- Joel 2:12:
“Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.”
- Joel 2:13:
“Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.”
- Matthew 6:16-18:
“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.”
- Isaiah 58:6-7:
“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? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?”
- Matthew 4:1-2:
“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.”
- Matthew 6:1:
“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.”
- Daniel 9:3:
“So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.”
- Psalm 51:10:
“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”
- Matthew 9:15:
“Jesus answered, ‘How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.’”
- 2 Corinthians 5:20:
“We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.”
- James 4:8:
“Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
- Matthew 18:3:
“And he said: ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.’”
- Luke 18:13:
“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’”
- Romans 3:23:
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
- Matthew 6:6:
“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
- Luke 5:32:
“I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
- Matthew 3:8:
“Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.”
- Joel 2:14:
“Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave behind a blessing—grain offerings and drink offerings for the Lord your God.”
- Psalm 32:5:
“Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.’ And you forgave the guilt of my sin.”
- Psalm 51:17:
“My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.”
- Matthew 26:41:
“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
- Luke 15:10:
“In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
- Isaiah 30:15:
“This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: ‘In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.’”
- 2 Corinthians 7:10:
“Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.”
- Psalm 139:23-24:
“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
- Isaiah 58:5:
“Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?”
- Matthew 6:17-18:
“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.”
- Daniel 9:4:
“I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed: ‘Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments,’”
- 2 Chronicles 7:14:
“if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
- Luke 18:10-14:
“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”