Daniel Fast

I am right in the middle of my study of the discipline of fasting. I have tried fasting over the years during lent dealing with both food (sweets and fried food) and non-food things (facebook, shopping). I decided to try the 21-day Daniel fast for this month. Food has always been an issue for me....I am definitely not overweight, but I do know that I do not have a healthy diet. My cholesterol is high and I have gained about 30 pounds since high school (15 since the end of college). Food also affects me emotionally as I tend to turn to food depending on my mood: if I'm happy, I may indulge in an extra dessert or if I'm sad I may turn to snacking on unhealthy items. I do feel like I place too much value on food. I wanted to take these 3 weeks to not only cleanse my body of unhealthy toxins, but also look at how my obsession with food affects my spiritual life.

For those of you who have not heard of it, the Daniel fast is a 21-day fast based on the account of Daniel in the Bible. (specifically Daniel 1 and 10). If you have not read the book of Daniel you should! It's one of my favorite books. I did a Beth Moore Bible study with my two best friends on it a few years ago and it was amazing. The book starts with King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon overtaking Judah. Daniel was one of the Israelites taken to the King to be educated. The King gave them portions of his own food and wine. Here are few excerpts from the book of Daniel:

"But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore, he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of eunuchs, and the chief of eunuchs said to Daniel, "I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see that you were in worse condition than your youths who are of your won age? So you would endanger my head with the king." Then Daniel said to the steward who the chief of eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hannaiah, Misheal, ad Azariah, "Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetable to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king's food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see." So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days. At the end of ten days, it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youth who ate the king's food." (Daniel 1:8-15)

The 10th chapter of Daniel reveals him to have a vision:

"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)

From these two passages, we get the guidelines for the Daniel Fast:

1. Eat only fruits and vegetables (or things grown from the earth)

2. Only water to drink

3. No preservatives or sweeteners or breads

4. Lasts for three weeks or 21-days

(check out http://daniel-fast.com/index.html for more information!)

I have never done such an intense fast before so it has been an eye-opening experience. I am on day 6 and it has already been very, VERY hard. My body and mind have been fighting me. It is obvious to me that I am very addicted to sugar. It would be scary if it wasn't so funny! I literally had to argue with myself on Friday to not eat doughnuts in the teacher's lounge. I must have looked insane staring at this box of doughnuts, whispering under my breath (No one would know! NO! BE STRONG! Oh come on...you lasted 4 days, that's good enough....WALK AWAY KIM!)

I'll be honest up front, I will be breaking my fast a couple times due to end of year parties and a bridal shower I'm going to, but I am hoping to hold to it until May 31st otherwise. It will be an interesting 2 more weeks as the first week has been incredibly difficult. Please pray for my spiritual growth and that my focus be on seeking God, not merely surviving a "diet." I am hoping this fast will jump start me into a healthier lifestyle when it is over! :)