESV)
“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?”
4. 2 Chronicles 20:3 (NLT)
“Jehoshaphat was terrified by this news and begged the Lord for guidance. He also ordered everyone in Judah to begin fasting.”
5. Esther 4:16 (CSB)
“Go and assemble all the Jews who can be found in Susa and fast for me. Don’t eat or drink for three days, night or day. 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.”
6. Daniel 10:3 (NASB)
“I did not eat any tasty food, nor did meat or wine enter my mouth, nor did I use any ointment at all until the entire three weeks were completed.”
7. 1 Samuel 7:6 (KJV)
“And they gathered together to 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 children of Israel in Mizpeh.”
8. Acts 13:2-3 (NRSV)
“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.”
9. Matthew 6:17-18 (MSG)
“When you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face so no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.”
10. Nehemiah 1:4 (AMP)
“Now it came about when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.”
11. Ezra 8:21 (NET)
“I called for a fast there by the Ahava Canal, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us, our children, and all our possessions.”
12. Luke 4:2 (HCSB)
“He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for 40 days to be tempted by the Devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over, He was hungry.”
13. Acts 14:23 (CEV)
“Paul and Barnabas chose some men to be elders in each church. The apostles prayed and went without eating for a while. Then they put these men in God’s care.”
14. Daniel 9:3 (GNT)
“So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.”
15. 1 Kings 21:27 (NCV)
“When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes and put on rough cloth. He refused to eat, and he slept in the rough cloth to show how sad he was.”
16. Psalm 35:13 (ISV)
“But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth; I humbled my soul with fasting, and my prayer kept returning to my bosom.”
17. Mark 9:29 (TLV)
“And He said to them, ‘This kind cannot come out by anything except prayer.'”
18. Judges 20:26 (LEB)
“Then all the sons of Israel and all the people went up and came to Bethel and wept; thus they remained there before Yahweh and fasted that day until evening. And they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before Yahweh.”
19. 1 Corinthians 7:5 (WEB)
“Don’t deprive one another, unless it is by consent for a season, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer, and may be together again, that Satan doesn’t tempt you because of your lack of self-control.”
20. 2 Samuel 12:16 (ASV)
“David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth.”
21. Jonah 3:5 (RSV)
“And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.”
22. Matthew 4:2 (NAB)
“After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.”
23. Isaiah 58:8 (DRB)
“Then shall thy light breake foorth as the morning, and thy health shall growe speedily: thy righteousnes shall goe before thee, and the glorie of the Lord shall embrace thee.”
24. Luke 2:37 (ERV)
“and she had been a widow for about fourscore and four years), which departed not from the temple, worshipping with fastings and supplications night and day.”
25. Acts 27:9 (YLT)
“And much time being spent, and the sailing being now dangerous, because of the fast being already past, Paul was admonishing.”
26. 1 Kings 19:8 (DARBY)
“And he arose, and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.”
27. Psalm 109:24 (WNT)
“My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh faileth of fatness.”
28. Leviticus 16:29 (WYC)
“And this schal be to you a lawful thing euerlastynge; in the seuenthe monethe, in the tenthe dai of the monethe, ye schulen turmente youre soulis, and ye schulen not do ony werk, nethir a man borun in the lond, nether a comelyng that is a pilgrim among you.”
29. Zechariah 8:19 (GNV)
“Thus sayth the Lord of hostes, The fast of the fourth moneth, and the fast of the fift, and the fast of the seuenth, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Iudah ioy and gladnesse, and prosperous hie feastes: therefore loue the trueth and peace.”
30. 2 Chronicles 20:4 (Bishop’s Bible)
“And Iuda came together to aske helpe of the Lorde: and out of all the cities of Iuda they came to seke the Lord.”
31. Matthew 9:15 (Tyndale)
“And Iesus sayde vnto them: Can the chyldren of the brydechamber morne as longe as the brydegrome is with them? The tyme wyll come, when the brydegrome shalbe taken from them, and then shall they fast.”
32. Acts 9:9 (TLB)
“And for three days he could not see, and he did not eat or drink anything.”
33. Daniel 6:18 (TPT)
“Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting. He couldn’t sleep and refused to be entertained.”
34. Matthew 15:32 (VOICE)
“Then Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, ‘My heart is moved with pity and sympathy for this crowd, because they have been with Me now three days and they have nothing [left] to eat; and I am not willing to send them away hungry, because they might faint on the road.'”
35. Isaiah 58:3 (NIrV)
“They say, ‘We have gone without food to honor you. Why don’t you see us doing it? We have kept ourselves from eating. Why don’t you pay any attention to us?'”
36. Ezra 8:23 (NIV)
“So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer.”
37. Psalm 69:10 (NIV)
“When I wept and humbled my soul with fasting, it became my reproach.”
38. Joel 2:13 (NIV)
“Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.”
39. Isaiah 58:4 (NIV)
“Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.”
40. Exodus 34:28 (NIV)
“Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.”
41. 2 Samuel 1:12 (NIV)
“They mourned and wept and fasted till evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the army of the Lord and for the nation of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.”
42. 1 Samuel 31:13 (NIV)
“Then they took their bones and buried them under a tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and they fasted seven days.”
43. Ezra 8:22 (NKJV)
“For I was ashamed to request of the king an escort of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the road, because we had spoken to the king, saying, ‘The hand of our God is upon all those for good who seek Him, but His power and His wrath are against all those who forsake Him.'”
44. Zechariah 7:5 (NKJV)
“Say to all the people of the land, and to the priests: ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months during those seventy years, did you really fast for Me—for Me?'”
45. 2 Chronicles 7:14 (ESV)
“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
46. Judges 20:23 (NIV)
“The Israelites went up and wept before the Lord until evening, and they inquired of the Lord. They said, ‘Shall we go up again to fight against the Benjamites, our fellow Israelites?’ The Lord answered, ‘Go up against them.'”
47. 1 Samuel 1:7 (NIV)
“This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the Lord, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat.”
48. 2 Samuel 12:22 (NIV)
“He answered, ‘While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, “Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.”‘”
49. 2 Samuel 3:35 (NIV)
“Then they all came and urged David to eat something while it was still day; but David took an oath, saying, ‘May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun sets!'”
50. 1 Kings 21:9 (NIV)
“In those letters she wrote: ‘Proclaim a day of fasting and seat Naboth in a prominent place among the people.'”
51. Nehemiah 9:1 (NIV)
“On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and putting dust on their heads.”
52. Esther 4:3 (NIV)
“In every province to which the edict and order of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes.”
53. Esther 9:31 (NIV)
“to establish these days of Purim at their designated times, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had decreed for them, and as they had established for themselves and their descendants in regard to their times of fasting and lamentation.”
54. Psalm 109:4 (NIV)
“In return for my friendship they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer.”
55. Isaiah 58:5 (ESV)
“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?”
56. Isaiah 58:7 (ESV)
“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?”
57. Isaiah 58:9 (ESV)
“Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness.”
58. Jeremiah 14:12 (NIV)
“Although they fast, I will not listen to their cry; though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will destroy them with the sword, famine and plague.”
59. Jeremiah 36:6 (NIV)
“So you go to the house of the Lord on a day of fasting and read to the people from the scroll the words of the Lord that you wrote as I dictated. Read them to all the people of Judah who come in from their towns.”
60. Daniel 1:12 (NIV)
“Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink.”
61. Daniel 9:18 (NIV)
“Give ear, our God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy.”
62. Joel 1:14 (NIV)
“Declare a holy fast; call a sacred assembly. Summon the elders and all who live in the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord.”
63. Joel 2:15 (NIV)
“Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly.”
64. Zechariah 7:3 (NIV)
“by asking the priests of the house of the Lord Almighty and the prophets, ‘Should I mourn and fast in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?'”
65. Malachi 3:14 (NIV)
“You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What do we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord Almighty?'”
66. Matthew 6:16 (NIV)
“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.”
67. Matthew 9:14 (NIV)
“Then John’s disciples came and asked him, ‘How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?'”
68. Luke 5:33 (NIV)
“They said to him, ‘John’s disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and drinking.'”
69. Luke 5:34 (NIV)
“Jesus answered, ‘Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while he is with them?'”
70. Luke 5:35 (NIV)
“But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days they will fast.”
71. Luke 18:12 (NIV)
“I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.”
72. John 4:32 (NASB)
“But He said to them, ‘I have food to eat that you do not know about.'”
73. Acts 10:30 (NIV)
“Cornelius answered: ‘Three days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me.'”
74. Acts 13:3 (NIV)
“So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.”
75. Romans 14:17 (NIV)
“For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
76. 1 Corinthians 9:27 (NIV)
“No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”
77. 2 Corinthians 6:5 (NIV)
“in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger.”
78. 2 Corinthians 11:27 (NIV)
“I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.”
79. Philippians 3:19 (NIV)
“Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things.”
80. Colossians 2:23 (NIV)
“Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.”
81. Hebrews 12:1 (NIV)
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”
82. James 5:13 (NIV)
“Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.”
83. James 5:16 (NIV)
“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”
84. 1 Timothy 2:1 (ESV)
“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people.”
85. Matthew 5:6 (NASB)
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
86. Romans 13:12 (NIV)
“The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.”
87. Ephesians 6:10 (NIV)
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.”
88. Ephesians 3:20 (NIV)
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.”
89. Hebrews 13:8 (NIV)
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
90. 1 Peter 5:8 (NIV)
“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
Frequently Asked Questions
What is fasting for breakthrough?
Fasting for breakthrough is voluntarily giving up food to seek God intensely through prayer when facing difficult or impossible situations.
How long should I fast for a breakthrough?
The length varies based on God’s leading, ranging from one meal to several days, with most common fasts being 1-3 days.
Can I drink water while fasting?
Yes, most biblical fasts allow water, and staying hydrated is important for your health during extended fasts.
Does fasting guarantee God will answer my prayers?
Fasting doesn’t manipulate God but positions your heart to receive His will and breaks spiritual barriers hindering breakthrough.
What should I do while fasting besides not eating?
Spend extra time in prayer, worship, reading Scripture, and listening for God’s guidance throughout your fast.
Conclusion
Fasting for breakthrough is a powerful biblical practice that connects us deeply with God. When prayers seem stuck and situations feel impossible, fasting combined with prayer can break spiritual barriers.
The Bible shows us countless examples of God’s people receiving miracles through fasting. Remember that fasting is not about earning God’s favor or forcing His hand. It’s about humbling ourselves, seeking His face, and positioning our hearts to receive what He wants to give.
Say This Prayer
Heavenly Father, I come to You with an impossible situation. My prayers seem stuck and I need a breakthrough. I sense You calling me to fast and seek You. Help me fast with pure motives, seeking Your face not just answers.
Keep me from treating fasting as manipulation. Let this fast show my complete dependence on You. Break down barriers hindering Your work in this situation. Remove obstacles in me, in others, or in the spiritual realm.
Give me strength to complete this fast with joy. Help me combine fasting with prayer, worship, and Your Word. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
David is the founder of devotionnest.com, a site dedicated to Bible Verses and clever wordplay. He loves turning language into laughter and making words wonderfully witty.