Daniel Fast - Day 1

"Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them." Daniel 10:12b

The first day of the Daniel fast is always easy. It won't start getting hard until day two...then it just gets progressively harder for the first week. This time, I've beaten caffiene up front, so no struggle on that one. Sugar is now out, so we'll see if I get major withdrawals from the lack of processed yum.

As easy as the first day is for the food, it is also for the discipline of Bible study, blogging and prayer. It is the days that follow where the discipline is tested. I can't imagine what it must've been like for Daniel. He was an advisor to King Cyrus of Persia at the time he did his 21-day fast. His life was busy - and his schedule was not his own. Maintaining a daily regimen of diet and prayer was a struggle, something to be fought for.

But the fight was necessary. Daniel did not know it as he started to pray, but a war was going on in the spiritual realm, just outside of his vision. An angel was sent to Daniel, but was delayed for the 21 days of his fast because of the Prince of Persia, a demon that had dominion over the country. The angel received help from Michael, the Prince of Israel, came to his aid. The message slipped through and Daniel received a great vision - one that was a great, sweeping vision of kingdoms to come and of the time of the coming Messiah, Jesus.

But Daniel did not start this endeavor off in a haughty, holier-than-thou mentality. He did not think himself "all that" and boldly toss out prayers, self-righteously stepping into a spiritual realm that he somehow owned. Rather, he "set (his) mind to gain understanding and to humble (him)self." I see the starting of the fast in the same way. We want to know what we do not know. We don't seek any more than what God would show us. We don't elevate ourselves in stature to attain lofty spiritual ambitions, rather we humble ourselves to be readied for God's revelation.

With a humble state of mind and a strong desire for understanding, who knows what angels are taking flight this day, our first day of our fast, to bring us news from Heaven, battling through the Principalities that rage over Bonney Lake? I pray that the news reaches each of us in God's time - no sooner, no later. Perhaps it will be a vision. Perhaps an answer to prayers long prayed but left unanswered. Expect to be surprised, as was Daniel. Perhaps, as Daniel, you will have an angel "come in response to" your words.