Ready to start a Daniel Fast? Wondering what benefits of the Daniel Fast are? In this post I share why Daniel fasted, biblical scriptures on the benefits of fasting, tips, and five overall benefits. Keep reading to learn more and get a free 7-Day meal plan and fasting journal PDF.
What is the Daniel Fast?
The Daniel Fast is a term used to describe how Daniel, in the Old Testament of the Bible, fasted during his time in captivity from the Babylonian king in Chapter 1. He chose not to defile his body with the king’s delicacies and instead consume only a diet of “vegetables and water“. Daniel also fasted to get clarity and grow closer to God in Chapter 10.
Daniel 1:5-6 NKJV
“And the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king’s delicacies and of the wine which he drank, and three years of training for them, so that at the end of that time they might serve before the king. Now from among those of the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah…”
Why is it called the Daniel Fast?
Daniel chose to not consume the meat or wine the king offered him. He did this because he believed it would defile, or poison, his body. After ten days of fasting this way, Daniel and the other young men who also fasted, were noticeably better and fatter in appearance.
Daniel 1:8-16 NKJV
“But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. Now God had brought Daniel into the favor and goodwill of the chief of the eunuchs. And the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who has appointed your food and drink. For why should he see your faces looking worse than the young men who are your age? Then you would endanger my head before the king.”
So Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, “Please test your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance be examined before you, and the appearance of the young men who eat the portion of the king’s delicacies; and as you see fit, so deal with your servants.”
So he consented with them in this matter, and tested them ten days. And at the end of ten days their features appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king’s delicacies. Thus the steward took away their portion of delicacies and the wine that they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.”
Why did Daniel fast for 21 days?
Daniel continued fasting on vegetables and water, without anointing himself with oil, for three weeks later on in Chapter 10. To determine why Daniel did fast and pray, let’s look at Chapter 10 to see how did Daniel fasted in the bible during hardship.
Here’s scripture about his 21 day fast:
Daniel 10:1-3 NKJV
In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a revelation was given to Daniel (who was called Belteshazzar). Its message was true and it concerned a great war. The understanding of the message came to him in a vision.
At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks.
I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.
During his three week fast, Daniel experienced prophetic visions and grew spiritually in his faith. He gained understanding and strength by becoming closer to God. Because he was not focused on satisfying his flesh, he was able to grow in his faith and becoming stronger in his spirit.
Why do a Daniel Fast?
As you can read from the scripture above, Daniel fasted for several reasons, including:
- To not defile, or poison, his body with decadent food and alcohol
- To get closer to God and grow up spiritually
By resisting the urge to satisfy his flesh, he was able to achieve spiritual growth. This is the main reason to do a Daniel Fast.
By committing to a fast like this, we can set aside desires for sin, addictive foods and drinks, and focus on growing closer to God.
How do you do a Daniel Fast?
Doing a Daniel Fast is simple, it just takes commitment and setting yourself up for success.
- Learn more about how to do a Daniel Fast in my Ultimate Guide to Daniel and Fasting Biblically in 2024
How many times do you eat during Daniel Fast?
You can eat as many times as you need during this fast. This is not a starvation fast. Instead, it’s an elimination fast, meaning you eliminate foods which cause sin in your life, such as lust for food, gluttony, and addiction.
- Check out my free 7-Day Daniel Fast Meal Plan (free printable PDF) for an example of how many times you can eat during this fast.
5 benefits of the Daniel Fast
There many Daniel Fast health benefits.
Here’s a basic overview of the ones described in this post:
- Spiritual health
- Physical health
- Mental health
- Breaking addictions
- Removing sin from your life
Here’s a more in depth look and biblical scriptures related to each of these benefits:
Spiritual health
The spiritual benefits of this fast are immense.
The whole premise of the Daniel Fast is to honor our body, which is our temple, and to grow closer to God. By doing so, we are able to focus not on our fleshly desires, but instead our spiritual growth.
Scriptures in the book of Daniel show he was closer to God when fasting.
Biblical verses about spiritual health and fasting
Daniel 1:8
“But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.”
By purposing in his heart to honor God, scripture tells us “God had brought Daniel into the favor and goodwill of the chief of the eunuchs”. God blessed Daniel because of his commitment to refrain from sin and honor God’s will.
When we purpose in our hearts to honor God’s will, he blesses us and favors us.
If we focus on pleasing our fleshly desires, such as overindulgence in food and drinks, we are focused on sin.
By committing to a Daniel Fast we are telling God we have purposed in our heart to honor God and do His will instead of pleasing ourselves. In essence, we are committing to “growing up spiritually” through abstaining.
- Check out this 7-Day Daniel Fast Journal (free printable PDF) I created to help keep you focused on honoring God during the fast.
Physical health
Daniel Fasting promotes physical health for several reasons.
Here’s a basic overview:
- Eliminating unhealthy foods
- Eliminating unhealthy drinks and stimulants
- Allows our body to heal from damaged caused by unhealthy diet and lifestyle
- Focus on eating healthy foods and drinking water for an extended period of time
- Creates new eating habits
- Creates new physical health habits
Biblical verses about physical health and fasting
One of the most popular physical training scriptures is:
1 Timothy 4:8 NKJV
“For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.”
In essence, this physical training scripture shares that exercising our body is profitable. It also shares that focusing on God’s will is most profitable. The Daniel Fast helps us focus on both, physical health and spiritual health which has eternal benefits.
Daniel 1:15 NKJV
“And at the end of ten days their features appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king’s delicacies.”
Notably, Daniel and the other young men who fasted, were physically better and healthier than those who consumed delicacies and wine each day.
If you have ever consumed a diet of delicacies and alcohol on a daily basis, you are probably aware that physical health declines with this lifestyle. This is a diet focused on satisfying our fleshly desires.
When we abstain from delicacies and alcohol from our diet, there is a noticeable increase in physical health. And, if we include focusing on God’s word each day during this time, there’s also spiritual health gained – a win, win!
Mental health
When we clean up our diet and focus on taking care of our bodies, our temple, naturally there can become mental health benefits.
Growing spiritually gives us strength, especially mental strength and clarity. Having clarity can help us understand ourselves and our circumstances which can help us have better mental health.
Even the basic act of taking care of ourselves can increase mental health. Showing respect for what God has given us through Daniel Fasting tells God we are purposing in our hearts to honor His will.
Biblical verses about mental health and fasting
As scripture tells us:
Daniel 10:1 NKJV
“…a revelation was given to Daniel…”
When Daniel was focused on fasting, he was able to have a closer connection to God.
One of the most popular mental health scriptures is:
Phillippians 4:13 NKJV
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
This verse is important because it shows how having faith in God is what gives us strength. This is especially true of mental strength because, through faith which starts in our heart and mind, we can have the strength to do all things.
When fasting and focusing on faith we can grow mentally and find the strength to overcome sin.
More verses about strength through faith include:
Isiah 40:29 NKJV
“He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength.”
Hebrews 11:11 NKJV
“By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.”
1 Peter 5:10 NKJV
“But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.”
Fasting can feel like suffering at first. However, after a period of time, through faith, you can overcome suffering and gain mental strength.
Breaking addictions
Addiction to foods like sugar, processed foods, junk food, fast food, and drinks like alcohol, soda, coffee, and energy drinks can distract us from spiritual growth.
These are essentially things which satisfy our flesh, not our spirit. By committing to a Daniel Fast, we are proclaiming to live in the spirit, not the flesh.
It’s a time set aside to focus on this type of growth and breaking addictions which cause us to sin.
Bible verses to break food addictions
If you are struggling with addictions, here’s a bible study to break addiction:
One of the best scriptures to give clarity on why faith is important for breaking addictions is:
1 Corinthians 10:13 NKJV
No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
This scripture shows that faith in God will not only help us with temptations of sins like gluttony, but also God will give us a way to escape when we are tempted.
Without faith, when we face everyday temptations to sin, it’s likely we will not have the strength to overcome.
However, we learned in the above scriptures on strength through faith, that all things are possible with God. And, God gives power to the weak.
You don’t have to fight to overcome addictions on your own because faith in God helps give you the strength.
When we purpose in our hearts, like Daniel did to not defile his body, God gives us the strength to overcome.
Removing sin from your life
Sin oftentimes happens because of a lack of self control.
Daniel exercised self control by purposing in his heart a commitment to not defile his body. Therefore, removing sin from life comes through self control and setting our hearts on doing it.
And, we learned from the scriptures above that God helps and gives strength to those who have set their heart on goodness.
Here’s some important bible verses about self control regarding sins like lustful and evil thoughts:
2 Peter 1:5-7 NKJV
“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.”
This scripture encourages us to build on our faith through virtue (meaning knowing what is right and doing it), knowledge, applying self-control to what we know, persevere against sin with self-control, to end up in godliness and love.
Love is the ultimate reward for our virtuous self-control.
There can be no love in sin, so it’s important to practice self-control against sin.
Having faith in God gives us the strength to practice self-control.
And, having the knowledge of God’s word by reading the Bible everyday, and knowing what he wants us to do, will give us ability to do this.
If you don’t know, you can’t do it.
Another great bible verse for removing sin in regards to fasting is:
1 Corinthians 7:5
“Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.”
This verse is in regards to marriage, but also explains the basic premise that Satan is able to tempt us because of lack of self-control.
It also explains that, through fasting and prayer, we are able to get strength from God to overcome temptation of sin.
Like we learned above, we don’t need to find our own strength to remove sin from life. We simply need to focus on faith which gives us strength to overcome sin.
Fasting and prayer helps give us clarity. Reading God’s word in the Bible gives us knowledge.
Tips for Daniel Fasting
Looking for tips? Check out my Ultimate Guide to Daniel and Fasting Biblically in 2024.
Further reading:
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Read the book of Daniel at biblegateway.com.
