Question
What verses in the bible speak to fasting?
Answer
Yes, there are several passages in the Bible that relate to fasting and I will list a few of them below. From the following passages, there are several points that we can gain and I will list these before the passages. They are
1. Although God does not make fasting mandatory, it does have its place in the lives of individuals when certain circumstances arise.
2. The most common circumstances that we see the practice of fasting are times of great trial, grief and when major spiritual decisions have to be made.
3. Finally, fasting, when done, should be directed toward God and should not be an empty, open display done only for the notice and approval of others.
With all this in mind, here are some passages that relate to fasting.
MAT 6:16 ¶ “And whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance in order to be seen fasting by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.
MAT 6:17 “But you, when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face
MAT 6:18 so that you may not be seen fasting by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
MAT 9:14 ¶ Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?”
MAT 9:15 And Jesus said to them, “The attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.
MAT 9:16 “But no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results.
MAT 9:17 “Nor do men put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out, and the wineskins are ruined; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”
ACT 13:1 Now there were at Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers: Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
ACT 13:2 And while they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
ACT 13:3 Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.
ACT 13:4 ¶ So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus.
ACT 14:21 And after they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch,
ACT 14:22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”
ACT 14:23 And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.
By Gary Hunt
