My Decision to Fast: What Daniel Taught me

Have you ever felt in your heart that God was calling you to do something, but you knew it would require you to get uncomfortable?

This was my exact dilemma for about a year now. God had been calling me to fast and I CHOSE to ignore it because it would completely shift how I ate, spent time with my family, and how I would spend time with him.

Choosing to complete the Daniel’s Fast would mean giving up meat, dairy, and sugar which meant that I would need to make some changes to the meals I cooked. As well as what and where we ate as a family when we went out on the weekend. Then finally the most important part, the time I spent with Him would increase. This is amazing right?!? RIGHT! But the heartbreaking part is that I began to realize just how little time I actually spent praying. I had been getting by with my little 60 second prayers for far too long. And it broke my heart to realize that I simply became too busy for God! The man who loves me, gives me grace, mercy, and covers/protects me?! Like, really Tamara?!! How could you do this to the number one man you love?!?

*sighs* I know, a harsh reality.

This was likely the number one reason God called me to fast. He needed me at a place where I could spend intimate time with him, because 60 second prayers wasn’t gonna cut it for what he needed ME to do!

Fasting is an act of obedience to deny yourself of life’s pleasures for the sole purpose of drawing closer to him so that you can truly be a vessel.

If you grew up like me, fasting is a part of the Christian culture. I grew up in a Baptist church and fasting was always something that the church did together. Usually either at the beginning of the year or leading up to Easter. My Pastor did an amazing job with explaining to us what fasting was and its importance, but I never fasted because I wanted to do it but more so because the church was doing it.

So when God kept tugging on my heart, I was pretty much like “Lord, I don’t know about this one?!?”. But some would say, Tamara aren’t you into weight loss?!! This could help you lose a little weight and eat more healthily! *blank stare* The problem is: my body doesn’t do well with a vegetarian diet; my body doesn’t respond too well to a bunch of carbs. Most vegetables and fruit are made up of over 50% water, if I had to guess maybe even more. So in past times when I ate meatless I either maintained my weight or gained weight.

So I’m looking at God like: Let me get this straight, you’re calling me to complete the Daniel’s Fast KNOWING that I can potentially gain weight when it’s my goal to drop weight. PLUS, I would now need to come up with new meals to accommodate this vegetarian diet, adjust my lifestyle, and learn to trust this process of being obedient to your call?!?

So Lord, you want me to do ALL of this?!?

And he consistently said Yes!

*eewww child*

So on January 17, 2022 I finally said YES to Him!

During my fast the Lord directed me to read the book of Daniel. I had researched some devotionals to read during this fast, but the Lord kept putting in my spirit to read the book of Daniel. I personally also wanted to read Daniel because I truly wanted to know where the Daniel’s Fast originated from and what Daniel actually did for his fast. As Christians it is very easy to follow the masses and just do what everyone else is doing. But you have to know the word of God for yourself. So I read the book of Daniel and it absolutely blessed my entire life!

Consistency is Key

Daniel was a man of faith and truly walked with confidence in knowing that God was with him every step of the way. And when Daniel was faced with life’s challenges his faith NEVER wavered! He kept his eyes on God and CONSISTENTLY sought Him no matter what was going on! This blessed me because I never did this. I show up, say my prayer and hope and wish that the Lord hears me. But Daniel showed me that consistency is truly key! Consistently showing up by praying to God allows you to sit at his feet and focus on Him versus your problems. I realized that I’d been focusing too long on my problems and hadn’t been spending enough time focusing on HIM and his capabilities.

God is mighty and powerful, and truly able to do absolutely anything! Daniel showed me how to have unwavering faith. If God can deliver Daniel from the Lion’s den and the 3 men from a burning furnace, BABY, there ain’t nothing on this side of heaven that He can’t do for me!

While I’m speaking on the Lion’s den let me just brag on Daniel!

Daniel literally prayed and believed without a doubt that the Lord was going to show up on his behalf. He never doubted God when they threw him into the den, he consistently prayed. And as a result the Lions never laid a paw on him, he literally wrapped their mouths to prevent them from devouring him. This spoke to me because there have been times where life threw me into the Lion’s Den and I honestly lost faith and trust in God to deliver me. I now know that it's his Him who will deliver me and not me, myself.

There were times where I was looking at how I was going to overcome or get through a challenging time and honestly depending on me to get myself out, although I was praying for him to help me. Daniel has show me that in the impossible I must solely rely on his power to deliver me. If I’m facing a Lion, let’s be real?!? There is nothing that I can do. But I have taken on the Lion all by myself, and didn’t give God the room/opportunity to truly deliver me. Deliverance comes after surrendering. My disobedience to completely surrender left me in the Lion’s Den longer than need be. These are the lessons he needed me to get! I would have never gotten clarity and wisdom had I not fasted!

I share my story about my decision to fast to encourage every woman of God who was like me, debating to fast, to go ahead and do it. Fasting is more about obedience and your willingness to die to your flesh for greater within and around you. So don’t let the enemy keep you from the glory that God has set out before you. Be obedient to the call and watch Him move mountains and do wonders.

Join Plank and Prayer Challenge

Have you heard about my Plank and Prayer Challenge? It is my annual challenge that allows women of God to draw closer to him while losing their FUPA. Sounds like a win-win to me, right?!?!.

For 21 days I will provide you a scripture a day to pray over. You pick the time of day and plank while you pray for as long or little as you’d like. You will be completely amazed at the amount of strength that he will give you during your intimate time with him.

Click the link to join the waitlist.

We start March 28 and will plank and pray our way right into Easter Sunday. You don’t want to miss it. Sign up now, it’s completely FREE!