Why fast?

Fasting is one of the disciplines God has established to achieve spiritual breakthroughs in our life and the lives of others about whom we care deeply. It is a biblical way to truly humble yourself in the sight of God. King David said, “I humbled myself with fasting” (Psalm 35:13 (NKJV); see Ezra 8:21).

Fasting enables the Holy Spirit to reveal your true spiritual condition, resulting in brokenness, repentance, and a transformed life. Your confidence and faith in God will be strengthened. You will feel mentally, spiritually, and physically refreshed.

We encourage a partial fast commonly referred to as The Daniel Fast.

What is the Daniel Fast?

The Daniel Fast is based on the prophet Daniel’s experiences at two different times in his life.

10 Day Fast: In Daniel 1, Daniel chose not to eat the royal food that he was being served and ate only vegetables and drank water. The results were learning, skill, wisdom, spiritual understanding, favor, and better appearance

“Daniel spoke with the attendant who had been appointed by the chief of staff to look after Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. “Please test us for ten days on a diet of vegetables and water,” Daniel said.…At the end of the ten days, Daniel and his three friends looked healthier and better nourished than the young men who had been eating the food assigned by the king.”

Daniel 1:11-12, 15

21 Day Fast: Another time, in Daniel 10, he deprived himself of choice food, meat, and wine as he sought the Lord in prayer. The fast resulted in answered prayer and spiritual insight. 

“I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, for the full three weeks…Then he said, “Don’t be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer.”

Daniel 10:3, 12

Three key components to the Daniel Fast:
1. Only fruits, vegetables, nuts, & whole grains.
2. Only water or natural fruit juice for a beverage.
3. No sweeteners, breads, meat, eggs or dairy products.

Fast and Pray

Prayer List

1. Next Generation Building

2. Stone Edge Prep

3. Medical personnel, Law Enforcement, & Fire-Rescue personnel, and other Essential Workers

4. Spiritual awakening across Macon-Bibb and Middle Georgia

5. The Stone Edge Church family to be strong in the Lord

6. The strengthening of the Stone Edge ministry & staff

7. Schools, students, teachers, & administrators

The Daniel Fast Food List

All fruit – fresh, frozen, dried, or juiced.
All vegetables – fresh, frozen, dried, or juiced.
All whole grains – amaranth, barley, brown rice, oats, quinoa, millet, and whole wheat.
All nuts & seeds – almonds, cashews, macadamia nuts, peanuts, pecans, pine nuts, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, and sunflower seeds; unsweetened almond milk. Nut butters are also included.
All legumes – canned or dried; black beans, black eyed peas, cannellini beans, garbanzo beans (chickpeas), great northern beans, kidney beans, lentils, pinto beans, and split peas.
All quality oils – avocado, coconut, grapeseed, olive, peanut, sesame, and walnut.
Beverages– distilled water, filtered water, spring water, and natural fruit juices.
Other – unsweetened almond milk, coconut milk, rice milk, or soy milk; herbs, spices, salt, pepper, unsweetened coconut flakes, seasonings, soy products, and tofu.

Foods to Avoid While Fasting

All meat & animal products – bacon, beef, buffalo, eggs, fish, lamb, poultry, and pork.
All dairy products – butter, cheese, cream, milk, and yogurt.
All sweeteners – agave nectar, artificial sweeteners, brown rice syrup, cane juice, honey, molasses, raw sugar, syrups, stevia, and sugar.
All leavened bread & yeast – baked goods and Ezekiel bread (if it contains yeast and honey).
All refined & processed food products – artificial flavorings, chemicals, food additives, preservatives, white flour, and white rice.
All deep-fried foods – corn chips, French fries, and potato chips.
All solid fats – lard, margarine, and shortening.
Beverages – alcohol, sodas, and energy drinks

The Ultimate Guide to the Daniel Fast by Kristen Feola

The Ultimate Guide to the Daniel Fast book explains the Daniel Fast in easy-to-understand language, provides 21 thought-provoking devotionals for each day of the fast, and shares more than 100 tasty, easy-to-make recipes that follow fasting guidelines. Kristen shows you how to structure the fast so you can spend less time thinking about what to eat and more time focusing on God. You will also discover that “to fast” means “to feast” on the only thing that truly nourishes – God’s powerful Word.

Getting Practical with Prayer

Spending daily time with God requires some strong proactive decisions. Here are four important decisions to make that will impact your personal time with Him.

1. Set a daily appointment

Whether it is in the morning or on a lunch break or late in the evening, it’s important to set an appointment with God and then work to keep that appointment every day.

2. Set a place for prayer

Is there a place where you will have quiet and uninterrupted moments alone with God? We read that Jesus often went off to a solitary place where he prayed. He escaped the noise and the chaos of real life and created a quiet setting for his intimate moments with God. 

3. Set a plan for your prayer time

I recommend starting your time in God’s word and concluding with a time of prayer. You can find good Bible reading plans at oneyearbibleonline.com. It takes about ten minutes to read the assigned portion for the day. If you read every day, you will have read the entire Bible in one year.

After completing your Bible reading, pull out the prayer guide found in “Praying with Confidence” and pray one of the patterns in the book. There are more than 1 month’s worth of prayer patterns available.

If you spend 10 minutes reading God’s word and 20 minutes in prayer, you will have a strong start to a consistent and meaningful prayer life.

4. Expect Powerful results

God tells us to “approach his throne of grace with confidence” (Heb. 4:16). If you spend 30 minutes a day with God, you will never regret it. The intimate relationship that you will cultivate with the Lord will bring about positive changes in your life. Your attitude will improve, your relationships will flourish, your wisdom will increase, your temptations will decrease, and your confidence in God will grow.*

I am asking that God would bless your time with him in a mighty way and that you would grow to know him and his power as it is released in your world.

*from Praying with Confidence, by Jeff Leake

Praying with Confidence by Jeff Leake

Imagine a daily prayer time that’s refreshing and actually makes a
huge impact on events in your life. That’s what Jeff shares in Praying with Confidence. Based on a pattern he discovered in the Lord’s Prayer, Jeff explores six elements involved in prayer: Worship, Agreement, Thanksgiving, Requests, Confession, Worship.

Following Jesus’ advice about how to pray, each of the 31 days includes a new pattern to pray based on famous prayers in the Bible, combined with elements from the Lord’s Prayer.

Praying to Tear Down Strongholds*

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (NIV)
3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

We tear down the stronghold of spiritual blindness. Lift the veil that covers the eyes of people in Macon-Bibb and in Middle Georgia. Remove the blinders of guilt, shame, fear, and works-based religion. Shine the light of the glory of Jesus Christ so people would experience the grace that saves and the truth that sets them free. Lift the veil that can cover the eyes of believers, and help us to see the clear path of spiritual growth and blessing that is before us. Lift the blinders off unbelievers, and cause there to be a tremendous harvest of people’s lives in every gospel-preaching church in the area. Bring them to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

We tear down the stronghold of unbelief. Break the spirit of poverty that hangs in the atmosphere over our city. Reveal the truth that You have plans for us, to prosper us and not to harm us, to give us as individuals, our families, and our region a future and a hope. Burn into us Your promises. Give our church and our city a fresh vision of the future and the courage to shake off the defeat of the past and reach toward the potential of the future. Bless us. Enlarge our territory in business, in finances, in spiritual life, in the church, and in our vision for future generations. Let Your hand be upon us. Deliver Macon from evil and free us from the identity of past pain. We will not be limited by the failures, the challenges, or the defeated mentality of the past. We will rise to be all that God has for us.

We tear down the stronghold of depression. The joy of the Lord will be our strength. We shake off the spirit of heaviness and put on the garment of praise. We declare a breakthrough in the heavenly realms. Our lives will be marked with praise and with joy. Our homes will be marked by an atmosphere of life and of hope. Our neighborhoods will have an open heaven over them and a tangible sense of God’s presence in them. Stone Edge Church will be a place of celebration, favor, and life. Macon will be filled with the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

*modified from Praying With Confidence