Apart from the story of Daniel, there's hardly any place in the Bible where people eat during a fasting time. Actually, the Bible never exactly says Daniel was fasting; it mentions he was mourning. Another translation says he was grieving for three whole weeks. When someone is grieving, what they eat or drink isn't a priority. Imagine someone mourning the loss of a loved one; they might go without food or drink for days. If they have family around, they might have to remind them or even urge them to eat because they're grieving.
Daniel said, "I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over." That's exactly how someone in mourning behaves; they don't care much about anything else until they find comfort again. Daniel did this for three whole weeks. He wasn't eating for pleasure; he was eating to have strength to keep mourning or praying.
What we learn from Daniel's spiritual experience is that believers can focus or grieve over something that isn't working in their life until they get an answer from God. How can your financial situation be down, and you're not grieving? How can everyone in your family be sick, and you're enjoying all sorts of delicious meals? How can your business not be growing, and you're not grieving? You should be grieving, praying, and studying God's word until God comes through for you, just like He did for Daniel. We're told that an angel delivered the answer to Daniel's prayer.
Grieving is actually a strategy in God's kingdom for progress; it was used a lot in the Old Testament. Verses like Psalms 126:5 now make sense; it says, "Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them."
Apart from Daniel's grief, which we've now understood as a kind of fasting, every other instance of fasting mentioned in the Bible involved going without food and water. Starting with the prophet Isaiah, he said that fasting should be a day where you give your food to the hungry; in other words, you're not supposed to eat. Let's see how the scriptures put it:
Isaiah 58:
"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?"
For some others, we're not told if they ate or drank. Some fasted for repentance, and God heard them. Some fasted for guidance, and God heard them. Some fasted for strength, and God gave them spiritual strength. I remember that Apostle Paul declared a fast to avoid a shipwreck; and after about 12 days, he told everybody on the ship to eat for strength. Their fasting at that point was for their own safety. This means that they didn't eat at all during those 12 days. David fasted for his son's life for seven days and didn't eat or drink anything.
So it's safe to say that the idea of fasting in the Bible is a dry fast – which means avoiding food and water until what you desire happens.
Continuing on dry fasting, if your situation isn't like David's, who was heartbroken about losing his son, or like Apostle Paul's, who knew eating would make the ship heavier and lead to a shipwreck, it's important that a dry fast lasting more than 3 days is guided by the Spirit of God. Apostle Paul was driven by his desire to live; David was driven by his desire for his son to live. They were emotionally strong enough to fast for that long. So if you're not emotionally strong, be spiritually strong. I recommend 3 days because Esther declared a 3-day fast to change a situation. Let's see what the scriptures say:
Esther 4:
"Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish."
Apart from that, dry fasting should be guided by the Spirit of God. Let's look at a few more scriptures:
Exodus 34:
"Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments."
What Moses went through was a dry fast assisted by God. In Matthew 4:2, Jesus also went through this type of fasting. If you want to do a dry fast lasting more than 3 days, make sure you're led by the Spirit of God to do it. If He leads you, then He'll support you. Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness; Moses was in the very presence of God for 40 days. Apostle Paul was held captive by Jesus Himself. If it's sponsored by God, then nothing will happen to your body, no matter how many days it takes.
I hope this has enlightened someone.
Stay blessed, in Jesus' name!
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