Fasting in Hebrew implies hunger, shutting of the mouth from food, 

Fasting in Greek is to abstain from food

 

Scriptural Purposes of Fasting:

Mourning; Humble one’s self; afflict/chasten our souls, buffet flesh; to ask for the Lord’s help; to seek the right way; Repentance; to loose the bands of wickedness; undo heavy burdens; let oppressed go free; break every yoke; feed hungry & clothe naked (with funds you would have spent on food); commissioning of leaders; turning our attention from the natural to the spiritual.

 

When to Fast:

Set feasts; time of mourning; 4th, 5th, 7th, & 10th months ( Hebrew calendar); to afflict soul and humble one’s self.

 

Jdg 20:26  Then all the children of Israel, that is, all the people, went up and came to the house of God and wept. They sat there before the LORD and fasted that day until evening; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD. 

 

1Sa 7:3  Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, "If you return to the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths from among you, and prepare your hearts for the LORD, and serve Him only; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines."

1Sa 7:4  So the children of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and served the LORD only.

1Sa 7:5  And Samuel said, "Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the LORD for you."

1Sa 7:6  So they gathered together at Mizpah, drew water, and poured it out before the LORD. And they fasted that day, and said there, "We have sinned against the LORD." And Samuel judged the children of Israel at Mizpah.

 

1Sa 31:13  Then they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days. 

 

2Sa 1:12  And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son, for the people of the LORD and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword. 

 

2Sa 12:15  Then Nathan departed to his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah's wife bore to David, and it became ill.

2Sa 12:16  David therefore pleaded with God for the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground.

2Sa 12:17  So the elders of his house arose and went to him, to raise him up from the ground. But he would not, nor did he eat food with them.

2Sa 12:18  Then on the seventh day it came to pass that the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead. For they said, "Indeed, while the child was alive, we spoke to him, and he would not heed our voice. How can we tell him that the child is dead? He may do some harm!"

2Sa 12:19  When David saw that his servants were whispering, David perceived that the child was dead. Therefore David said to his servants, "Is the child dead?" And they said, "He is dead."

2Sa 12:20  So David arose from the ground, washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he went to his own house; and when he requested, they set food before him, and he ate.

2Sa 12:21  Then his servants said to him, "What is this that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive, but when the child died, you arose and ate food."

2Sa 12:22  And he said, "While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, 'Who can tell whether the LORD will be gracious to me, that the child may live?'

2Sa 12:23  But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me."

 

1Ki 21:9  She wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and seat Naboth with high honor among the people; 

 

1Ki 21:12  They proclaimed a fast, and seated Naboth with high honor among the people. 

 

1Ki 21:27  So it was, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his body, and fasted and lay in sackcloth, and went about mourning.

1Ki 21:28  And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,

1Ki 21:29  "See how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the calamity in his days. In the days of his son I will bring the calamity on his house."

 

2Ch 20:3  And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. 

 

Ezr 8:21  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.

Ezr 8:22  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."

Ezr 8:23  So we fasted and entreated our God for this, and He answered our prayer.

 

Neh 1:2  That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.

Neh 1:3  And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.

Neh 1:4  And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,

 

 

Neh 9:1  Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, in sackcloth, and with dust on their heads.

Neh 9:2  Then those of Israelite lineage separated themselves from all foreigners; and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.

Neh 9:3  And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for one-fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and worshiped the LORD their God.

 

Est 4:1  When Mordecai learned all that had happened, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city. He cried out with a loud and bitter cry.

Est 4:2  He went as far as the front of the king's gate, for no one might enter the king's gate clothed with sackcloth.

Est 4:3  And in every province where the king's command and decree arrived, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

 

Est 4:15  Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai:

Est 4:16  "Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!"

Est 4:17  So Mordecai went his way and did according to all that Esther commanded him.

 

New holiday

 

Est 9:31  to confirm these days of Purim at their appointed time, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had prescribed for them, and as they had decreed for themselves and their descendants concerning matters of their fasting and lamenting. 

 

Psa 35:13  But as for me, when they were sick, My clothing was sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting; And my prayer would return to my own heart. 

 

Psa 69:10  When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting, That became my reproach. 

 

Psa 109:24  My knees are weak through fasting, And my flesh is feeble from lack of fatness. 

 

Isa 58:1  "Cry aloud, spare not; Lift up your voice like a trumpet; Tell My people their transgression, And the house of Jacob their sins.

Isa 58:2  Yet they seek Me daily, And delight to know My ways, As a nation that did righteousness, And did not forsake the ordinance of their God. They ask of Me the ordinances of justice; They take delight in approaching God.

Isa 58:3  'Why have we fasted,' they say, 'and You have not seen? Why have we afflicted our souls, and You take no notice?' "In fact, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, And exploit all your laborers.

Isa 58:4  Indeed you fast for strife and debate, And to strike with the fist of wickedness. You will not fast as you do this day, To make your voice heard on high.

Isa 58:5  Is it a fast that I have chosen, A day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush, And to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Would you call this a fast, And an acceptable day to the LORD?

Isa 58:6  "Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke?

Isa 58:7  Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; When you see the naked, that you cover him, And not hide yourself from your own flesh?

Isa 58:8  Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, And your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.

Isa 58:9  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,

Isa 58:10  If you extend your soul to the hungry And satisfy the afflicted soul, Then your light shall dawn in the darkness, And your darkness shall be as the noonday.

Isa 58:11  The LORD will guide you continually, And satisfy your soul in drought, And strengthen your bones; You shall be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

Isa 58:12  Those from among you Shall build the old waste places; You shall raise up the foundations of many generations; And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.

Isa 58:13  "If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, From doing your pleasure on My holy day, And call the Sabbath a delight, The holy day of the LORD honorable, And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, Nor finding your own pleasure, Nor speaking your own words,

Isa 58:14  Then you shall delight yourself in the LORD; And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, And feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the LORD has spoken."

 

Jer 14:12  When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence." 

 

Jer 36:6  You go, therefore, and read from the scroll which you have written at my instruction, the words of the LORD, in the hearing of the people in the LORD's house on the day of fasting. And you shall also read them in the hearing of all Judah who come from their cities.

Jer 36:7  It may be that they will present their supplication before the LORD, and everyone will turn from his evil way. For great is the anger and the fury that the LORD has pronounced against this people."

Jer 36:8  And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading from the book the words of the LORD in the LORD's house.

Jer 36:9  Now it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, that they proclaimed a fast before the LORD to all the people in Jerusalem, and to all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem.

Jer 36:10  Then Baruch read from the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the LORD, in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper court at the entry of the New Gate of the LORD's house, in the hearing of all the people.

 

Dan 6:18  Now the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; and no musicians were brought before him. Also his sleep went from him. 

 

Dan 9:3  Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. 

 

Joe 1:13  Gird yourselves and lament, you priests; Wail, you who minister before the altar; Come, lie all night in sackcloth, You who minister to my God; For the grain offering and the drink offering Are withheld from the house of your God.

Joe 1:14  Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly; Gather the elders And all the inhabitants of the land Into the house of the LORD your God, And cry out to the LORD.

 

Joe 2:12  "Now, therefore," says the LORD, "Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning."

Joe 2:13  So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm.

Joe 2:14  Who knows if He will turn and relent, And leave a blessing behind Him—A grain offering and a drink offering For the LORD your God?

Joe 2:15  Blow the trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly;

Joe 2:16  Gather the people, Sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and nursing babes; Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, And the bride from her dressing room.

Joe 2:17  Let the priests, who minister to the LORD, Weep between the porch and the altar; Let them say, "Spare Your people, O LORD, And do not give Your heritage to reproach, That the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?' "

 

Jon 3:4  And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day's walk. Then he cried out and said, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!"

Jon 3:5  So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them.

 

Zec 7:1  Now in the fourth year of King Darius it came to pass that the word of the LORD came to Zechariah, on the fourth day of the ninth month, Chislev,

Zec 7:2  when the people sent Sherezer, with Regem-Melech and his men, to the house of God, to pray before the LORD,

Zec 7:3  and to ask the priests who were in the house of the LORD of hosts, and the prophets, saying, "Should I weep in the fifth month and fast as I have done for so many years?"

Zec 7:4  Then the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying,

Zec 7:5  "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?

Zec 7:6  When you eat and when you drink, do you not eat and drink for yourselves?

Zec 7:7  Should you not have obeyed the words which the LORD proclaimed through the former prophets when Jerusalem and the cities around it were in prosperity, and the cities thereof round about her, when men inhabited the south and the plain? 

 

Zec 8:19  "Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'The fast of the fourth month, The fast of the fifth, The fast of the seventh, And the fast of the tenth, Shall be joy and gladness and cheerful feasts For the house of Judah. Therefore love truth and peace.' 

 

Mat 4:1  Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

Mat 4:2  And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.

Mat 4:3  Now when the tempter came to Him,

 

Mat 6:16  "Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.

Mat 6:17  But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,

Mat 6:18  so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

 

Mat 9:14  Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"

Mat 9:15  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.

Mat 9:16  No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.

Mat 9:17  Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."

 

Mat 17:20  So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.

Mat 17:21  However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."

 

Luk 2:36  Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity;

Luk 2:37  and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.

Luk 2:38  And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.

 

Luk 18:9  Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:

Luk 18:10  "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

Luk 18:11  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.

Luk 18:12  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.'

Luk 18:13  And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!'

Luk 18:14  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

 

Act 10:30  So 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,

Act 10:31  and said, 'Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your alms are remembered in the sight of God.

 

Act 13:1  Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

Act 13:2  As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, "Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."

Act 13:3  Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.

 

Act 14:23  So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed. 

 

Act 27:9  Now when much time had been spent, and sailing was now dangerous because the Fast was already over, Paul advised them, 

 

1Co 7:3  Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband.

1Co 7:4  The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.

1Co 7:5  Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

1Co 7:6  But I say this as a concession, not as a commandment.

 

2Co 6:4  But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses,

2Co 6:5  in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings;

2Co 6:6  by purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love,

2Co 6:7  by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,

2Co 6:8  by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true;

2Co 6:9  as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as chastened, and yet not killed;

2Co 6:10  as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.

 

o 11:22  Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I.

2Co 11:23  Are they ministers of Christ?—I speak as a fool—I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often.

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