Day 12 of my 21 day fast

Today was spent mostly in reflection; maintaining discipline of prayer & personal bible reading. It has been an incredible week of revelation for me. I found myself reflecting on all of the different types of fast that are going around, especially taken from the Internet. I am thankful for the awesome tool of the Information Super Highway, but we can't use it for our primary source, when it comes to spiritual things. I have seen different types of the Daniel fast that seem more like a simple diet to lose weight, rather than having any spiritual value. Allow me to set the context of the fast that Daniel did in Chapter 10:3 The Babylonian King invaded Jerusalem, destroyed the temple of God, took all of its precious artifacts, and Daniel alone with the King and their families were deported to Babylon. Now Daniel is a prisoner in a gentile world. Force to adapt to a foreign culture and serve a foreign King. He prays for his sins and the sins of the nation; he is asking God to forgive their sins and restore the nation for His Name Sake. God gives Daniel a vision; he couldn't understand it, but he was perplexed about the implications. So he was deeply sorrowful and seek to understand its meaning. Lets pause for a moment! Think about the context. QUESTION: How would he have felt? What would be his attitude in the fast? Lets add to the equation the fact that he wasn't motivated to take a bath for 21 days. The text reads, I ate no choice food (desirable food), no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotion (a form of bathing) "at all" until the three weeks were over. Daniel 10:3. This was clearly a Job moment for Daniel; he was exiled in Babylon and he gets a vision that God's holy people will suffer greatly for many more years before they are returned. You might be thinking what is the point of the point? Simply this: The Daniel fast accomplished a few things: (1) It set his mind to gain spiritual understanding (2) It humbled him before God (3) It compelled God to respond to his faith and humility. Bottom Line: No matter how you are fasting, it should accomplish those few things. If it doesn't, you are doing it wrong! Fasting, no matter how it is done, afflicts the human body; breaks down the human spirit, and leaves us with the right posture to approach God with our greatest needs.