A Mother's Testimony

The Daniel fast is over! I did it! What an adventure! I did not think I would come out on the other side as changed as I am. When I really decided to put more effort into my relationship with God, I began to see so much that he had in store for my family.

As many of you know, we decided to change churches during the Daniel fast. I think that might seem a little sudden to some people, but believe me ... God knew what he was doing.

I started to feel a sense of urgency about my family. I felt like I needed to make some serious changes in my life. A few months ago I began praying about it all. The new year was coming and I felt like I needed to get things in order. At the time, I was volunteering in the kids ministry, setting up our portable church, tearing down our portable church, , volunteering in the church offices twice a week, and also attending a bible study on Tuesdays, choir practice on Wednesdays, and band practice on Thursdays. I know, that's a lot! I loved every bit of it though! But God began to speak and tell me to stop doing so much. For my family's sake, I knew it was the best thing.

I sat down and went over every detail of how I spent my time, how I was growing, how I was effective, and how God was using me. I began to pray and tell God, 'whatever you want me to do, I'll do it. Even if it means quitting all that I love, I know that your plan is good. I'll do it. I trust you. Just tell me.'

I attended a meeting with my son's teachers and found out, once again, in the past few years he wasn't learning what we wanted him to be learning. He wasn't thriving in the environment he was in and hasn't been for quite some time. The thought of home schooling came to mind, but I quickly dismissed it. I begged God, please don't make me do that! I've been down that road and it was hard! But a friend told me one day, "If God wants you to do it, he'll give you the desire to do it." I thought, "Oh, Good! I don't have the desire, so I'm safe!" Little did I know- I went to Oklahoma for Christmas and over time HAD THE DESIRE TO DO IT!

So I came home thinking, Thank you, God! This is why I cleared my schedule! This is great! Oh, but God wasn't finished! I still had a sense of urgency when it came to my daughter. She's almost 16 and will be driving soon. She'll be in college in 2 years! I feel like we haven't equipped her with all that she needs for the real world. My real fear was that she didn't know enough about God. I didn't feel like we were equipped enough to teach her. We as parents are baby Christians. We didn't raise her in church. She doesn't have a solid foundation. I was scared.

I brought this all to God. This was right in the middle of fasting. I was seriously searching! And God told me to "move quickly" from our home church. I told my husband, Daniel, and we kept praying about it. He came to the same thing. I quickly remembered telling God, 'whatever you want, I'll do it.' But this? Really? Surely not! But we kept being prompted to do so. A friend told me about another church and Daniel said we should go.

The first Sunday that came, I went to another church with my friend without the kids, without Daniel. They stayed home that Sunday. Then Wednesday night, we all went together. It seems great. Then the next Sunday I went with my friend and the kids (Daniel went out of town). That morning I was blown away by God's presence! As we took our seats, an usher came and lead the kids to sit in the front with the other youth. I liked that. The service was amazing and when the pastor made the altar call, my daughter went straight forward and received Christ into her heart! Praise God!

I will never again have doubt when God asks me to do something! I will not question, 'was that You, God?' Because I have heard His voice! I don't dare imagine what would have happened if I had not been obedient. People, God speaks! And we had better be listening! I believe that there was an appointed time for this to happen. I believe the Holy Spirit was urging me and preparing me for months. When I look back I can see the thread that tied it all together. Thank you, Lord.

Day 16: Daniel Fasting

I usually write about my physical and spiritual growth here, but today I'd like to write about the building of faith that I've experienced in fasting. First, I will say that I've never done a Daniel fast and after this experience, I will do it every year! The growth that I've experienced in the last 16 days is incredible!

I think we as Christians get stuck in our own ways sometimes. As long as we're going to church, reading our bibles, and praying, we call it good. But something that I've overlooked in the past few years is FAITH. We all have 'faith' ... we believe... But we aren't really 'hearing' from God and obeying - in faith. We have to have faith in order to obey. As children, we don't necessarily have to have faith in our parent's decision. We just do it. But as adults, we think ahead and we want to know what's in it for us if we obey. But, you can't really say, 'yes, sir' a month from the time God tells you to do something. That's actually called disobedience! That means okay, God. I guess I'll do it your way since nothing else worked.

This is part of today's devotion in The Ultimate Guide to The Daniel Fast.

"But my people will not listen to me. They kept doing whatever they wanted, following the stubborn desires of their evil hearts. They went backward instead of forward (Jeremiah 7:27 NLT). Being stubborn not only stunts spiritual growth; it moves our lives in the wrong direction.

When we obey, we must do it in faith. We're saying, God, I'm doing it. I'm going to do what you say and I trust that you're going to catch me. I have faith in You, God. Don't get hung up in all the details because God is going to see you through. I believe that even if I make a choice that isn't the best, God will see it through because he saw me do it for Him-in FAITH! He goes before us and He goes after us.

So I just want to encourage you today to obey. When God nudges, when he speaks, don't ignore it. Don't ignore it out of fear or anything else. When He speaks listen, because he has so much to say to his people right now. If the Creator of Universe wants to speak to us- tiny nothings- we should listen and obey.

Day 14: Daniel Fasting and Devotion

Today ends my 14th day of Daniel fasting. I'm totally used to this healthier diet now. My husband and I have been talking about how more fruits and vegetables sustain us longer. We are finally to the point of really enjoying our new healthier lifestyle. It has been hard to cook for the whole family and get the kids to be on board, but it's getting easier and the longer we try the easier it gets to find recipes and prepare food.

Spiritually I've come into a place of really hearing God more clearly. To be honest, I've never been in prayer and in the Word so much. I feel like I need more and more time with God. I've put other things aside in order to consume all that I can. And I feel like it still isn't enough. I've looked deeper into the things that people speak into my life-- I'm more aware of the spiritual things. In this last week, I've heard some amazing things from God.

The most important thing was family. God has really been dealing with me and my lack of teaching to my own family. It all begins at home. And while I knew this, I was filling up my time with so many things-- 'good things', but not 'God things'. So I've redirected my attention in this area a lot. This week, I'll begin home schooling my son. I found a great Bible curriculum t0 teach from as well. I'm really excited about it! I've shopped for curriculum for weeks and getting ready to submit paper work tomorrow. I've known that the best thing for him was home schooling, but I was caught up in my own life, church, and school and didn't address the issues. Great answer from God here! Everyone is on board and God has already put people and resources in my path for support and great information.

Along these same lines- and after seeking God so much in these past couple of weeks- we realize how much we were excluding God from so many parts of our life. We realize now how valuable prayer is and that we should be in prayer about everything! We should be praying with our kids more. We should pray about the relationships in our lives. We should be in prayer about so many of the important things that we think we have under control.

At the beginning of the fast, I made a list of things to be in prayer over. I actually prayed about the things I should be praying over for this period of time. The list is long. But this is such a great way to get answers from God. I've put the same things in front of me for prayer for two weeks. *I have never done this! Ha! But so glad I have.

It's been a great week with the Daniel fast. The Jones family is making huge changes and taking steps in faith. Not all of these changes have been easy. Most have actually been very hard. But what I'm learning is to use my faith. I'm learning to hear and really trust God. I've learned that when we draw near to God, he draws near to us. And when we take steps of faith for Him- whether we find out later it was right or wrong- when we do it for Him, it pleases Him.

Today's scripture reading:
Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. --Hebrews 12:1

And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
--2 Corinthians 12:9-10

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.
--2 Timothy 2:7-8

Day 8: Daniel fast and recipe

The fast is going great. I'm settling into a new routine with herbal (decaf) tea in the morning instead of coffee. And I'm feeling really good especially about no meat in my diet. Daniel and I have been talking- even before the fast- about cutting meat out. It just makes us feel bad. So I think the vegetarian part of this will stick with us. I'm making a lunch today that I love. I make it for my family all the time and now with the Daniel fast just a few changes and it's great!

Spiritually, I'm dealing with some great things that God has called to my attention. Just love how that happens. After a week, I'm learning how to keep focused on God and really plan my time in ways that are pleasing to Him. By just doing that, my time is used in much better ways. From this first week, I know I will implement the changes that are needed in my life right now. It's also a great way to start a new year. :)

Daniel is coming home from sea today and this is what I'm making for lunch!


Colorful Veggie and Tortilla Dinner

1/4 cup water
1/4 cup uncooked instant brown rice (sub- whole grain rice)
1 1/2 cups frozen mixed vegetables (from 1 lb. bag thawed)
2 cans (14/5 oz.) dark red kidney beans, drained, rinsed
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped (1/4 cup)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoons pepper
5 fat free flour tortillas (sub. whole grain tortilla)
1/4 cup fat free sour cream (omit)
chopped fresh cilantro
2 medium plum (Roma) tomatoes, chopped (2/3 cup)


1. In 2-quart saucepan, heat water to boiling. Stir in rice; return to boiling. Reduce heat; cover and cook 5-10 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. (cook whole grain rice according to the bag)

2. Stir in thawed vegetables, stewed tomatoes, beans, 1/4 cup cilantro, the onion, cumin, coriander, garlic and pepper. Cook until hot.

3. Place warm tortillas on individual plates. Cover tortillas evenly with rice mixture. Top each with sour cream, chopped cilantro and tomatoes.

Depending on how far you wanna go with the seasonings ... I'm not using any. I think just the onion gives it great flavor. If my camera was working, I'd take a picture because it's a very colorful dish.

Enjoy.

Day 3: The Daniel Fast

Scripture Reading:

Praise be to his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory.

(Psalm 72:19)

Verses for additional study:

Genesis 25:29-34

Genesis 27:1-40

Genesis 32:22-28

Genesis 35:10

Psalm 113:2-3

Ephesians 2:8-9

Titus 3:5

Physically- Well, day 3 is ending and I think the headaches are gone as well. It's amazing to me how our bodies get so used to something. I never had coffee everyday, but I guess I was getting sources of caffeine that I didn't even realize through tea and soda. It makes me happy to know that I'm not putting that into my body- at least right now. Today was a hard day of the fast for me. I felt like I couldn't get away to be alone at all. One thing after another came up today. I had a conversation with a friend today about not getting too obsessed with the food part of it all and focusing on making this time be about God. I'm trying to plan my time better so that distractions aren't so frequent. I made whole grain pasta and sauce for dinner and had juice to drink. Great easy meal. :)

Spiritually- I just don't think today was a good day for the spiritual side of things. I don't like these kind of days- even when I'm not fasting. Distractions, distractions, distractions! I did listen to some great worship music on my way back and forth picking up Ally (my daughter). I didn't journal today or even read- except for the reading already up- Ps.72:19. Thank you, Kristen! It's a great one though! I'm not discouraged. Tomorrow will be better.

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13).

Day 2: Daniel Fast

Scripture Reading

You Shall have no other gods before me.

(Exodus 20:3)

Verses for additional study:

Genesis 22:1-18

Exodus 20:4

Psalm 24:3-5

Isaiah 42:8

Physically-
One day down, twenty to go! The first day of fruits and vegetables was easier than I thought it would be. Maybe it was easy because I was very busy most of the day and had a women's bible study in the evening. I had grapes, a banana, and water for breakfast. I packed a celery snack bag for the hours I was gone during the day and had a fresh salad and hummus for dinner. I mentioned earlier that I got some vegan cookbooks from the library ... they are great! I got The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone. It's a great book that really makes me want to continue a vegan diet forever. We'll see how it goes. I still have not grocery shopped for the recipes I want to prepare. I will today and hope to make this soup for dinner tonight.

Black-Eyed Peas and Potato Soup

1 tablespoon EVOO
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup chopped celery
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups water or Vegetable Broth
1 (15-ounce) can black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained
2 cups cubed russet potatoes, peeled
2 tablespoons dried chives
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Heat olive oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Add onions, carrots, and celery, Cook until vegetables are softened. Stir in garlic, and cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly so garlic doesn't burn. Add water or broth, black-eyed peas, potatoes, parsley, chives, salt, cayenne pepper, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 30 minutes.

Recipe Notes:
Instead of black-eyed peas use great northern beans, cannellini beans, or navy beans

Spiritually-
I feel more drawn to spend time with God right now. I think I've prepared my heart for this time and have looked forward to it. I made a list of things to be in prayer over and I also asked my mentor to pray with me and for me during the Daniel fast. I Also asked her for things she thought I could be in prayer about.


In the book that I mentioned yesterday, The Ultimate Guide to The Daniel Fast, Kristen Feola (author) reminds us that during the fast there are some things we need to keep in mind:

Focus on the Lord, and make him your top priority over the next three weeks. You may feel tempted to cheat, compromise, or even quit along the way, but don't. God will give you the self-control and perseverance you need to complete your fast. Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

Get alone with God every day. Read his Word and pray. This is a must. You cannot neglect time with the Lord and expect your fast to be effective.

Day 1: Daniel Fast and Devotion

Today I will start the Daniel fast. I know that fasting is a private matter, but I would like to document this as a spiritual journey for the growth and development for myself and others.

I bought a book called The Ultimate Guide to the Daniel Fast. I chose this book because I have never done the Daniel fast before. This book contains 100 + recipes and 21 daily devotions with Scripture to read that take your devotion to a deeper level. I think these things make up a great plan, all in one book, for the fast. I also picked up some vegan cookbooks from the library.

The book I purchased also talks about how to prepare for the fast physically and spiritually. So the ways I've prepared so far are:

Biblical Perspective on Fasting

Repentance- "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord" (Acts 3:19). Acknowledging our sin to the Lord at the beginning of a fast is crucial. If our hearts are not right before him, any fasting we do will be meaningless and in vain.

Sincerity- "with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith" (Heb. 10:22). Examine your motives for beginning this fast, and ask the Lord o purify you from any unrighteous attitudes or behaviors. When the Lord sees that your genuine desire is to honor him and live a godly life, he will come near to you in return.

Intercession- Crying out to God for our own needs during a fast is important, but our prayers will be incomplete if we fail to intercede for others. Praying for others is commanded by the Lord, "confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results" (James 5:16 NLT). According to the Forerunner Commentary, the purpose of fasting is "to free others from their sins, to intercede with God for their healing, to help provide for their needs, and to understand his will. Fasting is a tool of godly love we are to use for the good of others, and any benefits we derive from it are wonderful blessings!"

Compassion- Isaiah 58:10 says that for our fasts to be acceptable to God, we must "spend" ourselves "in behalf of the hungry." The phrase spending ourselves implies much more than just having good intentions. In the Hebrew, the meaning is "to draw out." To make this verse a reality in our lives, we can't sit on the sidelines. Instead we must get involved and respond to the hurting people God places in our paths.

During your fast, prayerfully seek the Lord's direction as to how he wants you to spend yourself on behalf of those around you. Ask him to give you opportunities to bless others and then get ready, because he will.

Spiritual Preparation

1. Identify your primary motivation for fasting. Ask yourself why you want/need to fast. Once you answer this question, thank God for his provision and trust that He will answer as you seek Him. Think about other prayer requests you have for yourself and others, and make a list of those needs.




2. Decide on a Bible reading plan. The book offers a Psalm and Proverbs reading for the day of the month you're on. Example: January 1 - read Psalm 1 and Proverbs 1. I'm going to be reading a the book of John one chapter a day. I downloaded a full fasting guide from Elevation Church here. This plan also has a great list of foods to eat and not eat.




3. Read Isaiah 58 and other verses on fasting. Studying these passages will help you align your heart and mind with what God desires for a fast.




4. Ask a friend to be your prayer partner. Have this person pray with you and for you throughout your fast. You might want this person to be doing the fast with you, but it is not required. The point is to have someone praying for you and your needs and to have someone to hold you accountable. Learn here why accountability is important among Christians.




5. Buy a journal or use a notebook. Expect God to do amazing things during your fast. It's a good idea to write them down. Use this journal to write down prayer requests, praises, and answers to prayer and to record what the Lord shows you through his word.

Physical Preparation

1. Ease into the fast. Start cutting back meat, dairy products, caffeine, and sugar. Increase your water consumption. The book recommends half your body weight in ounces. If you weigh 150, you should be consuming about 75 ounces of water- that's about 9 cups. The diet includes a lot of fiber, so we need the water to avoid being constipated. Foods will also have water in them, so this is a total amount. So prepare for this amount early by increasing your water.
   


2. Plan your meals for the first week. It will save time and frustration. You don't want to add to the temptation of bad foods because you don't have the ingredients to prepare a meal.



3. Make a grocery list for the first week. This book has great solutions to meal planning.



4. Prepare food ahead of time. Look at your first week's recipes to find ways to speed up food preparation time. Cook parts of your meals in the morning. If your meal calls for brown rice, you can make it in the morning.



5. Cook and freeze meals. Cook a few meals at a time on the weekends. Make extra and store in the freezer for later. This way a late night coming home or when you're in a crunch, you won't be tempted to grab something that isn't good for you.

Day 1 Devotion: 1 John 1:9

Verses for additional study:

Psalm 38:18,

Psalm 51:2,

Proverbs 28:13