21 Day Daniel Fast

This week at RCC we're encouraging everyone to begin what is known as a "Daniel Fast". This fast is based off the model set out by Daniel 10:2,3 ...

"In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three full weeks. I ate no rich food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled."

Foods to Eat

Whole Grains: Brown Rice, Oats, Barley

Legumes: Dried Beans, Pinto Beans, Split Peas, Lentils, Black Eyed Peas

Fruits: Apples, Apricots, Bananas, Blackberries, Blueberries, Boysenberries, Cantaloupe, Cherries, Cranberries, Oats, Figs, Grapefruit, Grapes, Guava, Honeydew Melon, Kiwi, Lemons, Limes, Mangoes, Nectarines, Papayas, Peaches, Pears, Pineapples, Plums, Prunes, Raisins, Raspberries, Strawberries, Tangelos, Tangerines, Watermelon

Vegetables: Artichokes, Asparagus, Beets, Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts, Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Chili Peppers, Corn, Cucumbers, Eggplant, Garlic, Gingerroot, Kale, Leeks, Lettuce, Mushrooms, Mustard Greens, Okra, Onions, Parsley, Potatoes, Radishes, Rutabagas, Scallions, Spinach, Sprouts, Squashes, Sweet Potatoes, Tomatoes, Turnips, Watercress, Yams, Zucchini, veggie burgers are an option if you are not allergic to soy.

Liquids: Spring Water, Distilled Water, 100% Fruit Juices, 100% Vegetable Juices. You may drink protein drinks if they do not include dairy products.

Others: Seeds, Nuts, Sprouts

This list of foods is merely a first step to get you thinking about making better food choices. Remember, this fast is about growing your relationship with God. And He's not as concerned about what is in your stomach as He is about what is in your heart.

Daniel's decision not to eat the king's food was an outward symbol of an inward commitment he had made to God. Let your choices over the next three weeks reflect the hunger your have for God's presence in your life.

Since there is no definitive list of foods for the Daniel Diet, it is truly the spirit of Daniel's decision that we are imitating over the next 21 days. If there is something that is not specifically listed that you think still qualifies, then feel free to adjust this accordingly. The details of the fast are between you and God - use this time to focus on Him.

Foods to Avoid
• Meat
• White Rice
• Fried Foods
• Caffeine
• Carbonated Beverages
• Foods Containing Preservatives/ Additives
• Refined Sugar
• Sugar Substitutes
• White Flour and All Products Using It
• Margarine, Shortening, High Fat Products

Do not treat them as laws, if you have taken something by accident, do not feel condemned, or you will not benefit from this fast.

Special Note: If you have health issues, please be sure to contact your health professional for advice before committing to any fast including the Daniel Fast.

Fasting Tips

How to Begin - Start with a clear goal. Be specific. Why are you fasting? Do you need direction, healing, restoration of marriage or family issues? Are you facing financial difficulties? Ask the Holy Spirit for guidance. Pray daily and read the Bible.

Preparing Spiritually - Confess your sins to God. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal areas of weakness. Forgive all who have offended you and ask forgiveness from those you may have offended (Mark 11:25; Luke 11:4; 17:3-4). Surrender your life fully to Jesus Christ and reject the worldly desires that try to hinder you (Romans 12:1-2).

Deciding What to Fast - The type of fasting you choose is up to you. You could go on a full fast in which you only drink liquids, or you may desire to fast like Daniel, who abstained from sweets and meats, and the only liquid he drank was water. Remember to replace that time with prayer and Bible study.

Deciding How Long - You may fast as long as you like. Most can easily fast from one to three days, but you may feel the grace to go longer, even as much as 21 to 40 days. Use wisdom and pray for guidance. Beginners are advised to start slow.

What to Expect - When you fast your body detoxifies, eliminating toxins from your system. This can cause mild discomfort such as headaches and irritability during withdrawal from caffeine and sugars. And naturally, you will have hunger pains. Limit your activity and exercise moderately. Take time to rest. Fasting brings about miraculous results. You are following Jesus' example when you fast. Spend time listening to praise and worship. Pray as often as you can throughout the day. Get away from the normal distractions as much as possible and keep your heart and mind set on seeking God's face.

How to End - Don't overeat when the time comes to end your fast. Begin eating solid food gradually; eat small portions or snacks.

Fasting Guidelines

FOCUS - The fast is a spiritual discipline designed to better connect us with God. As a small group, we are fasting in order to deepen our relationship with God and to walk in step with His plan and purpose. A great way to do this is to redirect our food source. This is accomplished through substituting our regular food intake with Bible reading, praying and journaling. The overall goal is to experience a genuine hunger for spending time with God.


MENU - The Daniel Fast is a partial fast, which means that we will eliminate some common things from our daily diet, but will have generous options available. We will focus on eating fruits and vegetables that are pure and simple. We have included a list of foods to eat and foods to avoid. If you have any condition which would prohibit you from being a part of the Daniel Fast, there are other options. Choose something from your daily routine (i.e. specific foods or beverages, television, other technology, etc.) and fast in that manner for the next 21 days. Remember, the details are not as important as the spirit in which you participate.

Here are some areas we can join together in directing our prayers towards during the Daniel Fast:

Week #1

PRAYER FOCUS - PERSONAL ALIGNMENT

• For an openness to spiritual reality in our lives
• That we will personally hunger for a move of the Holy Spirit
• For a growing hunger for God in each of our lives and in our families
• For a renewed hunger for reading and studying God's Word
• For a renewed passion for fasting & prayer
• For a growing passion to reach the unsaved
• That we will be sensitive to open doors to present the gospel
• That we will have a renewed personal commitment to Pentecost

Week #2

PRAYER FOCUS - BROKENESS

• For a strengthening of moral and Biblical values in our nation
• That people would turn to God in times of need
• For strong marriage and family relationships
• For a powerful sweep of the Holy Spirit across our nation
• For our government - that our President and leaders will seek divine guidance daily
• That the oval office will be a place of strong, moral leadership
• For God's protection for our nation
• For God's wisdom for our leaders
• That all believers will stand for morality and righteousness

Week #3

PRAYER FOCUS - CORPORATE VISION

• That our church will have a positive impact on our community
• That a culture of prayer will develop in our church
• That effective ministries will continue to develop in our church
• That we will collectively seek God's presence and power through fasting & prayer
• That our congregation will resound with testimonies of God's help in answer to prayer
• That we will reach out to all cultures and ethnicities
• That we will help people to become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ
• For outreach opportunities in our community
• That the gifts of the Spirit will operate powerfully in our church

Five Conversations I Hope I Never Have With You - Part 5

One final chat I have with others on a frequent basis is, “You have been asking the wrong questions.”

Typically we ask ourselves questions like these: "Will this make me happy?", "Can I afford this?", "How close to the moral/ethical line can I get without crossing it?", etc.

But those really aren't the kinds of questions that will lead us to the destinations we truly want to get to in life.

So the principle in this conversation is: learn the art of asking questions.

Here are the questions I find myself wrestling with every day that benefit me the most ...

1. Am I Being Completely Honest With Myself?

• Why am I doing this, really? ... If someone in my circumstances came to me for advice, what course of action would I recommend?

2. What Story Do I Want To Tell?

• God’s will for your life will always line up with His law, His principles, and His wisdom.

3. Is There A Tension That Needs My Attention?

• When you’re making a decision and one of the options raises a little bit of tension, PAUSE and allow it to get as big as possible before you make the decision.

4. What Would Be Most Honoring To God?

5. In light of my past experiences, my current circumstances, and my future hopes and dreams, what is the wise thing for ME to do?

• This applies to my use of time, my morality & how I handle my finances.

Five Conversations I Hope I Never Have With You - Part 4

Okay, it's day four of this journey through the challenging conversations we adults have from time to time. This one tends to be the most "fixable" of them all and it goes like this ... “This is the price you pay for playing around for so long.”

Here is the principle: pay now, play later.

We can all have the tendency to procrastinate. But some of us are unhealthy, one way or the other. Here are four kinds of people ...

The "Pay Now, Pay Later" types ... all you do is work. You don't know how to have fun. You view leisure as weakness. This is unhealthy!

The "Pay Now, Play Later" types ... you need to finish your work before you can have fun.

The "Play Now, Play Later" types ... these are the people who take 9 nine years to finish college. They never seem to get around to taking responsibility in life. They're just out to have a good time. This is unhealthy!

The "Play Now, Pay Later" types ... you need to have fun before you can buckle down and get to work.

We all need to find a healthy balance between work and play. As adults, we need to model a healthy work ethic for our kids and yet give ourselves permission to have some fun. Where do you find yourself in these four types of people? In what ways do you need to grow to become more balanced?

Here are some challenging words from Jesus ... “No procrastination. No backward looks. You can’t put God’s kingdom off till tomorrow. Seize the day.” Luke 9:62 (MSG)

What are you putting off today? Don't delay!

Five Conversations I Hope I Never Have With You - Part 3

Another conversation I find happening in my office centers around the topic of marriage and it goes like this ... "Your marriage is headed for a train wreck.”

This happens all the time and for a myriad of reasons. My prayer is that the teenagers I spoke with last night will learn early not to settle for less than what God has for them as it relates to the issue of marriage. God has a fantastic plan in the covenant in marriage and I hope they won't short-circuit what He wants to do in them. As adults, I hope we won't either!

Here's the principle: be the person you want to marry. Or, if you're already married, be the person to whom you want to be married.

How would you summarize a marriage that will be successful? A marriage that will go the distance? I'd summarize it in this one word: Selflessness. I think our goal in marriage should be to ask this question every day ... "How can I accurately estimate and adequately supply my spouse's needs today?" (note that it's not his/her wants, it's needs). If I do that, life will be good! On the days I don't ... watch out, it's going to be difficult.

Here is how a selfless marriage is described in the book of Ephesians 5:21-28 from The Message paraphrase …

“Out of respect for Christ, be courteously reverent to one another. Wives, understand and support your husbands in ways that show your support for Christ. The husband provides leadership to his wife the way Christ does to his church, not by domineering but by cherishing. So just as the church submits to Christ as he exercises such leadership, wives should likewise submit to their husbands. Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. Christ’s love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. And that is how husbands ought to love their wives.”

Five Conversations I Hope I Never Have With You - Part 2

The second conversation I seem to have with lots of adults is one that I find particularly hard ... “What do you expect? What goes around comes around.”

Here is the principle: you reap what you sow.

This has implications in all arenas of life: relationally, morally, physically, financially, educationally, etc. And I've been surprised at how few adults ever learned this principle growing up. They don't have specific memories of getting this from their parents, teachers, or even in Sunday school. I hope that can change as we relearn this ancient truth ...

“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.” 2 Corinthians 9:6 (NIV)

Four truths about sowing and reaping …

We reap WHAT we sow. If you plant beans in your garden, you're not going to get corn.

We reap WHERE we sow. If you plant in the northwest corner of your back yard, the crops won't come up in the southeast portion of your yard.

We reap AFTER we sow. Sometimes we have to wait months and even years before we see a harvest come in, but rest assured, there will be a harvest!

We reap MORE than we sow. When you plant seeds, you sow just a few. But the results are considerably more than what you have put into the ground.

I hope you're making the connection here. Another way of saying this is that we reap later and greater.

For some this is discouraging. But for those who allow this principle time to work in your life it’s a tremendous blessing. This principle isn’t fair, just, balanced, even or 1-to-1. It can work for you or against you. I hope you'll leverage it to your benefit. If you sow seeds of righteousness, you'll reap a harvest of righteousness!

Five Conversations I Hope I Never Have With You - Part 1

Last night I spoke at our Sr. High Nexus Student Ministry service. It had been over 13 years since I'd spoken to a group of students in that kind of an environment and I had a blast! It was so cool to see them worship and I was humbled to share with them some of the things I've learned over the past 20 years since I graduated from high school.

Since I normally minister to adults, Donnie (our student ministries pastor) asked me to share about some of the reoccurring conversations I have with adults that I hope I never have to have with the students who were there last night. I found the idea intriguing and thought I'd spend this week blogging about it for the sake of all us "grown-ups" ... I hope these thoughts will inspire some growth in us all.

Here is the first conversation I have with adults on a regular basis when they come in to talk about where they've ended up in life - in their marriage, career, with regard to their physical health or their spiritual condition ...

“You’ve been headed down the wrong path for years.”

The principle we need to understand is this: Your direction, not your intention, will determine your destination.

The scriptures are full of passages that speak to the direction of our lives. I like this one in particular ... “Listen, my son, and be wise, and keep your heart on the right path.” Proverbs 23:19 (NIV)

You win or lose by the path you choose. It is not where you are that is the issue; it is where you are headed. And there is often a disconnect between where we want to end up and the path we choose. The wisdom literature of Proverbs depicts this clearly ...

“The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it.” Proverbs 27:12 (NIV)

In other words, wise people are paying attention to where they're headed. When they see trouble coming they take action. Fools see the same thing, but they continue to head into disaster with the mindset that life is disconnected. What a fatal flaw that envelopes us far too often!

I have a favorite prayer I pray on a continual basis these days. It goes like this ... “Lord, help me to see trouble coming long before it gets here, and give me the wisdom to know what to do and the courage to do it.”

Choosing the right path begins with submission, not information. Submission to the One who knows where each path leads, as well as where it doesn’t lead. Submission to the One who knows what’s best for you better than you know what’s best for you.

One other thing that influences the destinations we arrive at is this: What (or WHO) gets our attention determines our direction and, ultimately, our destination. We all give our attention to something or someone or both. This has a direct correlation to where we end up in life.

So, what has your attention these days? Who is getting your attention? The answers to those questions will tell you a lot about where you'll end up in the coming weeks, months and years.

5 R's For Resisting Temptation

At the Willow Creek Association Global Leadership Summit this week I heard Pastor Adam Hamilton do a talk on "When Leaders Fall." In it he shared the following principles that focus on how to resist temptation. I pray they're a blessing ...

Remember who you are. You are a child of Jesus Christ. Is the sin you're considering consistent with who you are?

Realize the consequences of your action. Pause long enough to think. How will I feel afterwards, ashamed or proud? Will I feel more human or less human? Closer to God or farther away?

Remove yourself from the situation. Avoid situations that are going to cause you to be tempted.

Rededicate yourself to God in prayer - whisper a prayer to God for strength. Don’t do it in your own strength. Stop and pray. This is one of the most basic things and yet we often neglect this.

Reveal your struggle to a trusted friend. Some of sin’s power is the secrecy. That's why the Bible says we are to confess our sins to one another that we might be healed.