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1. A 1-day fast (sunrise to sunset). Judges 20:26, to seek direction from the Lord.

2. A 3-day fast without food or drink. Esther 4:16, for wisdom, discernment, protection, and guidance. In Acts 9:9 Saul was converted but for 3 days he went without food and water. 

*So far I've found that these 3-day fasts are the last complete fasts mentioned. The rest of the fasts either do not specify or say food only was fasted.

3. A 7-day fast. 1 Samuel 31:13. For wisdom, seeking comfort from grief, and guidance.

4. A 10-day fast of vegetables and water only. Daniel 1:12, Daniel was fasting for favor, strength, wisdom, and discernment.

5. A 14-day fast. Acts 27:33-34. Paul and the men on the ship fasted food for protection and wisdom.

6. A 21-day fast. Daniel 10:3, for times of distress and mourning. No meat, wine, rich or pleasant food, and no oils. Fruit, vegetables, nuts, and water instead. In modern times, this is a popular fast (and diet).

7. A 40-day fast. I can only find three 40-day fasts in the Bible. Each person was divinely appointed and touched by God for this type of fast.  

• Exodus 34:28 and Deuteronomy 9:9, 9:18. Moses neither ate nor drank water.

• In 1 Kings 19:8, Elijah ate and drank then was sustained his 40 days of fasting.

• In Matthew 4:2-4, Jesus fasted food for 40 days. It says afterward he was hungry (being thirsty isn't mentioned and Satan tries to tempt him with food, not water).
  
  *Because there are so few 40-day fasts in the Bible, I would caution you to be very careful in undertaking this type of fast. A 40-day fast is not something you should ever jump into without much preparation.  

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ADDITIONAL BIBLICAL FASTS AND THEIR PURPOSES

We aren't always told how long a time of fasting lasted or if it was a complete fast (no food or water) or a partial fast (water only) but we are usually told why God's people fasted. Let’s look at a few of those:

 

FASTING FOR PROTECTION IN TIMES OF TROUBLE

Ezra 8:21-23. When we don't know what to do for ourselves or our family members, but we know we need God's protection, we can fast and turn to God for his help and direction. We weren't told how long they fasted. 

FASTING FOR REPENTANCE

1. In 1 Samuel 7:3-6, the people felt abandoned by God. This was due to their actions, not God's. God told Samuel to tell His people to repent. The people obeyed and began a time of fasting. God answered their prayers.

2. Nehemiah 1:4, Nehemiah prayed and fasted for many days and nights (we aren’t told exactly how long or what they fasted) for God's people. He also prayed for wisdom, understanding, and favor.

3. In the book of Jonah, God sent Jonah to tell the people to repent. The people proclaimed a complete fast (no food or drink) and cried out to God. We aren't told how long they fasted.

4. Joel 2:12-13, God calls his people to come to him with fasting, weeping, and mourning. He wants our effort to come from our hearts, not for attention. He doesn't say how long or what type of fast. 

 

FASTING TO BREAK STRONGHOLDS

1. Jesus said this kind (meaning lack of faith) only come out by prayer and fasting. Lack of faith is a major stronghold the enemy uses to bind us. Matthew 17:21 and Mark 9:28-29.

2. Isaiah 58:6. Fasting breaks strongholds (ours and others) including addictions. 

 

As far as addictions, it doesn't have to be addictions to things like sex or drugs or alcohol. It can be addictions to social media, Tv, shopping ...whatever takes your time and focus off of God. 

If you are frequently turning to things instead of God you are allowing that stronghold to have power over you; it has become a god in your life. A stronghold isn’t always an addiction. It can be depression or crippling anxiety for example. 

*By the way, a "serious" addiction or an "acceptable" addiction is all the same to God. 

 

FASTING FOR GOD'S DIRECTION

Acts 13:2, 14:23, The apostles went into a time of fasting and blessed with heavenly wisdom, instruction, and power. We don't know for sure how long they fasted or what they fasted. 

 

FASTING FOR OUR ENEMIES

This one is a hard one for many people to comprehend. But maybe the purpose of this fast is as much for you as it is for your enemy. After all, you do not want to hard heart or resentment to be festering inside your soul. Maybe through this type of a fast God helps you release those ungodly emotions towards the other person.

Anyway, as you can see in Psalm 35:13, we should fast and pray for our enemies. It doesn't say how long or what to abstain from.

 

WHAT IS BIBLICAL FASTING?

Fasting simply means to voluntarily abstain from food. 

Right now intermittent fasting is huge in American society. Although it is quite beneficial to the human body,  intermittent fasting is not the same as biblical (or spiritual) fasting. 

Think of biblical fasting as a love offering. It requires us to put God first with an intentional giving up of something we want in the physical for spiritual purposes. Because we don’t always see answers right away, spiritual fasting is a direct representation of living by faith and not by sight or feelings. 

Biblical fasting is something we do in the physical. At the same time, it affects the spiritual world (on earth as it is in heaven). This is why we can pray without fasting but we cannot fast without praying. If we do, it only affects the physical and is a diet. 

 

WHO IS BIBLICAL FASTING FOR?

Every Christian is called to have a lifestyle of fasting until the day Jesus returns for his bride.  

“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.”
(Matthew 6:16)

 

And when John the Baptist’s followers went to Jesus and asked him why they fasted and Jesus’ disciples didn’t bother, Jesus (our bridegroom) was pretty clear:

“And Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.”
(Matthew 9:15)

 

It is important to note that although it is God’s desire that every believer spends time with Him in fasting and prayer, He does not force any of us to participate. God wants us to love him so much and crave time with him so intensely that we freely choose to spend our time at his feet instead of satisfying our fleshly desires. 

 

WHERE SHOULD WE FAST?

Spiritual fasting is not something that must be done at church or at a spiritual retreat. We don’t even need to lock ourselves in our prayer closet for a time of fasting. Fasting can be done while at work or at home. 

 

WHEN SHOULD WE FAST?

You might feel the need to go into a time of fasting when you desire God to break the chains of sin in your life, when you want to seek His face on behalf of someone else, or when healing is needed. 

Biblical fasting should never be taken lightly or jumped into without spending time in prayer first. When you feel in your spirit that it is time, you need to carefully plan ahead so that you can give God your time and attention. 

 

WHY SHOULD WE FAST? 

Although I am sure there are many reasons, here are two very good reasons to participate in a spiritual covenant between you and God:

1) You put yourself into a spiritual position to draw closer to God. 

“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
(James 4:8)

 

2) Spiritual fasting propels our spiritual growth. As we spend time focusing on God, He can grow us and prepare us for whatever is ahead. Growth is a process and takes effort, not resistance.

“No-one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak, for the patch pulls away from the cloak, and a worse tear is made.
Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins burst and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed, but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”
(Matthew 9:16-17)

 

Don’t just read that verse and move on. Think about it for a minute; it is a process to shrink cloth to accommodate an old garment. Once it is shrunk it then needs to go through the process of being used (sewn on) before it can be enjoyed.

It is a process to prepare new wineskins to hold wine. 

It is a process of submitting ourselves to God so that he can grow us and use us for his kingdom.