A-list actors Chris Pratt and Patricia Heaton are calling their followers to participate in a 21-day “Daniel Fast” prayer challenge, based on the Bible.
The fast kicked off last week through Hallow, a Catholic prayer and meditation app, and includes sessions from Pratt, Heaton, and author Jeff Cavins, reading from the Book of Daniel, as well as reflecting on aspects of fasting.
The three-week prayer challenge calls participants to abstain from things that are distracting them from their relationship with God.
Pratt took a moment to explain the significance of participating in a Daniel Fast. It includes fasting from foods like meat and sweets and replacing them with vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, seeds, legumes or beans, and water.
The blockbuster movie star highlighted that the Book of Daniel is a “story of radical faith, courage, and learning to give up the things in our lives that are holding us back.”
“That is what this 21-day challenge is about,” he added. “I know you have something in your life that you need to give up, and I want you to join me on this 21-day challenge on Hallow…it’s going to be great.”
The Chosen actor Jonathan Roumie told his followers he would be participating too.
“What does that look like for you? Is it fasting from certain foods? Perhaps giving up alcohol? Or committing to get your body – that temple of the Holy Spirit – into the best shape of your life; the kind of shape God designed for you!? As for me, I will be doing a combination of those things in order to draw closer to Him this year,” he wrote on Instagram.
Heaton, meanwhile, pointed out that if people want to participate, they could give up the time they spend on their phones, money spent on “unnecessarily purchasing things,” fasting the “unkind words we speak to others, or “whatever it is that keeps us from living fully as God desires us in our lives.”
“Fasting gives birth to prophets and strengthens the powerful; fasting makes lawgivers wise. Fasting is a good safeguard for the soul, a steadfast companion for the body, a weapon for the valiant, and a gymnasium for athletes. Fasting repels temptations, anoints unto piety; it is the comrade of watchfulness and the artificer of chastity. In war, it fights bravely, in peace, it teaches stillness,” Heaton says during one session on the Hallow app.
This is not the first time these A-list celebrities have partnered to promote prayer and fasting. Last year, Pratt joined Roumie and actor Mark Wahlberg to encourage believers to spend time with God using Hallow during Lent, which is the 40-day period of praying, fasting, and repenting before Easter.
