What is the Daniel Fast

A biblical based partial fast, the Daniel fast finds its basis on two accounts of the Prophet Daniel's fasting. If you want to know what the Daniel fast is, then you need to learn about these two accounts as mentioned in Daniel 1 and Daniel 10. Today, the Daniel fast is one of the methods of fasting that is followed by men and women all over the world. Christian and Jewish followers believe that the Daniel fast affects the spirit, soul, and body of the person keeping the fast, as it is time in which there is complete focus and concentration on prayer and the process of fasting.

Daniel Fast in the Bible

In Daniel, chapter 1, there is mention of how Daniel and his friends were taken prisoner from Israel and held in Babylon, where at King Nebuchadnezzar's palace, they were asked to eat from the King's table. Daniel and friends refused to do so because the meal has not been prepared according to the Jewish diet. Daniel conveyed the message that his friends and he would eat only those foods that were prescribed by Jewish tradition. When scorned upon, he took it up as a challenge asking for a time period to follow the fasting plan, at the end of which he said that an overseer could compare their strength with that of other slaves. At the end of the period for which the fasting lasted, it seemed that the fast they followed, made Prophet Daniel and his friends much stronger and fitter than the other slaves in the King's palace. In Daniel 10, it says that "In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks. I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled." These are the lines that are taken into consideration when someone is looking out for Daniel fast instructions.

Daniel Fast: An Overview

Let us now take a look at the modern-day version of the Daniel Fast. What is known as the Daniel fast now, was brought back into mainstream fame by Reverend Elmer Townes and tries to follow the Daniel fast diet as mentioned in the Bible. The Daniel fast guidelines will tell you that the main purpose of following the fast is to spiritually bring a person closer to God and to bring a certain sense of fulfillment, both physical and mental. The exclusion of meat and dairy products from Daniel fast stems from the belief that feeding on a creature of God would not be something that the Lord would give his blessings to. According to belief of followers, the strength that Daniel and his friends received was a result of not eating foods that were forbidden and the same mental and physical strength would be awarded to those who follow the Daniel fast plan.

To understand what the Daniel fast is, it is important to understand which food products are allowed and which products are completely excluded from the list of food items that can be eaten during a Daniel fast. If you are keeping the Daniel fast, then you can eat all fruits whether fresh, frozen, juiced, canned, or even dried. It is suggested to consume fruits like apples, oranges, bananas, watermelons, mangoes, lemons, pineapples, etc. If you are following the Daniel fast, then you can also eat all vegetable, nuts, seeds, legumes, vegetable oils, and water. The foods that need to be excluded from your diet if you are keeping the Daniel fast are meat and animal products, dairy products, sweeteners, leavened bread, any artificial flavoring or preservative, deep-fried foods, and any beverage other than water.

If you want to know how long is the Daniel fast meant to be kept, then the prescribed duration is 3 weeks or 21 days. This is the duration as mentioned in the book of Daniel in the Holy Bible. There are Daniel fast recipes that you can follow during the fast that will allow you to exclude all the food items that are not meant to be consumed during the fast. If you intend to keep the fast, just follow the instructions as mentioned in this article.