These are the resources you would be using, things you would be doing and habits you would be avoiding.
JOURNAL:
Get a book and list out all the things you would want God to help you with in your life during this fast. Please one of the things you should write is clarity because sometimes we really think we need certain things, and we find out later it’s not for our good.
Also write down a minimum of 7 people that you would pray for every day. This is essential so that your prayer doesn’t have to always revolve around you. Look at it this way, if people around you are doing better financially, physically, mentally, and otherwise, who does it affect? I’m sure you see why praying for the success of others is just as essential as yourself. If it’s only you that’s okay, everyone else’s problem falls on you.
This Journal would also be used to chronicle what has happened to you each day during the fast. You can segment it into what you learned and what you’re thankful for each day.
Trust me, you would be amazed when you go through it when you’re done. So please get a book, jotter, or something you can use to write daily what’s happening to you.
FOOD
During the next 21 days, these are the things you are allowed to eat:
Brown Rice, Ofada Rice (Nigerian Brown Rice), Yam, Plantain, Beans, Irish Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, Oats, Okro, Tofu, Mushrooms, Salted Popcorn, Vegetable Soups (without meat including crayfish), Olive oil, Coconut oil, All Fruits, All Nuts, All Seeds, and All Vegetables. (Yam, plantains, potatoes can be boiled or roasted)
PLEASE NOTE: If you cannot afford brown rice or have access to ofada, please you can take white rice. You can also use vegetable oil if you cannot afford Olive Oil and Coconut Oil. Please go to page 7 for more details.
SPICES : All natural spices can be used; please check the ingredient list of the spice you’re using. If it is Thyme, there should not be any other agent in the ingredient list. Use bay leave, garlic powder, ginger, rosemary, coriander etc., but make sure they don’t have preservatives.
WATER: Depending on your weight, drink 2-4 liters of water per day, this would also reduce hunger and remove toxins from your system.
FRUITS, SEEDS & NUTS: You can eat all fruits and all nuts, including boiled/roasted groundnuts, oranges, pineapples, watermelon, pawpaw, avocados, mangoes, sesame seeds,
These are the things you’re not allowed to eat: No processed food (Ketchup, mayo, maggi, white flour, cakes, pasta etc.), bread, milk, milo or anything that has sugar (soft drinks, sweets, biscuits, ice cream etc.) Meat, chicken, fish (including crayfish), eggs, palm oil, and fried foods. NO ALCOHOL & CAFFEINE OF ANY SORT (Coffee, Tea, Wines, Gin, Champagne etc.)
TIP: What I did was make a big bowl of stew and used it as a base for all my food. I also ate most times once a day and lost 10kg during the fast. I’m on the bigger side so slimmer people don’t lose as much. Some don’t lose at all; it all depends on how much you decide to eat.
BE CREATIVE: We personally limit ourselves, there is a lot on the internet when it comes to food, especially vegan food, once you start checking for Daniel fast food, you would be shocked what pops up. Trust me, there is amazing and delicious alternatives to what you’re used to. Just allow God to shock you. (That’s part of the point of the fast, you need God to shock you)
For Vegetables: You need to find vegetables you like, and if you don’t like veggies then you blend some and drink and know you have had your veggies for the day.
MY TIPICAL MEAL DAY:
Pre-Breakfast: Lemon in warm water and then 750ml of water.
Breakfast – A bowl of watermelon, pineapple, and pawpaw. If there is boiled groundnut, I also take some or use that later as a snack.
Lunch – Boiled Beans with roasted plantain (This ended up being my favorite go to.) I would take some boiled bean and add the thick stew and cook them together to form a beans porridge and eat that with my roasted plantains (delicious) LOL! Another was yam with some steamed ugwu leaves and onions with the stew.
Dinner – I don’t take dinner typically but some days I would drink ugwu juice or carrot and cucumber juice. Also took beets, cabbage, and carrot juice. I ate tomatoes and onions on some occasions (Find veggies that you like)
SOCIAL MEDIA, MOVIES, GAMES & MUSIC
You need to be off all forms of social media, except if you have business to do or a message to reply, social media should be off for now. Including WhatsApp stories, Instagram, Facebook, snapchat and TikTok. You can still leave on WhatsApp and Telegram to communicate with people and also for your business but not for Idle chatter during this time.
Games are also part of the distraction, at first, I did not include it but someone left social media and started spending the time she would use on social media on games, so games also have to go, it’s also another distraction.
You should only be listening to Christian music and watching only Christian Movies during these 21 days. This is also very important to help break porn addiction and masturbation. Watching sexually arousing things in movies, social media and listening to sexually explicit songs are breaches the devil uses to entice us. That’s why a lot of people let go of some of these sins and they keep trying. Now you know why. LET THEM GO!
TIP: If there is a skill you would like to learn, this is the time to join that course, check YouTube and Netflix for more Christian movies, shows, tutorials. Also pray and ask God what you should be watching if you’re bored. Use God very well this period, he’s not tired and there is nothing too small to ask him. So, if you’re bored, tell him you’re bored that he should give you activity. (I’m not joking)
PRAYER:
It’s not only about food, drinks, social media, and the rest. This is the reason why we are here; we need to leave the fast having a closer relationship with God and breakthroughs in our lives. Look at it this way, you need to borrow $1,000,000 from someone, if you don’t have a close relationship with the person, how do you just blot it? You need to converse with the person first, greet, gist, laugh and so on before asking. Sometimes we use God only when we have issues which honestly isn’t fair. Let’s use this time to visit God, pack your bags and go to his house for a 21-day vacation. Sounds nice right?
Prayer should be a minimum of 3 times a day. I did 6 on some days, when I wake up, 10am, 12pm, 3pm, 6pm and when I’m ready to go to bed.
For those that haven’t sharpened their prayer muscles, a minimum of 10minutes is okay to start with. We have 3 bible plans we are using so it would make the prayer sessions easier. You can download YouVersion Bible and look for 21 day fasting plans. If you don’t know how to pray, just think of it like you’re speaking to your father even though you cannot see him. Like a phone conversation. You can laugh, cry, and also ask God how he is doing (I mean it).
TIP: Put on your alarm at the set times you want to pray because I promise you, you would either be too busy, or you would forget. You also must force yourself to drop everything you’re doing and pray because during this fast that is when you would know you don’t have time. It’s weird but that’s how I know the devil is constantly working to stop us from communing with God.
HABITS TO AVOID
GOSSIPING/GISTING: Because you’re not on social media does not mean you should call all your friends and gist for 4 hours on things that are not relevant or about other people. This needs to be on pause. (James 4: 11 | Ephesians 4: 29)
SEXUAL SINS: If you know you’re into any sexual sin that you should not be engaged in, this is the time to leave it alone. If you’re in any relationship (except the married women) please no sexual interaction or dirty talks during this time. God is watching you. (Exodus 20: 14 | Jeremiah 13 : 27 | Exodus 19:15 | 1 Thessalonians 4:3)
ANGER: No matter what anyone does to you this period, please remember you’re fasting, try and calm down and ask God for strength. This is not the time to abuse people and start plotting how to do back. (Ephesians 4: 26)
FORGIVE: Have you wronged someone or has someone wronged you, during this fast, please learn to forgive and let go. I know it’s hard for some people, but whatever you’re asking for is more important than the grudge you’re hoarding. Tell God during this fast that you need the spirit of forgiveness and also pray blessings on the person that has hurt you. (Ephesians 4:31 | Mark 11:25 | Luke 23:34)
LYING, STEALING OR ANY OTHER THING YOU KNOW IS WRONG: Stealing doesn’t mean going to rob the bank alone, you could be stealing someone’s time or someone’s idea (you get the point). Also, in your work place, taking money that the company doesn’t know you are taking because everyone is doing it, please stop. If you jokingly lie or seriously lie, please refrain from such during this period. If you say you would call someone back, please call them back! (Exodus 20: 15-17 | Proverbs 20:23 | Ephesians 4:25 & 28)
COMPLAINING: The biggest issue God had with the Israelites was that they would not stop complaining, (Numbers 11: 1-10 | Exodus 16:2-3 | Numbers 14: 27), In verse 28 of Numbers 14, God says, “So tell them, As surely as I live, declared the Lord, I will do to you the very thing I heard you say”. While we are complaining, God is seeing you and is hearing you and this is a slap to his face and amplifies your problem when God is bigger than your problem. (Romans 8:28 | Isaiah 41:10 | Psalm 46:1 | Philippians 4:19)
This is not the time to remember all the things you don’t have or could have had or wish you had. Look for the good side in every bad situation as much as you can. You can even start from, “See how this thing didn’t work out like I planned, but I thank God that I’m alive.” You can always ask God to help you see the positive side of every situation. You will be surprised what would be revealed to you. You have to taste and see. (Philippians 2: 14-16)
RETURN YOUR TITHES & offerings:
Please, return your tithes and offerings if you have not yet done so. This is also tied to a lot of financial problems you are having. Have you noticed how you never seem to have money no matter how much you work and save? Have you noticed how sometimes you would save and suddenly sickness or one issue from someone or family would come and take the money? Or you finally got a job and the company has closed down? Or is it debt that has piled up over the years? You keep owing people left and right meaning to pay back. Even if you return tithes sometimes, that is not it, please return the complete tithe consistently and not just from your salary, also from money that is gifted to you. Please return in full, God can see you. Isaiah 29:15
For those that don’t know where to start, calculate everything you have with you, in your home, pockets, wallets and bank accounts. (Not money that isn’t yours please) Remove 20% and return 10% tithe and 10% offering. It would be hard for most but notice the story of the widow of Zarephath from 1Kings 17:7-16, Elijah told her to make for him first before making for herself when he knew it was the last she had. God’s way is simple, ‘Seek first the kingdom of God and it’s righteousness and all other things would be added unto you”, Matthew 6:33. You have to put God first not at the end of the month when you would have a lot. Luke 14:33
Read Malachi 3:6-12 and Haggai 1: 5-9. When I understood this, my life changed. Please read it prayerfully, it would click.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION:
Pray a prayer of confession. When Daniel prayed in Daniel 9, he confessed his sins and that of the Israelites. If you’re single, confess your sins and tell God how you got there. If you’re married and have kids, confess your sins and that of your children before God. If you think you don’t have, ask God to reveal to you the sins you’re harboring, trust me, you will be shocked what you would find out.
This prayer of confession can be done before, during or after the fast but It’s very important. This would help you to dig deep to find out why you are in the position you’re in and give you clarity on how to move forward.
The Bible is filled with examples of people that confessed, fasted and God performed wondrous things after. Please read the following to get a better sense of confession. Luke 18:13-14, Psalms 51, Leviticus 16:21
Nehemiah 1: 4-11, Proverbs 28:13, James 5:16, 1 John 1:9
*Please remember this is only for 21 days, what you want to achieve from the fast is greater than the food you can eat or the music you would miss or the gist from social media you can’t watch. These things would be there even after you’re done with the fast.
When temptation comes, always remember these verses: “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13. “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:7
