What is Fasting?


Biblical fasting is voluntarily going without food for a period of time in order to draw nearer to God. It’s refraining from food for a spiritual purpose. By eliminating life’s distractions and taking our eyes off the things of this world through prayer and biblical fasting, we can focus better on Christ.

TYPES OF FASTS:

PARTIAL FAST

This fast is sometimes called the “Jewish Fast” and involves abstaining from eating any type of food in the morning and afternoon. This can either correlate to specific times of the day, such as 6:00 am to 3:00 pm, or from sunup to sundown.

DANIEL FAST

This type of fast involves removing certain elements from your diet. One example of a selective fast is the Daniel Fast, during which you remove meat, sweets, and bread from your diet and consume water for fluids and fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes for food.The Daniel Fast is based on the fasting experiences of the Old Testament. It’s a partial fast where some foods are eaten while others are restricted. It is a spiritual experience with significant health benefits. Thousands of people with health and weight issues experience success as they submit all of who they are to the Lord and change from the inside out.

Foods to include in your diet during the Daniel Fast

  • All fruits
  • All vegetables
  • All whole grains
  • All nuts and seeds, including sunflower seeds, cashews, peanuts, sesame. Also nut butter including peanut butter.
  • All legumes. These can be canned or dried. Legumes include dried beans, pinto beans, split peas, lentils, black-eyed peas, kidney beans, black beans, cannellini beans, white beans.
  • All quality oils including olive, canola, grape seed, peanut, and sesame.
  • Beverages: spring water, distilled water or other pure waters.
  • Other: tofu, soy products, vinegar, seasonings, salt, herbs, and spices.
  • Note: Unsweetened plant-based milk and juices can be used in recipes or on cereal, but the only beverage on the Daniel Fast is water.

Foods to avoid on the Daniel Fast

  • All meat and animal products including beef, lamb, pork, poultry, and fish.
  • All dairy products including milk, cheese, cream, butter, and eggs.
  • All sweeteners including sugar, raw sugar, honey, syrups, molasses, cane juice, date honey, and stevia.
  • All leavened bread including Ezekiel Bread (it contains yeast and honey) and baked goods.
  • All leavening agents including yeast, baking soda, and baking powder.
  • All refined and processed foods products including artificial flavorings, food additives, chemicals & white rice.
  • All deep fried foods
  • All solid fats including shortening, margarine, lard and foods high in fat.
  • Beverages including coffee, tea, herbal teas, carbonated beverages & energy drinks.

SOUL FAST

This fast is a great option if you do not have much experience fasting food, have health issues that prevent you from fasting food, or if you wish to refocus certain areas of your life that are out of balance. For example, you might choose to stop using social media or watching television for the duration of the fast and then carefully bring that element back into your life in healthy doses at the conclusion of the fast.

FASTING SCRIPTURES

PRAYER SCRIPTURES

RESOURCES

This post contains general information about fasting. The information is not advice and should not be treated as such. You must not rely on the information on this website as an alternative to medical advice from your doctor or another professional healthcare provider. If you have any specific questions about fasting in conjunction with any medical matter, you should consult your doctor or another professional healthcare provider.