Scriptural References to Fasting
Day 1 - January 4
"And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting." (Matthew 17:21)
Day 5 - January 8
"And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer ... with fasting ..." (Daniel 9:3)
Day 6 - January 9
"And then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying." (Luke 2:37)
Day 7 - January 10
"When I weep and fast, I must endure scorn; when I put on sackcloth, people make sport of me. Those who sit at the gate mock me, and I am the song of the drunkards. But I pray to you, O LORD, in the time of your favor; in your great love, O God, answer me with your sure salvation." (Psalm 69:10-13)
Day 8 - January 11
When they were sick I wore sackcloth; I afflicted myself with fasting; I prayed with head bowed on my chest. (Psalm 35:13)
Day 9 - January 12
"As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven." (Nehemiah 1:4)
Day 10 - January 13
"Yet even now," declares the Lord, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning." (Joel 2:12)
Day 11 - January 14
"Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes." (Daniel 9:3)
Day 12 - January 15
"Then the Israelites, all the people, went up to Bethel, and there they sat weeping before the LORD. They fasted that day until evening and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the LORD." (Judges 20:26)
Day 13 - January 16
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." (Ezra 8:21)
Day 14 - January 17
"Then Ezra withdrew from before the house of God and went to the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib, where he spent the night, neither eating bread nor drinking water, for he was mourning over the faithlessness of the exiles." (Ezra 10:6)
Day 15 - January 18
"And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them." (Jonah 3:5)
Day 16 - January 19
"Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods." (Ezra 8:21)
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 maids 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 4:6)
Day 18 - January 21
"Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high." (Isaiah 58:4)
Day 19 - January 22
"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)
Day 20 - January 23
"While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." (Acts 13:2)
Day 21 - January 24
"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)
