Prayer and fasting is defined as voluntarily going without food in order to focus on prayer and fellowship with God. Prayer and fasting often go hand in hand, but this is not always the case. You can pray without fasting, and fast without prayer.
And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed. | Acts 14:23
And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. | Matthew 4:2
And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank. | Acts 9:9
And then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. | Luke 2:37
And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.” | Mark 9:29
And Cornelius said, “Four days ago, about this hour, I was praying in my house at the ninth hour, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing. | Acts 10:30
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
But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. | 1 Corinthians 9:27
But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” | Matthew 4:4
Blow the trumpet in Zion; consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly. | Joel 2:15
But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face. | Matthew 6:17
Consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord. | Joel 1:14
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. | Romans 14:17
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers. | Romans 8:38
Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son. | Colossians 1:12-13
God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. | John 4:24
He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” | Matthew 17:20
Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ. | Philippians 3:8
In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three weeks. I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, for the full three weeks. | Daniel 10:2-3
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? | Isaiah 58:7
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. | Matthew 16:19
I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, for the full three weeks. | Daniel 10:3
If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. | 1 Corinthians 13:3
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. | Romans 12:1
My knees are weak through fasting; my body has become gaunt, with no fat. | Psalm 109:24
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us. | Ephesians 3:20
Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. | 1 Corinthians 14:1
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. | 1 Corinthians 10:31
Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. | Colossians 2:16
Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. | Acts 13:3
The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. | Mark 1:12
The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. | Mark 2:20
They offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. | Matthew 27:34
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.” Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. | Acts 13:2-3
Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’ Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers. | Isaiah 58:3
when these two activities are combined and dedicated to God’s glory that they reach their full effectiveness. Having a dedicated time of prayer and fasting is not a way of manipulating God into doing what you desire. Rather, it is simply forcing yourself to focus and rely on God for the strength, provision, and wisdom you need.