Prepare for Your Daniel Fast

hey friend Susan Gregory here and I want to just give you a very quick overview of how to prepare for your Daniel pheasant first let me say congratulations that you are actually looking at a video so that you can prepare for a successful fasting experience this is an amazing time with God and it preparation is so important my name like I said is Susan Gregory I'm the author of the best-selling book about the Daniel fast I have had the pleasure of teaching people more than 16 million people have come to my websites from all over the world because people are seeking God they need God we need more of God the Daniel fast book that I've written is the most popular book and I really encourage you to get this book if you want to be more prepared that's the whole purpose of the book you can pick it up at your local bookstore maybe your church library has at your local library or Amazon any booksellers will have it so let's talk about preparing for the fast first you want to open your heart to God fasting is not so you gain brownie points with him fasting is for you it is to draw you nearer to the Lord so you want to open your heart with him he wants to be with you his desire is to develop a deep and sustaining relationship with you he is your father you are his child so open your heart to God seek him tell him about what's on your heart he will give you what you desire he will give you what you desire and this is an opportunity for you to join with him so open your heart to the Lord and talk to him like your loving father this is a time when it's just you and him a private time in your secret place the next thing you want to do is choose your dates when will you begin your fast now if you're doing it as an individual then you can take a look at your calendar and see when it's best for you if you're doing it with your church then find out when is the first day of the fast with your church or maybe it's a Bible study that you're doing it with then the fast usually begins at sunrise on the first day so if you say we're beginning the fast on January 8th then at sunrise on January 8th is when you enter into the fasting experience that first day then when will you complete your fast the fast is usually done for 21 consecutive days from it's a 24-hour thing it's not something where you just practice the fast from sunrise to sunset it's you its consecutive days 24/7 and you usually complete the fast on that 21st day at sundown so you choose the day you're going to begin your fast and you begin it at sunrise on that first day and this is a time that can be so powerful so beautiful you want to enter into the experience it's like crossing over a threshold into this beautiful spiritual experience with the Lord so think of your first day that you'll be fasting and then what is that day when you will be ending it when you'll be completing your fast and that will be on the 21st day at sundown so if you say we're I'm going to complete the fast on January 28th then at sundown on January 28th would be when you complete your fast and that too can be a powerful experience so think of your time of fasting like entering in you are you are you are putting yourself in the position to be kind of like in a bubble with the Lord you are sanctifying yourself separating yourself for this period for an awesome time with the Lord you also want to define your purpose for your fast what are those things that are on your heart what do you need what's on your heart what are the challenges that you have at you have financial challenges do you have a relationship that needs healing or improvement is there a job that you are seeking what is it that you want are there some health issues so look at what is your purpose for your fast if you don't have a purpose it ends up just being a 21 day time where you're changing the way you eat and believe me you do not want to do that now it may also be a time where you are seeking the Lord you want to draw nearer to him maybe you want to get better with prayer or better with study you want to develop some routines that you can have for the rest of your life so define your purpose and then find the answer in God's Word so if God is if you've got some financial issues then go to the word what does God say about him being your source about him being your provision about him you know giving you everything you need giving you all sufficiency now what is it that you need from him but find it in his word because his word is your covenant his word is what he says he will provide for you as his child as one of his chosen people and then seek God in his ways so during this 21-day period you've got your purpose you you're planning on entering into this beautiful time with the Lord where you can learn about him learn about his ways draw nearer to him and develop your relationship with him strengthening your faith for answered prayer so then plan your study tools do you have some books by some christ-centered authors or are you going to use a study course by reliable teachers and when I say reliable teachers you want to make sure anytime you are studying spiritual matters that you are going to people who really know the scriptures they are teaching from the Word of God they're not teaching from the traditions of men but everything is grounded in God in his word do you have a scripture reading plan are there you want to go through the Gospels during your 21-day fast yeah are there some epistles you want to study do you want to go and read five proverbs every day in a psalm every day or what is it that you want to do think about that of how you want to enter into being in God's Word so that you're getting his food that you're not only nourishing your body during the fast by the foods that you eat through the Daniel fast but you also want to nourish your spirit nourish your soul with his word and then think about setting a time aside every single day where you can meet with the Lord this is your special time with him this is the time when you enter into his presence when it's it's your secret place that's time when it's just you and him so think about this and I can tell you the richer you make this experience the better it will be for you so find the time that is best for you for me it's best first thing in the morning because you know I get going on in my day and and then if you know maybe I'll get interrupted in the evenings or I'll just be too tired but if I give him that first time in the morning it just sets my day on a wonderful pace so think about when is your best time then you also want to plan your meals now this is the deal the Daniel Fast is not about the food now please hear me on this the Daniel Fast is not about the food so why I want to emphasize this to you is that I have seen so many people turn the Daniel Fast kind of into a temporary Christian eating plan that is not what it is now fasting scriptural fasting is always about food the word says that in the definitions it is restricting food for for a spiritual purpose so we need to be concerned about the foods we eat the Daniel Fast is a partial fast where some foods are eaten and others are restricted and you can go to our website or exert me in the books or in the tools that we provide people that are a part of our mailing list so find out the foods that are restricted find out the foods that are allowed on the but then make simple meals plans simple meals so that you're not spending so much time worrying about what you're going to be eating that it ends dominating the time this is a spiritual experience are you going to satisfy the needs of the flesh by making sure you've got tasty foods or delicious desserts or sweet elements no you want to make this a spiritual experience where you are restricting food for a spiritual purpose so it doesn't mean that you can't enjoy the meals that's okay they can be pleasant meals but keep them simple and make sure that you prepare for them when you are prepared then you don't have to think so much about the meals you don't have to think so much about what you're eating so I encourage you plan a few breakfast options now that may be something like rice cakes with peanut butter and raisins and maybe a banana that's a great breakfast that's got protein and it's got some really good nutritious food one thing that I love is muesli with fresh fruit and maybe have a rice cake with that also I really enjoy having fruit smoothies and so whatever just plan about three meals three breakfasts that you can have that are consistent with the Daniel fast guidelines and look at these show notes you can receive all of the information you need about and and then make sure you've got those ingredients on hand in your house again this will help you stay within the guidelines then also plan a few lunch options now a lot of times leftovers from dinner are great lunch options but maybe there's some other things maybe you're going to create some salads or you know have some fruit and nuts and make sure you've got some good protein and you can have that with rice and beans and there's so many different things that you can have on the Daniell fast but plan some lunch options and then plan just six or seven meal fruit for your dinner six or seven meal options if you don't want it to be complicated so if you have let's say you've got vegetarian chili it's one of the my most popular recipes for the Daniel fest vegetarian chili and then you have a nice green salad and water to drink and that is a really wonderful meal it's a simple meal and it's also easy to make and then you want to have snacks and you want to have those easy and portable so one of the things that I like to do is put like a quarter cup of raw walnuts or raw almonds in little snack bags and then just keep those in my purse or in my desk have some water available to you bottled water all the time have mixed a dried fruit or veggies with hummus something that's simple so that when you have that craving maybe between breakfast and lunch or between lunch and dinner or maybe even after dinner a quarter cup of wrong let's have protein in them that will satisfy that craving that your body is giving you they're tasty you can eat them slowly and and they are very very satisfying you can stay within these guidelines and and you you can be successful but don't make it so much about the food and miss out on the amazing blessings that are available to you now you also want to prepare your body your physical body and the biggest thing you want to do is make sure that you taper off caffeine so that on the first day of the fast you are completely off caffeine whether you drink tea or coffee or soft drinks or chocolate so many foods contain caffeine and no caffeine is allowed on the Daniel fest the only beverage on the Daniel fest is water so 7 to 10 days before the fast begin tapering off caffeine so there's you know you start with just adding more decaffeinated beverages to the caffeinated and just taper off so that by the time you have that first day of you're fast you're completely off of it and then do the same with sugar and sweeteners there are no sweeteners allowed on the fast so taper off start eating more Whole Foods have fruit instead of sugary foods and then start drinking lots of water that will really help you a flush your system will get a lot of the chemicals many you're in some ways you're going to be in a detox when you are fasting because you're giving your body very nourishing foods without any chemicals without any additives in it so start drinking lots of water and flush out your system and then simplify your even before the fast start thinking about this one of the things that I like to think about it for the Daniel Fast is it's like preparing for a vacation now think about when you prepare for a vacation let's say you're going to go to the seashore you're going to go to the mountains or someplace that is different than how you normally live so you first of all you've got anticipation it's an exciting thing that you're getting ready to go on and then you're going to be behaving in a different way maybe you're going to have some books to read and maybe you're going to be eating differently so when you think about preparing for the Daniel Fast think about okay this is a period that I'm going to be on for 21 days and I'm going to behave differently and one of the ways that you're going to behave differently is by having simple meals that are only using ingredients that are provided within the guidelines for the Daniel Fast and then you also want to slowly increase your fiber now fiber is found in like vegetables and fruits raw vegetables raw fruits in the peelings in of fruits and vegetables in whole grains in beans and rice if you start eating a lot of that food if you're not used to it and you immediately start eating a lot of that food your body may rebel and so when you're preparing your body for the Daniel fest start eating more whole grains brown rice oatmeal different whole grains start eating more beans start eating more salads and get your body prepared for it so that when you start the fast you are already the main thing is open your heart to the Lord think about this time that you are going on with him this is your time with the Lord he wants to reveal his truth to your heart he wants to answer your prayers he wants to give you the desires of your heart so prepare for the Daniel Fast and beloved I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health just as your soul prospers so be blessed and open your heart to the Lord and I hope the very best for you on your Daniel pass if you've got any questions be sure to go to the Daniel - fast calm site and there's lots of information on the site and look at look at the list look at the things that we teach and you will find the answers there love to hear from you be blessed bye for now

Channel: Susan Gregory

Views: 98,265

Rating: 4.9468813 out of 5

Keywords: daniel fast, prepare for daniel fast, susan gregory, christian fasting, daniel fast 2019

Id: 4B3cEbcURsI

Length: 16min 57sec (1017 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 26 2016