Let us be honest about the front end first, because nobody warns people and then they think something is wrong with them. Expect hunger, obviously. Expect a headache if you normally drink caffeine. Expect irritability, and expect it to show up in how you speak to the people closest to you. Expect the day to feel longer.
Expect, too, that everything will suddenly want your attention. Fasting has a way of surfacing whatever you had been numbing. That is not the fast going wrong. That is the fast doing exactly what it does.
What to expect spiritually
- An enhanced relationship with the Lord
- An increased prayer life
- A stronger walk in humility
- Hearing the voice of the Lord more clearly
- Enduring hardship as a good soldier, without retaliation
- Total dependence upon the Lord
- To become a better listener and doer of God's Word
- To learn of your unknown sins
- To draw souls to Christ
- To stand more on the promises of God
- To pray more frequently and fervently
- To be a better witness for Christ
Notice how many of those are about hearing. That is the most common testimony from people who fast consistently: not that God started speaking, but that they finally got quiet enough to notice He had been.
Break the fast gently
How you come off a fast matters as much as how you go on. After a long fast, do not break it with a heavy meal. Start with fruit, broth, or something light and let your body catch up. This is especially true after a Daniel fast or any fast longer than a day.
And if you break a fast early — you will, at some point — do not treat it as disqualification. Repent if you need to, and pick it back up. The enemy would much rather you quit in shame than continue imperfectly.