27 Fasting and Prayer Scriptures for Spiritual Breakthrough

The power of fasting and prayer for spiritual breakthrough is undeniable.

Are there situations in your life that are hard? If you have been a believer for very long I’m sure people have told you to pray when life is hard.

Yes, prayer is the way we take our burdens to God, but fasting can be a way to really super-charge those prayers to experience the breakthroughs you are seeking.

But if you’ve never really tried biblical fasting, you may have some questions such as:

  • What is biblical fasting?
  • What does fasting do for prayer?
  • Whay prayers do I say while fasting?
  • How do I start fasting and praying?

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What Does Fasting Do For Prayer

Biblical fasting means saying “no” to yourself and saying “yes” to God. Biblical fasting means to deny the flesh in order to find a more powerful connection with the Holy Spirit.

And in the same way that a regular fast is supposed to boost your metabolism, fasting is a way to super-charge the power of your prayer life!

Why are Fasting and Prayer So Important

Prayer is a way to let go and give everything over to God.

I don’t know about you, but when I look at the world around me I feel scared. Life is hard and getting harder every year. The lost world keeps getting crazier and more sure they are right.

The Christians around me are more intolerant. Very rarely do I see a glimpse of the power or abundant life Jesus said His disciples would have.

That scares me. Does it scare you?

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (Matthew 9:14-15 NASB)

Jesus, when talking to the disciples talks about the life of a believer being powerful and abundant. How do you get to that place of living a powerful, abundant life? I don’t see much evidence of it around me and I desperately want it, don’t you?

After many years in the faith, I realized there are parts of the scripture that we – the Church – ignore. Fasting is a spiritual discipline that the original believers would have practiced and seen great value in.

But fasting – setting aside what we seek for satisfaction in order to seek God for satisfaction – is not regularly taught in 21st Century churches. Why not?

Fasting is where the power is, where the abundant life takes root and keeps on giving you strength to fight the real battle for the Kingdom of God!!!!!!! Don’t believe me?

We could start in the Old Testament (and we’ll get there soon) but I love to start with the words of Jesus when a religious practice is labeled “Old Testament” and unnecessary.

“Then the disciples of John *came to Him, asking, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” 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.” (Matthew 9:14-15)

Jesus said we will fast when we need Him – and a fast will be necessary.

What Does Fasting Do Spiritually

Before we finish together I want to point out something in most of these fasting and prayer scriptures. Look at the examples in Daniel and Esther specifically?

Those people were in a desperate spiritual state as well as a desperate physical state. Their lives were in danger. Life was hard in a way we will never understand in the 21st Century Western Church.

When they needed to draw near to God, when they needed answers, when they needed spiritual breakthrough they took prayer to the next level and fasted.

Those are some amazing fasting scriptures for breakthrough! If God showed up for them He can show up for you. Write those verses out, pray over them, remind God of His promises, and be strengthened in your faith today!

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8)

What fasting does spiritually is draw your heart in humility nearer to the heart of God.

And when you are humble and near the Father, you can hear His voice answer prayers. You can feel his breath move, you can see the future He has for you in hope and joy.

The reward of fasting in the Bible is always a closer walk with God, healing either spiritually or physically and peace even when life is hard.

Fasting and Prayer can change both your heart and a nation’s heart

Fasting does so much for us spiritually but a look at this example of fasting in Nehemiah shows us that it is also powerful enough to heal and unite a nation’s heart to God.

“The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, while I was in Susa the capitol, that Hanani, one of my brothers, and some men from Judah came; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped and had survived the captivity, and about Jerusalem. They said to me, “The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are burned with fire.” When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.” (Nehemiah 1:1-4)

After that time of fasting, Nehemiah petitioned the King (who God had already softened) and was released to rebuild the wall at Jerusalem! God used the humility of one man to stir the Nation of Israel back to God.

The rewards of fasting are both spiritual and physical and the power that comes with this spiritual discipline is exponential! You need to learn to fast, Child of God, and see His power and abundant life move in your situation!

Fasting and Prayer Verses

What does the Bible say about fasting and prayer?

Fasting is mentioned in the Bible over 70 times! That should give you a clue as to how powerful and important fasting and prayer together can be!

Here are just a few fasting and prayer verses to read:

  • Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust. ACTS 14:23 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. 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 6:16-18 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. Joel 1:14 NIV
  • “Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” Joel 2:12 NIV
  • So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. ACTS 13:3 NIV
  • 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
  • Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish. Esther 4:16 NIV
  • There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions. I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, “The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him.” So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer. Ezra 8:21-23 NIV

RELATED: 7 Spiritual Benefits of Fasting


Types of Biblical Fasting 

There are several different types of fasting found in the Bible. Some are more extreme than others.

A 40 day Complete Biblical Fast (no food or water)

Our examples of a 40 day complete fast are Jesus and Moses who took things to the extreme by having no food or water for 40 days.

  • “So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did not eat bread or drink water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.” (Exodus 34:28 NASB)
  • “And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry.”(Matthew 4:2)

Please note that these are extreme examples of fasting and prayer and you should never consider this until after consulting a doctor.


The Complete Biblical Fast

A complete fast could last from part of a day to an entire day to several days or weeks. This was the most common in the scripture so I’ll just list a few fasting and prayer scriptures to help you see the pattern.

“Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maidens also will fast in the same way. And thus I will go in to the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish.” (Esther 4:16)

“Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
“Return to Me with all your heart,
And with fasting, weeping and mourning;” (Joel 2:12)

“Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from Him a safe journey for us, our little ones, and all our possessions. For I was ashamed to request from the king troops and horsemen to protect us from the enemy on the way, because we had said to the king, “The hand of our God is favorably disposed to all those who seek Him, but His power and His anger are against all those who forsake Him.” So we fasted and sought our God concerning this matter, and He listened to our entreaty.” (Ezra 8:21-23)


Even the lost saw God move through a Complete Fast

The people of Nineveh observed a fast that turned the hand of God’s wrath away.

These were a people who were far from God, enemies of God’s people. Still, we see God loves people, God cares for us even when we are struggling through sin!

The fast of Nineveh gives me hope. God comes when people humble themselves before Him. Your fast doesn’t have to be perfect or wrapped in a perfect life to be seen and answered by God. Just try it and see!

“Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them. When the word reached the king of Nineveh, he arose from his throne, laid aside his robe from him, covered himself with sackcloth and sat on the ashes. He issued a proclamation and it said, “In Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let man, beast, herd, or flock taste a thing. Do not let them eat or drink water. But both man and beast must be covered with sackcloth; and let men call on God earnestly that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence which is in his hands. Who knows, God may turn and relent and withdraw His burning anger so that we will not perish.” (Jonah 3:5-9)


A Partial Biblical Fast

A Partial fast can also be called a 3 day spiritual fast. In Daniel, we also see believers who ate fruit, veggies and drank water for 10 days to honor God while in captivity.

“Please test your servants for ten days, and let us be given some vegetables to eat and water to drink.” (Daniel 1:12)

The Daniel Fast is a partial fast that has gotten a lot of attention in the past decade. The basic idea behind this fast is to have no meat, no tasty bread, no wine, no oils for his skin, for 21 days.

  • “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.” (Daniel 10:3)
  • “So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.” (Daniel 9:3)

These would have been things that satisfied Daniel.

The world latches onto the specifics of his fasting because of the power that came and the answers to prayer that he saw but what they miss is that fasting and prayer were his habits.

The Daniel fast was not powerful because of what Daniel gave up, but rather because of the humility of Daniel’s life.


Non-Food Biblical Fasts

Please note that if you have a medical condition you will want to choose A Non-Food Fast! We see several examples of non-food fasts.

First, we see a fast from oils. Daniel is our example of this as well and WOW was his prayer and fasting life powerful and abundant!

  • “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.” (Daniel 10:3)
  • “So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.” (Daniel 9:3)

We also see a fast from sex mentioned in scripture. We are told husband and wife can decide together to give up sex for a time and reason.

“Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and [a]come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.” (1 Corinthians 7:5)

There are also examples of this in the old testament when the Children of Israel were to sanctify themselves.

“He said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman.” (Exodus 19:15)

Fast and Pray for Spiritual Breakthough!

We’ve seen 27 fasting and prayer scriptures today. Have you felt a stirring to try your hand at a time of fasting and prayer? Are there hard things in your life that need an extra dose of spiritual power to break through the chains that are keeping you down?

Maybe you felt the stir but you are still unsure of the specific how to’s of fasting. No worries. I’ve written a short book to help guide you through the process of fasting.

A Beginners Guide to Fast and Pray: Taking Spiritual Warfare to the Next Level. Get your copy and start your journey to spiritual breakthrough today!

In the meantime, I’d love to pray over you. Let me know how I can be praying in the comments.

in HIM, Tiffany

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51 thoughts on “27 Fasting and Prayer Scriptures for Spiritual Breakthrough”

  1. Tiffany – wonderful post. So much information to help people fast. Your explanations make it seem like something a person could actually do! It can seem overwhelming otherwise. Thank you –

      1. My name is Justus from Kenya, Am doing a week of fasting with my wife pastor Sabina from 6am to 6pm and am sure God will hear us. we are believing God in a Loan facility for a project which has taken over 5 years to take off.I have decided this week is the week to petition God about this issue. I pray for grace and strength as I take it up,,pray with us

    1. I want to thank you I was look for some Concerning demons and I come across this I am in spiritual warfare and I was attack last night but I know now what I must do to get back closer to God fast and pray is the only thing that gone straight me to be able to fight this warfare that I’m under.thank you so much for helping me understand what I must do.Sincerely Cotrina please pray for my strength in the Lord and that he may give me a deeper Hunger and Thirst for him even more.I was lost but now I’m found.

    2. I need a prayer for everything and especially to get closer to GOD. I have through trials and tribulations and I am tired of it. My life seems to be worthless until I pray to GOD. PLease pray for me and my family which I don’t see. In JESUS name we Pray.

    3. Richard o atambo

      I’m sincerely thankful for your concern for this spiritual warfare of fasting across the world.You are and will inspire more and more people including me ,for i’have understood and strengthened on how hard and deeper will i’ll be looking for my Lord .Amen.

  2. I started reading your book the other day, and I’m getting excited. Things are starting to click. These fasting and prayer scriptures pulled together in one place really give both perspective and a solid framework!

      1. Please pray for me. My husband is committing adultery, and continues to deny it. I have caught him more than once.
        I want to divorce him, but I’m so trouble

      2. Please pray for me and my family thank you for your encouragement about fasting and fasting the right way
        and pray for our marriage,Douglas and
        Karen Parker

  3. I did a partial fast with Daniel type diet. I felt more prayer answered. It does help get closer to God.

  4. After feeling the need to fast for some time now, a few YouTube videos appeared speaking of this. I was sent this post by my mother whom is very spiritually awake. Today starts my first day of fasting. After getting into deep silence and prayer, I was told to fast 8 days. I’m praying not only for clarity and faith, I’m also praying for my boy friend that I share a son with. In that silence I was told to restrain from contact with him, and pray for him. Pray for strength and the holy father for him. My wish is for our family to be together in the right way of God, and for him to find the Lord .. to seek him. I pray we find a way to get through these tough times and hopefully find our way back for our little family. Thank you

  5. Kelly Lankford

    My oldest son overdosed a little over a month ago. I should be walking through the driest most barren desert right now but the grace of Our Abba Daddy has other plans. Yesterday I went for my hike in the woods and He told me 30 days. I videos it for my own documentation. Today on my walk, I picked up a stone after The Holy Spirits prompting. I went into a vision. Into The Holy of Holies with my daughter (who has pulled away from God) in the vision I laid her at the alter and touched hot coal to her lips. Oh Hallelujah! Later today God told me that this 30 days is for The Prodigals to come home. I will be fasting for 30 days, eating one meal a day. Please pray for the Spirit to fall heavily on me and those I am lifting up in prayer. Thank you so much and God Bless!

  6. Gwendolyn Dukes

    I have been reading up on fasting and prayer and your work is very helpful. I am asking God to help me break free of my weaknesses and to allow me to better focus on my strengths and walking humility and in his word.

  7. I am on day three of a juice cleanse. And it has been so good I really don’t want to stop. I loved your quote about, “are there hard things in your life that you need an extra dose of spiritual breakthrough?” This really ministered to me. I am in the process of pursuing another job that is more in alignment with my calling and gifts the Lord has for me. And too I am in a relationship and trying to determine if I should continue to move ahead or end it. Grateful that fasting is biblical and that we can look to scripture to guide and direct.
    Praying that there will be breakthrough as I continue this fast. I have committed to 5 days, but may do 7. After all this is the number of completion in scripture. Pray God reveals and shows me what to do and how to proceed.
    Page Geske

  8. Thank you for a place to come and read and believe again. A place to see God at work in the world we live in. Today I want to ask for prayer for all the people in the world being deceived by things that are not true. I pray that God release them from bondage in there minds and set them free, free from sexual sin, free from gender confusion, free from anger, free from racism, Free from unforgiveness, free from bitterness and I pray that love and forgiveness be our motivation. I pray God teach me how to walk closer to him without looking at things in the natural but that my focus will be on the things above.

    1. Pray I am set free from anger from when I wasn’t treated well and things didn’t go my way. I am praying but need help.

  9. Kelly A Holbrook

    TIffany, thank you so much for this article. It was so helpful with the scriptures you included.
    I am fasting and praying for a healing in my body and to stop pain medication.
    I claim healing right now through Jesus Christ.
    Please agree with me in prayer for my healing.

    1. Amen and I will also include you in my prayers during this my 30 days fast which includes praying for the sick, my school fund raising, my life and that of my family

  10. Timaimavavatu Martin

    Hi Tiffany,

    Thank you so much for the offer to pray. I am planning to fast and prey as of tomorrow for the next five days. UI want to be delivered from lust and covetousness. Please help pray for my deliverance.

    Kind Regards,

    Timaima Martin

  11. I’m fasting for 7 days for seven hours per day. I need deliverance for my son who has stopped going to church and has started smoking marijuana. Please help me pray for his breakthrough 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

  12. Tiffany, thank you for this article. I will be starting my first fast today. I need to draw nearer to God. My faith is becoming weak. I recently moved to a new state and I know nobody. I am fighting loneliness and heartbreak. Please include me in your prayers.

  13. Dear Tiffany,
    I don’t have a comment right now, but I need all the prayers for deliveranc, as i am about to go in to fasting I was looking for a scripture to start with and end up on you page which I read and enjoy and got the scripture I needed . Pleas pray for me.
    Thank you
    Ann.

  14. Great read Tiffany. Feel a strong pulling in my spirit to continue my 21 Day Daniel Fast to 40 Days. I have some serious situations before God and I’m really needing His favor in that regard but I am praying for strength to accept His Will if it doesn’t go the way I desire.

  15. Thank you for this piece. I want to start prayer and fasting tomorrow. As long as i can. i am a nursing mother. My family and I have been experiencing so much delay. Failure at the point of breakthrough , my only brother who travelled to india for greener pastures is suffeŕing. Things are not working for him. i am worried. I have parents to take care of yet things are hard for me. Join me in prayers, I need sudden 360 Divine turn around for good in my family in Jesus Name..Amen

  16. I am glad I came across your page and am thankful to God and to you.we have just set off 21 days fasting and prayers in our church for the beginning of the year 2021.So in that mood I decided searching for scriptures that will help or guide me through,I must say you have been a blessing to for such needed scriptures.Please pray with me that in the end of these 21 days seeking for God,I must shall have a testimony to share with the world to the glory of God.

  17. Prayer please for God to reveal to me what He wants me to do. I feel He has given me a bunch of puzzle pieces that don’t exactly fit together or make sense. Need a breakthrough. I’m desperate and need prayer badly. Prayer is powerful and one of the most precious gifts a person can give. Thank you and God bless.

  18. Pls help me pray, my family is not together and we don’t like each other which the devil is using us a lot. We don’t know whether is a curse or what, we can’t save money, only drinking and so many things pls help us in prayer

  19. Thank you for sharing how God anointed your boldness in fasting and praying. I am trusting God in being that I have fasted and prayed before but I never took it to this level of research and the desire to seek God and be in alignment of his desires for his people. I am excited to read more and become better at pursuing a better relationship with God. I want to work in God’s will not mine. Thank you again for the scripture’s will be using them. Fasting and praying for my business and finances.

  20. So thankful for this article. Praying for the generation of kids who are so confused by LGBTQ movement. This has really hit hard. So many kids have been truly seriously abused and now are confused because it’s no longer “OK” to say anything in opposition to LGBTQ beliefs. It’s no longer “OK” to teach your child to find their identity in Christ. Praying for guidance. Praying for love. People keep telling me to just embrace it. PRAYING!! Truth, Guidance, Discernment, Love, Wisdom, Self-Control, Peace , Patience,…

  21. Lord,
    I asked that you walk with each individual that commented on Tiffany’s writing. I pray that each of us as we delve into this process of fasting and prayer are able to find you and grow a more intimate relationship with your son Jesus Christ. I pray that you order each of our steps so that we can fall in line with your will and truly know that you are close to us, you hear us and you will provide the help we need. Lord, help us to retain scripture (your word) so that we can incorporate into our prayer what you said our life will be. Let us be humble in our intentions and realize the real purpose for our journey. I aske this in the name of JESUS, Amen… Amem.

  22. Amen please pray for me and my family am in debt I can even move because of debt and we hungry there’s no food at my house and I am worried December it’s around the corner I don’t know what my children is going to wear

  23. Thank you much, you have explained everything in terms of fasting, i did not know where to start, I am married and my husband recently lost a job. I pray for him and at times i would ask him to pray with me but he wouldn’t want that. i don’t like forcing things. so recently i decided to fast for better year and may God’s generosity work in my house and that one day my husband can offer to pray with me, or God can do a miracle in me that my husband would want to praise God and believe in him as Lord our saviour.

  24. Thank you so much for this post. I am asking that you all will pray with me for my father who has the early stages of dementia. My mother is currently taking chemo treatments for non- Hodgkin lymphoma. The treatments are going well. However the behavior of my father is causing a lot of stress and this is affecting my mothers health. He’s often agitated, forgetful, confused, and also paranoid about things. His behavior is unpredictable. He is 83 years old. My siblings and I are petitioning God will be doing a fast. Please pray for us.

  25. Hello,
    Thank you for this guide, I’m starting a 3 day fast for my family especially my son who has lost interest in the things of God, I believe he has work to do in the kingdom and the devil is trying all it can to take his eyes off God’s business.

    Join me if you can. Thank you

  26. Praise God, pray for me so that my husband stops adultery, its hurts so much . Pray 4 me so that I can succeed in my business..🥺🙏 please pray 4 me
    Thx

    1. In the name of Jesus I pray for healing in Eve’s marriage! And Father, I pray for blessings in her business and that she is able to glorify you in everything she does! Amen!

  27. Praise God, in the name of Jesus, thank you for everything Tiff, all the above comments are on point, kindly pray for me to get promotion at work so that i can be able to clear all my debts,
    in Jesus name i pray Amen.

  28. This was good!
    Lately, I’ve been thinking about doing another fast. To be honest, I need to do it more often. I want to fast for my son, who has ADHD BAD! I pray the Lord helps him learn to navigate being in a classroom. It’s rough right now and has been hard on my wife and me.

    I know I NEED to press in His presence more. I need to intercede for my son more. I know fasting will help realign my heart.

    Anyhow, great blog post!

  29. This topic is so necessary! You’re right, the Bible is filled with testimonies of God’s people fasting for breakthrough in so many different ways. I have seen God’s power break into my heart and into my/others circumstances many times because of fasting.

    I love the Matthew 9:15-17 reference where Jesus connects fasting to longing and intimacy with Him in His absence. Jesus was giving His friends advice on how they could connect to Him in intimacy through fasting after He would leave them for heaven.

    I’ve been freshly stirred for weekly fasting in my own life, to see God’s presence and power manifesting. God give us grace and desire to come before you’re glory in fasting!

  30. Tiffany Mitchell

    Tiffany my name is Tiffany I need prayer for a better prayer life and closer walk with God. Also for healing in my body.

  31. I am seeking
    Prayer because recently I backslid on drugs after the death of my mother I’ve only done it a couple times but I gotta stop it before it gets out of control I need prayer

  32. Hi .. thank you for this article .. i’m in prayer about a big move out of state.. things were moving along and now seems to be start and stop .. i’m fasting today because i need things to move .. i really need breakthrough especially with finances .. thank you

  33. Thanks for the enlightenment ideas about fasting, at the moment am in the 21day fasting, I request kindly for prayers to get back my government job, and financial breakthrough, divine protection from the Almighty God

  34. Am Fatmata kabia,September 6 5:56pm.Thanks so so much am very grateful to know more but prayer’s and fasting,I never come across this untill today when I search under chrome for fasting and prayers am so happy for what I lent today from you am so calm today for God to lead me in this search,thank so much my Beautiful family’s in christ.

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