Beginning research..

Bekah and I have decided to join our church, Heart of the Valley Christian Fellowship, in participation of the Daniel Fast. We will be fasting from January 5-25, 2014. In order to help others prepare and accomplish this fast in the future, I have decided to try and blog our progress and the things we learn along the way. We are fasting both for the healthy benefit of it, as well as the spiritual aspect of it. I have been reading and researching what I can, but I am by no means a pro, as this will be my wife and my self's first Daniel Fast. I am getting information from daniel-fast.com which is a site authored by Susan Gregory who has written a book on the fast. I also downloaded a digital book from Amazon for $2.99 called "The Ultimate Guide to the Daniel Fast" by Kristen Feola. I am only partially through this book but it has a plethora of information and includes 21 daily devotionals.

For those who haven't heard of the Daniel Fast, it is a biblically based, partial fast, meaning you're not starving and dehydrating yourself to death!! You're simply removing certain foods from your diet for a length of time, in this case, for 21 days. You may drink water and eat vegetables, fruits, brown rice, and more. In Daniel 1:12, Daniel tells a guard "Don't give us anything but vegetables to eat and water to drink." This is the first part of where the fast comes from. Daniel 10:3 reads... "During those three weeks, I didn't eat any fancy food; I didn't eat any meat or drink any wine." This is where we find that we will not eat any meat as well as any desirable food which includes bread and sweets. Daniel ate only simple food that was needed to nourish his body. You should read Isaiah 58 for more insight into fasting according to the bible.

The Daniel Fast is done as a spiritual journey to bring you closer to God. The healthy benefits are a bonus. The struggles you go through will strengthen your relationship with God by forcing you to put your physical and spiritual self in his hands. You must trust in him and pray often and you will find answers you are seeking.

In the weeks to come, I will try to blog daily about what we are eating, how the physical aspects are going, and how the spiritual journey is coming along. I will be doing the daily devotionals that are included in the Ultimate Guide as well as a 21 day devotional that I found in my bible app on my Iphone. Please follow along with me on this journey and don't hesitate to leave comments, suggestions, recipes, or whatever else you would like to!! I would love to hear from you all!!!