Fasting . abstaining from food and certain creature comforts for spiritual
purposes
1-Day Fast:
Leviticus 23:27
Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it
shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer
an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
Jeremiah 36:6
Therefore go thou, and read in the roll, which thou hast written from my mouth,
the words of the LORD in the ears of the people in the LORD’s house upon the
fasting day: and also thou shalt read them in the ears of all Judah that come out
of their cities.
3-Day Total Fast:
Esther 4:16
Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me,
and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will
fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the
law: and if I perish, I perish.
Daniel Fast (21 Days):
Daniel 10:2-3
2 In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks.
3 I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did
I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.
(neither did I anoint myself . to abstain from personal comforts)
40-Day Fast:
Moses:
Exodus 24:18
And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and
Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.
Exodus 34:28
And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat
bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant,
the ten commandments.
Elijah:
1 Kings 19:5-8
5 And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched
him, and said unto him, Arise and eat.
6 And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse
of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again.
7 And the angel of the LORD came again the second time, and touched him,
and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee.
8 And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat
forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.
Jesus:
Matthew 4:2
And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an
hungred.
Luke 4:1-2
1 And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by
the Spirit into the wilderness,
2 Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing:
and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.
1. It is biblical to call a fast when facing a community crisis.
Esther 4:16
Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me,
and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will
fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the
law: and if I perish, I perish.
Acts 27:33-34
33 And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take meat,
saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye have tarried and continued
fasting, having taken nothing.
34 Wherefore I pray you to take some meat: for this is for your health: for there
shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you.
2. It is biblical to call a fast when seeking direction from God.
Acts 13:2-3
2 As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me
Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.
3 And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent
them away.
Acts 14:23
And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with
fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.
3. It is biblical to call a fast for revelation and enlightenment.
Daniel 9:3
And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplication, with
fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:
Daniel 10:2-3
2 In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks.
3 I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did
I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.
Acts 10:30-33
30 And Cornelius said, Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the
ninth hour I prayed in my house, and, behold, a man stood before me in bright
clothing,
31 And said, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and thine alms are had in
remembrance in the sight of God.
32 Send therefore to Joppa, and call hither Simon, whose surname is Peter; he
is lodged in the house of one Simon a tanner by the sea side: who, when he
cometh, shall speak unto thee.
33 Immediately therefore I sent to thee; and thou hast well done that thou art
come. Now therefore are we all here present before God, to hear all things that
are commanded thee of God.
4. It is biblical to call a fast facing personal problems.
2 Samuel 12:16-20
16 David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and
lay all night upon the earth.
17 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.
18 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of
David feared to tell him that the child was dead: for they said, Behold, while the child
was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice: how will
he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead?
19 But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child
was dead: therefore David said unto his servants, Is the child dead? And they said,
He is dead.
20 Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed
his apparel, and came into the house of the LORD, and worshipped: then he came to
his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat.
5. It is biblical to call a fast for physical reasons.
Daniel 1:1-20
1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.
2 And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of
the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in
Babylonia and put in the treasure house of his god.
3 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring in some of the
Israelites from the royal family and the nobility.
4 young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind
of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s
palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians.
5 The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They
were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service.
6 Among these were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.
7 The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to
Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.
8 But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked
the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.
9 Now God had caused the official to show favor and sympathy to Daniel,
10 but the official told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned
your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men
your age? The king would then have my head because of you.”
11 Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel,
Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah,
12 “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and
water to drink.
13 Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food,
and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.” 14 So he agreed to this and
tested them for ten days.
15 At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of
the young men who ate the royal food.
16 So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave
them vegetables instead.
17 To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of
literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.
18 At the end of the time set by the king to bring them in, the chief official presented
them to Nebuchadnezzar.
19 The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael
and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service
20 In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned
them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his
whole kingdom.
6. It is biblical to call a fast to humble yourself.
Psalm 35:13
But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul
with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom.
Psalm 69:10
When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach.
7. It is biblical to call a fast to seek God.s presence and power.
Luke 5:33-35
33 And they said unto him, Why do the disciples of John fast often, and make prayers,
and likewise the disciples of the Pharisees; but thine eat and drink?
34 And he said unto them, Can ye make the children of the bridechamber fast, while
the bridegroom is with them?
35 But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and
then shall they fast in those days.
Joel 1:14
Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of
the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD,
Joel 2:15
Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:
Joel 2:28
And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your
young men shall see visions:
• We should pray when fasting (Daniel 9:3).
• We should fast often (2 Cor. 6:5; 11:27).
Anna the prophetess served God in the temple with fastings and prayers night and
day (Luke 2:36-37).