CHAPTER 1
Preparation and Purpose
READ IN The Daniel Fast:
• Chapter 1 ("Who Is the Daniel Fast Blogger?")
• Chapter 2 ("Dusting Off an Ancient Spiritual Discipline")
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Review food list, recipes, and meal plans
GETTING STARTED
• Why have you decided to participate in the Daniel Fast?
• Have you ever fasted before? If so, what challengesand rewards did you experience? If not, what are someanticipations or concerns you have about embarking on theDaniel Fast?
• Fasting is known as a "spiritual discipline." What does thatphrase mean to you?
• What questions do you have about the fast? (Don't try toanswer them all now, but write down any questions and comeback to them at the end of the session.)
CORE TRUTHS: DEFINING YOUR PURPOSE
The better you prepare for the Daniel Fast, the better your experiencewill be. During this week of planning and preparation beforeyou begin the fast, you will accomplish the following practical steps:
• Decide what you will and will not eat on your Daniel Fast.
• Plan your meals for Week 1.
• Shop for and prepare some of the make-ahead meals forWeek 1 of the Daniel Fast.
While much of this week's preparation is focused on food, you'llfind the key to a successful fast actually lies much deeper. Here is themost crucial thing you will do this week:
• Ask God to speak to you about your purpose for the DanielFast, and invite Him to show you His purpose for your life.
When it comes to fasting, a well-established purpose or goal maybe the most important thing to get you started on the right trackand help you stay there. Your purpose is what will carry you throughwhen your body (or mind) shouts, "Eat!" That's why it's importantfor your purpose to be personally meaningful. If your goal is not significantenough and compelling to you, it's easy to be tempted to quitor cheat when the going gets tough. But a targeted purpose can carryyou through. Here's the simple truth: The more committed you areto your goal or purpose, the more successful you will be on your fast.
Take time during this session to ask God to show you a compellingpurpose or goal for your Daniel Fast.
SETTING THE SCENE
Read Daniel 1:5-16 and 10:2-3 and reflect on the experiences of theprophet Daniel upon which we base our fast.
The king assigned them a daily ration of food and wine from hisown kitchens. They were to be trained for three years, and thenthey would enter the royal service.
6 Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were four of theyoung men chosen, all from the tribe of Judah. 7 The chief of staffrenamed them with these Babylonian names:
Daniel was called Belteshazzar.
Hananiah was called Shadrach.
Mishael was called Meshach.
Azariah was called Abednego.
8 But Daniel was determined not to defile himself by eatingthe food and wine given to them by the king. He asked the chiefof staff for permission not to eat these unacceptable foods. 9 NowGod had given the chief of staff both respect and affection forDaniel. 10 But he responded, "I am afraid of my lord the king,who has ordered that you eat this food and wine. If you becomepale and thin compared to the other youths your age, I amafraid the king will have me beheaded."
11 Daniel spoke with the attendant who had been appointedby the chief of staff to look after Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael,and Azariah. 12 "Please test us for ten days on a diet of vegetablesand water," Daniel said. 13 "At the end of the ten days, see howwe look compared to the other young men who are eating theking's food. Then make your decision in light of what you see."14 The attendant agreed to Daniel's suggestion and tested themfor ten days.
15 At the end of the ten days, Daniel and his three friendslooked healthier and better nourished than the young men whohad been eating the food assigned by the king. 16 So after that,the attendant fed them only vegetables instead of the food andwine provided for the others.
* * *
When this vision came to me, I, Daniel, had been in mourningfor three whole weeks. 3 All that time I had eaten no rich food.No meat or wine crossed my lips, and I used no fragrant lotionsuntil those three weeks had passed.
1. What do these passages show us about obedience to God—andGod's provision for us?
2. How did Daniel's relationship with God inform his decisionto request a different diet than the one provided by theking? How does your own desire for a deeper relationshipwith God inspire you to pursue integrity, boldness, andfaithfulness?
3. Daniel had a clear, specific purpose in fasting. What doesthis tell us about the importance of being intentional aboutour motives and goals as we fast?
4. What evidence do you see in these passages that God canuse our time of fasting to speak and make Himself real to us?What can you do to prepare yourself to listen to what Godmay want to say to you during your fast?
POINT TO PONDER
"Even though you can eat during the Daniel Fast, it is no less effectivethan a complete fast. The power in fasting has less to do withfood than with setting yourself apart for a specific period of time tofocus more on the Lord, prayer, and worship. In other words, thepower of fasting is found when you consecrate yourself to the Lordand discipline yourself to focus on Him. That's how your spiritualexperience is enhanced." (The Daniel Fast, Chapter 2)
DIGGING IN
Read Psalm 139, Jeremiah 29:11, and James 1:2-5. As you begin todefine your purpose for doing the Daniel Fast, what do these versesreveal about God's investment in your life?
Here are some suggestions you may find helpful in determining thepurpose for your fast:
1. Ask God to show you what your purpose should be. Afteryou have prayed, be attentive to how the Holy Spirit mightanswer you. For example, over the next few days, He maybring some issues or relationships to mind—or you mayfind yourself in a situation or a conversation that pointsyou toward a compelling purpose for your fast. One thingis for certain: If you ask God for help, He will be faithfulto guide you.
2. What are the top three issues in your life that cause youstress or concern? Ask yourself, If I could change three thingsabout my life, what would they be?
3. What five things would you like to accomplish over the nexttwelve months?
4. What three new habits do you want to form?
5. What fears do you have that you want God to help youconquer?
6. What unforgiveness do you harbor in your heart that youneed to deal with?
7. What areas are "out of order" in your life that you need toaddress?
Now consider your list and select one or two goals as your focus forprayer, study, and action during your Daniel Fast. This will be thepurpose for your fast. What goal(s) have you selected?
Write your purpose on a card (or cards) and post it where youwill see it regularly throughout the day. You may want to post a cardon your bathroom mirror, so it's one of the first things you see eachmorning, or on your computer monitor, where you can see it asyou work. Maybe post a card on the refrigerator or the pantry door.Keeping your purpose firmly in mind will help you stay on trackwith the Daniel Fast.
DISCOVERING AND DOING
When we're fasting, it's easy to focus on what we're not eating or whatwe don't have. The enemy of our souls, Satan, will do everything hecan to disrupt and derail our fast. One of his favorite tactics is tocombine temptation with subtle suggestions of compromise. Just ashe tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden by asking, "Did God reallysay ...?" he may try to tempt you to start questioning the boundariesand principles of the Daniel Fast. That's why it's important to planyour fast and stick to the plan. It's also critical to have your purposeclearly defined and visible throughout the fast.
The more you can prepare in advance— either by planningsimple, easy-to-prepare meals or cooking ahead and freezing meals—theeasier the twenty-one days of the fast will be. Don't become soconcerned with meal plans and recipes that they become the primaryfocus of your planning and preparation. Remember, the key to asuccessful fast is getting your mind off the food and onto God. Byestablishing your food list and planning your meals in advance, youcan eliminate a lot of the day-to-day decisions you'll have to makeduring the fast. The more you have planned in advance, the moreproductive the days of the fast will be.
Too much emphasis on recipes and meal plans can make thewhole process seem daunting, but don't forget that the Daniel Fastlasts for only three weeks. If you simplify your menu by focusingon easy-to-prepare fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, the planningprocess shouldn't be difficult. And if you have identified and committedto your purpose, you will find yourself relying on God's willfor you to get through the "valley" moments of fasting and enjoy the"peaks" of its many rewards.
1. What plans will you make this week for choosing and eatingthe right foods? (See The Daniel Fast for recipes and menus.)
2. What foods will you eat? Which ones will you avoid? Whichrecipes sound like ones you might want to try first?
3. What practical steps do you need to take this week (mealplanning, grocery shopping, cooking ahead of time) to makesure you are well prepared to begin on day 1 of the fast?
4. One of the benefits of fasting is that it takes us out of ournormal routines and creates an opportunity for us to reflecton our relationship with God and better connect with Him.But it won't just happen. We need to decide. How will youpray, meditate, and study during your fast?
5. Your plan should include establishing a specific time andplace to have a one-on-one interaction with God, whereinterruptions and distractions are minimized. What is yourtime and place for Bible study and prayer?
6. It's not helpful to focus your attention on how you're feelingduring a fast. But you will be feeling things (especially ifyou're new to fasting). Prepare for this by anticipating whereyou might be weak or vulnerable—and have a plan in placefor how you're going to deal with it. For example, you maywant to ask a friend to encourage you to "stay the course"if you are tempted to quit or cheat. Who might that personbe? Will you reach out and ask him or her to be availableto you over the course of your fast? In addition to being a"phone call away," your accountability partner should besomeone who will pray for you as you fast.
7. What will you do during the twenty-one days of the fast tosupplement your healthy eating with stretching and exercise?Write a specific plan.
8. What will you do during the twenty-one days of the fastto reduce your stress and get plenty of rest? Write a specificplan.
PRAYER
Father, as we prepare our bodies and minds for a time of focusing moredeeply on You, we pray that You will clear the path for us. Help us tocontinually choose You as we make our daily decisions about what to eatand how to spend our time and energy. Equip us this week with the gift ofpreparation as we think ahead to the next twenty-one days and considerthem a special and holy time set apart. And bless us with a strong sense ofYour purpose—both for the goal that will carry us through the fast, andthe abiding knowledge of Your will for our lives. Amen.
TIPS
• Starting today, begin tapering off your consumption ofcaffeine, sugar, and other foods not on the Daniel Fast. Forexample, you may want to progressively reduce the amount ofcoffee you drink each day or switch to half-caff or decaf.
• Each day, be sure to drink at least half a gallon (sixty-fourounces) of pure, filtered water.
• Get plenty of rest and a moderate amount of exercise.
• You may find it helpful to remove items from your pantrythat you won't be using during the Daniel Fast and put themin a secure place out of the way. I call this "locking up ourweaknesses." When trying to change or control the way weeat, the first line of defense is always availability. It's ofteneasier to avoid temptation altogether than to rely on ourability to resist it. Also, planning your meals and knowingwhat you will eat plays a significant role in complying withthe fast.
• To receive free resources, including the Daniel Fast FoodList and Guidelines, the Daniel Fast Weekly Meal PlanningWorksheet, and other helpful tools, go to www.daniel-fast.com.Enter your name and e-mail address in the formprovided, and I'll send you the information right away.
