Day 18 Devotional: Fasting For Endurance

Day 18: Fasting For Endurance

And he said, “You who are treasured, do not be afraid. Peace be to you; take courage and be courageous!” Now as soon as he spoke to me, I felt strengthened and said, “May my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.” (Daniel 10:19)

Before I had children, I ran a full marathon (as of now, still the one and only). I realized something about endurance training . . . the toughest part is not the race moment when you run 26.2 miles at one time, it’s running 10+ miles week after week as you train.

You build endurance when you show up consistently in the small, mundane moments, when nobody else is there to see. In fasting, we build our endurance as we learn to endure discomfort and rely on God in the secret place, even when nobody's watching.

Take time to read Daniel Chapter ten today, and we’ll visit it in more detail tomorrow. This chapter relays a significant time of fasting for Daniel.

Jesus told His disciples: don’t be gloomy and dramatic when you fast so that people will notice you, “But as for you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that your fasting will not be noticed by people but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:17-18)

One night, I woke up several times with the Lord speaking the word “travail” to me, telling me to remember this word.

I have never heard the word "travail" in conversation before and wasn’t exactly sure what it meant, which was more assurance to me this was from the Lord (and it turns out you have to look in the KJV translation to find it). I also realized this used to be more commonly used in the phrase “travail in prayer”.

The meaning of travail includes labor involving painful effort and a “birth pang”.

Babies are beautiful, but they don’t get dropped off by a stork, wrapped in a cozy blanket smiling and cooing. A woman has to endure the waiting of pregnancy and the pain of labor before the baby is laid in her arms.

In these days, we have a God-given responsibility to put work and effort into our prayer life. We need to build our endurance so we are strong and firmly grounded. The Lord is calling His people to stand and endure through the shaking – He is shaking everything that can be shaken (see Hebrews 12:26-27).

Although no one looks forward to enduring a difficult season, we have a hope for the future. John 16:21 promises, “Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world.”

Your Journey

Has your world been shaking lately, and how does this relate to the bigger picture of what God is doing in the world? How can you build endurance through fasting so you will have confidence to stand?

Song: King of My Heart by Bethel (YouTube)

Daniel 10:19

Matthew 6:16-18

Hebrews 12:25-29

You can utilize the Daniel Fast Journey book (available on Amazon) for more information about the Daniel Fast along with a 21-day meal plan and recipes.