“Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.” Hebrews 10:24 NLT
Planning and preparation for the 21 day Daniel Fast is important for an easier transition to the change in eating habits and mindset. Participating in the Daniel Fast is essentially a 21 day lifestyle change in heart, soul, and mind which promotes the awareness that God is first in our lives.
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.” Galatians 5:16-17 ESV
Be heartened to accomplish this fast to the best of your ability. Plan in several ways including, physically, mentally, and socially.
“Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods.” Ezra 8:21 ESV
How will you prepare?
I will be preparing in the following ways:
- Evaluating my health and wellness; making sure I feel physically and mentally ready for the challenge. Seeing my primary care physician if needed.
- Doing a gentle digestive cleanse. I use an herbal tea or supplement.
- Reviewing the 21 Day Daniel Fast Food List. Researching and gaining more knowledge of the nutrition in all the foods I will eat- making sure I will have a balanced diet of starchy carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables, protein, & healthy fats which provides the range of vitamins and minerals our bodies need to function efficiently.
- Preparing a food lists for grocery shopping and meal planning.
- Preparing to have consistent prayer and journaling time scheduled for each day.
- Thoughtfully considering those who I will specifically pray for during the fast.
- Thoughtfully considering the desires of my heart to prayerfully align those requests with the will of God.
- Thoughtfully considering the things I am grateful for to focus on those in my praise and worship.
- Since corporate fasting is coming together with a group of people to fast, I will be making a few close friends and family aware that I am doing a 21 day Daniel Fast and inviting others to join. (Inviting people to participate with you can be very motivating and encourages accountability). If this was not a corporate fast it is biblical instruction to not let anyone know you are fasting and to keep the fast between you and God so that there is no boasting or prideful exaltation of your fast.
Please feel free to add to our conversation on this forum and share the different ways you are preparing. You can also post any questions you may have about planning for the fast.
A Daniel Fast reminder: 
You may lose weight on the fast so it’s a good idea to weigh yourselves before the Daniel Fast to make sure you’re not losing too much weight. Healthy weight loss is no less than 1-2 lbs per week. Thank you to our group member who made us aware of this during our last Daniel Fast.
So is herbal tea allowed? because on the list it says to abstrain. Or is that just the 21 day fast?
@daniel114 Right, herbal teas are not allowed on the fast according to the 21 day food list. The only beverage is water.
@j-t-reece I see your saying before you prepare for it you do a herbal tea cleanse. Good idea! Scripturally for Daniel 1:12-14 Kjv (10 day fast) I think your probally right as it says he drank water, not sure about the 21 day though I think that is more subjective. When I do mine in April I will probally have herbal tea, obviously making sure it doesn't have additives and flavourings. I genrally tend to make my own. For instance I just brought a bunch of parsley and instead of throw the stalks I keep them for tea the same as peelings of my ginger, but I think this time I will throw them out!
@daniel114 Raw ginger is great in tea. During the fast I cut up pieces of ginger root and turmeric root and drink it in hot water. That substitutes for my habit of having something warm to drink every morning. I'm a coffee drinker. Unfortunately 😆
@j-t-reece I have some raw ginger in the freezer. It is good for grating into dishes. I will get some tumeric from the farm shop later this morning, but isn't that considered a herbal tea adding to hot water? My friend is having series health issues please pray for him. Last night he was talking about his misery how he has to give up coffee because of his dibiosis. He just had an allergy test done and many of his favourite foods he has to give up making him very miserable. Athough coffee is on the mild list he is still reccommended by his nutritionist to give it up. I personally never like coffee, i'm a tea man, especially green tea as annette reeder recommends for many health benefits like preventing cancer.
@daniel114 I will certainly have your friend in my prayers. There are so many foods that can be detrimental to us because of how we consume them, like the video you shared about gluttony mentioned. God has made our bodies function so incredible that it speaks to us, directing us away from certain things and towards better things just by the way it engages with food. My body has been telling me to give up coffee. And I know I better listen soon. That's another reason for the fast for me. I'm cutting back. I switch back and forth between green tea, herbal teas, and coffee.
Speaking of herbal teas. I've been going back and forth about the turmeric. Wondering is it an herb or a spice? Some say both. But I did read that the herbs are the fresh part of the plant while spice is the dried root, dried stalk, seed or dried fruit of the plant.
@j-t-reece I still can't see how herbal or root tea is not allowed as it is technically just herbs and hot water. The only thing I can think of is if the tea backs are cheap and dipped in some chlorine or it has additional flavourings.