The Daniel Fast is a popular trend in Christian circles today. Many Christians take up the task of the Daniel Fast to help them grow in their relationship with Christ. It is worth mentioning that nowhere are we told in the Bible that we have to partake in the Daniel Fast.
Daniel in the Bible fasted from the king’s foods because it went against the dietary restrictions of the Jews, and the food would have been sacrificed to idols. It is important to keep this in mind as we discuss the Daniel Fast.
Prayer and Fasting
During the life of Daniel, he fasted many times to draw closer to God. The Daniel Fast is a copy or an echo of what Daniel did in his life. The significance of prayer and fasting for 21 days, as shown in the Daniel Fast, is to draw closer to God and have a more personal relationship with Him.
The idea of the fast is to get our minds off food and focus on the Lord. The dietary restrictions of the fast do not include the traditional idea of fasting. The traditional idea of fasting teaches us that a person does not eat any food for a set amount of time, but the Daniel Fast is different.
The Daniel Fast allows the food groups of fruits, nuts, vegetables, and water. In the Book of Daniel, Daniel fasted only from the king’s special foods because it was in opposition to God’s laws.
The food served at the king’s table would have been food sacrificed to idols and foods that went against the dietary restrictions of the Jews. In this way, we can see how the Daniel Fast isn’t biblically accurate to the actual fast Daniel did in the Bible.
Daniel chose not to eat those foods because they violated God’s commands. While Daniel didn’t eat the king’s special food, he still ate vegetables and water (Daniel 1:12).
While the Daniel Fast in the modern day tries to be spiritual, individuals often participate in this fast to lose weight. In other words, many participants complete this fast for the wrong reasons.
The significance of prayer and fasting for 21 days is to strengthen our relationship with God. We are to focus on God and His wonderful work — not on the things of the world. The Daniel Fast aims to draw us closer to God, yet this is not guaranteed.
The growth in Christ depends on how the person spends their time. Are they truly focusing on the Lord through prayer and fasting? Or are they not being faithful in prayer and are only fasting to lose weight?
God sees not only our actions but also our motives. He knows if we are doing something for the right or wrong reasons.
If you want to try the Daniel Fast of prayer and fasting for 21 days, it’s best to get your priorities in order before starting the fast. You can also take a look at the fast and see if it will truly benefit you.
Many individuals should not take part in this fast, including those with diabetes, those who are pregnant, or those with eating disorders.
Those struggling with eating disorders or those in recovery/recovered also do not need to participate in this fast because it can result in weight loss or relapse. It is best to be cautious with this fast because it can cause many problems that are often overlooked.
Drawing Closer to God
If a person is interested in doing the Daniel Fast, try to think if the fast will truly draw you closer to God. Will cutting out food groups truly connect you more to God? Will skipping meals really help you know God better?
Does eating take so long that it impairs your time with God? For most of these questions, we might have varying answers; however, for most people cutting out a food group and skipping meals will not help us draw closer to God.
It is possible for many people that it could make them upset or angry. Instead of choosing to fast from food, there are other things we can fast from for 21 days that will help us better grow closer to God.
The prayer aspect of the Daniel fast is basic. We need to pray to God daily and saturate our everyday lives with prayer and the Word of God. Daniel was faithful to the Lord and prayed three times a day, even though it could have resulted in death.
In our own lives, we need to have this same dedication and devotion that Daniel has in his prayer time with the Lord. As previously mentioned, we can fast from other things besides food for the 21-day period.
We can instead fast from things that truly take us away from God and from things that are bad for us. A few ideas that we could fast from are social media, television, our phone, video games, or the internet.
Each of these things takes much more time than eating, and they habitually draw us away from the Lord.
By fasting from one of these things, we will have more time to spend with the Lord. If we are honest, we can acknowledge that we spend too much time on social media, our phones, and the internet.
By replacing the time, we spend on social media, our phones, and the internet, and we will have more time to focus on the Lord and learn about Him. While each can be helpful tools, they often drain us of our time and energy.
Through replacing these things with the Word and prayer, we will feel more energized, more at peace, and more ready for the days ahead.
Thus, the significance of prayer and fasting for 21 days is to draw us closer to our relationship with Christ. The focus is on spending more time with God and growing in our relationship with Him.
While fasting from something may be hard at times, but taking a 21-day fast from social media, television, our phone, video games, or the internet, we will be better at cultivating a more intimate relationship with God.
While the Daniel Fast focuses on fasting from food, this can cause many health problems. In addition to it causing many health problems for select individuals, the Daniel Fast isn’t truly in accordance with God’s Word.
The fast Daniel performed was fasting from the king’s food that would have been unclean for the Jews.
Daniel and his fellow companions chose to eat only vegetables and water in order to not defile themselves. He didn’t choose to do this fast to lose weight but to obey God’s commands and draw closer to Him.
Why Does This Matter?
In the same way, we need to reflect on all of these facts before we commit ourselves to the Daniel Fast. Often, it is common for individuals to mix culture with the Bible and resulting in pop culture trends or even Christian trends, such as the Daniel Fast.
In everything we do, we need to ensure we are doing it to the glory of God. If we participate in praying and fasting for 21 days, we need to ensure we are doing it for the right reasons.
Rather than participating in the fast for selfish reasons, we need to participate in a fast to help us grow in our relationship with Christ.
For further reading:
Should Christians Try and Emulate the Daniel Fast?
Can Fasting Be Healthy and Holy?
Why Does Daniel Have the Most Memorable Bible Stories?
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