My 21-Day Daniel Fast: A Journey of Faith, Healing, and Transformation
At the beginning of this year, two of my cousins and I decided to participate in a Daniel Fast. I had never done an extended fast before, let alone a Daniel Fast. For those of you who don’t know - a Daniel Fast is a spiritually-based fast where one intentionally chooses not to eat any meat, bread, dairy, coffee, alcohol, tea (some people still drink tea, but we did not) and any foods with artificial flavorings or preservatives. All of these foods are restricted and replaced with a diet of fruits, vegetables and water.
One Sunday I was visiting my cousin’s church in Harlem. The Pastor mentioned that the whole church was going to partake in a Daniel Fast at the beginning of the year in 2020. Something in me lit up and I felt that God was leading me to join. I found out later that my cousins felt the same way, so we decided to participate together.
Fast forward a few weeks later and it was officially Day 1 of our fast. I was so excited for what God was going to show me and teach me during our fast. I was excited to be able to go on such an exciting journey with the people I loved most and I was looking forward to what God was going to teach us individually and collectively.
Throughout the fast, we prayed every morning at 5:30am. If we missed a morning we would do our devotional at night or just double up the next day. We were on a 21-day plan from the YouVersion Bible App (this is a great app and resource for Christians and you should definitely download it if you haven’t already). Along with our morning devotionals we prayed on the weekends when we hung out, went to bible studies and watched alottttt of Sermons (I’ll copy a link to some of my favorites below).
All in all, God really taught us so much during our fast. He revealed to us things about our lives, gave us new ideas and most importantly, we were able to draw closer to our Father. The fact that we were doing it together was just icing on the cake.
I would have never been able to get through my fast without my cousins. We cooked for each other, bought each other food since we were eating the same things and regularly checked in with each other. I will always love and appreciate them for that.
I truly believe there are only certain breakthroughs, ideas and answers to prayers that only come from fasting. There are multiple examples of this in the bible. However, I don’t want to encourage you to fast just for answers to your prayers, I encourage you to fast to get closer to Your Father and to know His heart. After that, your life will never be the same.
Six things I learned while on my fast -
1. God is enough
I never believed that God was enough. Because of heartbreak from a relationship and insecurities about myself, I always felt empty and unfulfilled. I turned to God but it seemed like He was not enough to fill the void in my heart. Now I know that was a lie from the enemy and this fast showed me that. As I said, only certain breakthroughs can come from fasting and this fast released the breakthrough I was yearning for.
2. Faith over Feelings
Boy oh boy. I learned how to really have faith over my feelings. During this fast my feelings did not go away or magically disappear. They actually heightened. I was forced to stop running and face them and realized in the process that I was never alone, even when I felt alone. I learned to feed my faith with the Word of God and now I know the truth about who I am and who God is and I have stopped believing in the lies my feelings tell me.
3. Fasting is ESSENTIAL
Like I said, only certain breakthroughs/answers come through fasting. If you are a Christian and have never fasted before, I strongly encourage you to. You do not have to do a 21-day Daniel Fast. That may be too overwhelming if you have never fasted before. Instead, do a one-day fast. If that is too much, half a day. God will honor whatever you give Him.
If you have fasted before, or fast regularly, but have never done a Daniel Fast - please consider it. It will change your life!
4. I enjoy eating healthy/feel better when I do
So I definitely feel much better when I eat healthier - I have more energy, I sleep better and I have a higher tolerance for spending time with other people, aka I have a longer social battery. I make healthier eating choices to this day because I have incorporated meals/recipes/nutritional tips that I picked up on the fast. If you are struggling with low energy/trouble sleeping, try the fast and see if it helps!
5. I learned about the POWER in community
Like I said, I would have NEVER been able to do this fast without my family! Okay, maybe I could’ve, but it would have been so much HARDER. Because of them, I enjoyed my fast, I grew a stronger relationship with God and them and I learned how much we as humans can accomplish when we work together, especially when it’s for the Kingdom.
6. My vision for my life became more clear
Lastly, my vision for my life became much more clear to me. Before the Daniel Fast, I had an idea of what I wanted to do with my life, but I was just sitting on all the ideas that God gave me and not putting any action behind them. But Faith without works is dead and the Daniel Fast helped me to get rid of a sluggard’s mentality and really start to work hard to build for the Kingdom.