5 Lessons I Learned during my Daniel Fast

I recently shared on my social media that I was doing the 21-day Daniel Fast. My Pastor was leading out in this fast and I felt led to join. I am still on my fertility journey and I wanted to stretch my faith while still waiting on God. During this fast, we read his book Unrealistic Faith, had morning worship and followed the Daniel diet. During the Daniel diet, we fasted from meat, dairy, sugar, and caffeine. Because I was once vegan, I was familiar with preparing plant-based meals. I decided to do this fast because I felt God was calling me to enter into a season of prayer and fasting specifically to prepare my body for the next embryo transfer. This was just another act of faith to prepare my body for what I was praying for.

During the Daniel Fast, my faith was tested especially since we were claiming to have unrealistic faith. Not only did I gain some new perspectives about faith but I was also challenged in those areas. Here are some things I learned during the 21-day Daniel Fast:

Worry is a choice

During the first week of the fast we focused on fasting from worry. I was asked, “how do you fast from worry?” I remember having that same question initially because it seems that worry is something we cannot control. But the more I spent time talking with God about worry, the more I realized we do have control over that thing. I reflected on Isaiah 26:3 which says,”He will keep in perfect peace who mind is stayed on Him.” This verse promises that God will give us peace, but we have to choose to keep our minds focused on Him – not on our problems which creates worry. Once I realized I do have a choice in how I respond to my problems, I became more conscious in practicing to choose peace.

Fasting shifted my focus

When you make a conscious effort to fast from something, like food, your mind inevitably shifts from the food to the Father. During a food fast you will experience hunger pangs and for me whenever I thought to grab something to eat to satisfy the hunger, I remembered that I was fasting and thus I turned to God. The hunger pangs were a signal for me to pray or journal or listen to worship music. It got to the point where I wasn’t even hungry for real food, I was full off the spirit.

Fasting helped me to remember what God has done

During my fast there were things I was praying and believing in God for. I would write out those things that troubled me and talk to God about them. In doing that, I began to reflect on all the times in the past when I had similar prayers and how God came through even in the final hour. Soon I would see my worry turn into rejoicing and praise. The fast led me into the habit of rehearsing what God brought me through.

My actions make my faith visible

My actions should mirror what I am believing for from God. Taking part in this Daniel Fast was an action step for me to show God that I am preparing my mind, body and spirit for what I am praying. Often times we pray for things and we do nothing to show God or even to prepare ourselves to receive it. We make no changes in our day to day that would help welcome what we are seeking. I am believing in God for a healthy full term pregnancy, so I am making the necessary lifestyle changes to show God that I’m putting some action behind my faith. I also want to ensure my body is as healthy as possibly for a pregnancy,

There are times when God needs me to go beyond my comfort zone

I realized that there are times when God needs me to go beyond my comfort zone. I won’t see purpose fulfilled if I play it safe or stay close to the surface all the time. Faith requires me to make some moves that may uncomfortable and scary. There are times when God needs to expose me to other options, different routes, different people or perspectives so that I can see what is possible beyond my worldview. Since sharing my fertility journey on social media I have met so many different women from various cultures, backgrounds, religions, and it has truly taken me out of my comfort zone. I believe God wants us for that and during this fast which at times was uncomfortable, I see why it was necessary.

If you have never done the Daniel Fast I would recommend it, 10/10. It truly changed my life for the better. Doing the fast along with reading the Unrealistic Faith book just made it such a rich and fulfilling experience. God is truly doing a new thing and I am so grateful. Let me know if you’ve ever done the Daniel fast and your experience.

Thank you for being here,