Scriptures to Read When Fasting and Praying
Prayer and fasting should be a regular practice in the Christian life. If you’re unfamiliar with fasting, it’s when you choose not to eat food for a certain amount of time.
You might hear of different fasts such as the Daniel Fast, or see someone post about fasting from alcohol.
Those things are good and can bring you closer to God, but it’s not necessarily fasting. The word used in the New Testament for fasting means you’re forgoing food. Before you begin a fast, it’s important to ensure your body can handle the physical impact of not eating. If you have any health concerns, you should talk to your doctor first.
Read more about Biblical fasting.
During your fast, you should be focused more on the things of God. This means that you’re spending more time in prayer, reading the Bible, and listening to the Holy Spirit. I know that I’ve fasted with the wrong intentions and it was more like a hunger strike. Unfortunately, I didn’t grow closer to God.
Here are Bible verses to focus on during your time of prayer and fasting:
1. “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”
James 4:8 NKJV
2. “Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings.”
Hebrews 10:22 NIV
3. “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
Jeremiah 29:13 NIV
One of God’s promises is to draw close to us when we draw near to Him. God says that He never leaves us, nor forsakes us, but it’s clear that there are times when we’re closer to Him or further away. Prayer and fasting is something we can do to draw close to God and we can expect Him to draw close to us in return.
4. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.”
Matthew 5:6 NKJV
5. “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?.”
Isaiah 58:6 NIV
6. “So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.”
Daniel 9:3 NIV
Fasting gives us an opportunity to turn away from the mistakes we’ve made, renew our mind, and come closer relationship with God. This is one way to humble yourself before God and recommit yourself to following Him and trusting Him with your whole heart.
7. “Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him the right way for us and our little ones and all our possessions.”
Ezra 8:21 NKJV
8. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Matthew 26:41 NIV
9. “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
Hebrews 11:6 NJKV
10. “Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry, but those who trust in the LORD will lack no good thing.”
Psalm 34:10 NLT
11. “The people of Nineveh believed God’s message, and from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow.”
Jonah 3:5 NLT
12. “But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
Matthew 6:17-18 NIV
13. “The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him.”
Lamentations 3:25 NJKV
14. ““Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”
Matthew 7:7 NIV
Remember that the purpose of fasting is to seek God.
Fasting will deny what our flesh wants and stir up a spiritual hunger that God will satisfy. During your fast, you should be expectant for God to draw near and reward you.
