Ahava - Pastor Josh Herring

Devotional

Day 1: Fasting as a Muzzle on the Mouth of Flesh

The body’s relentless craving for food exposes our addiction to instant gratification. Fasting confronts this primal hunger, creating a battleground where flesh wars against spirit. When we deny physical appetites, we train our souls to prioritize eternal cravings over temporary comforts. This discipline isn’t about punishing the body but recalibrating the heart’s allegiance. Those who never fast risk becoming spiritual toddlers, demanding their way while deaf to God’s "no." True breakthrough begins when we silence the roar of flesh to hear the whisper of the Spirit. [08:31]

“But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” (1 Corinthians 9:27, ESV)

Reflection: What craving or habit have you allowed to drown out God’s voice? How might fasting recalibrate your spiritual sensitivity?

Day 2: The River Ahava and the Declaration of Survival

At the river of uncertainty, Ezra’s exiles faced a choice: retreat to Babylon’s safety or declare “I shall subsist” through unknown dangers. Fasting became their battle cry, a refusal to let fear hijack God’s promise. Like them, we stand at rivers where logic says “turn back,” but faith whispers “build forward.” This isn’t positive thinking—it’s warring confidence that God’s plans outlive our temporary hunger. Your “Ahava moment” awaits where desperation meets defiance against every Egypt still claiming your children. [13:29]

“I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.” (Psalm 118:17, KJV)

Reflection: What “Egypt” still holds fragments of your future? How can fasting anchor your declaration of survival?

Day 3: Invisible in the Spirit: Stealth Mode on the Devil

Pride rings hell’s dinner bell, inviting demons to feast on our self-sufficiency. But humility cloaks us in divine camouflage, making our struggles invisible to the enemy’s radar. Fasting isn’t just self-denial—it’s spiritual espionage, slipping past patrols of doubt and fear. Like David hiding in caves, the humble become ghosts in hell’s surveillance system. When you stop advertising your battles, God ambushes the enemy with breakthroughs you never announced. [26:11]

“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.” (1 Peter 5:6, KJV)

Reflection: Where has pride made you a target? How might fasting become your cloak of spiritual invisibility?

Day 4: The Fragrance of Fasting Lingers Beyond the Fast

Prayer plants the seed, but fasting saturates the soil with the perfume of persistence. Like cologne lingering in an elevator, a fasted life leaves traces of heaven in places we’ve already left. This aroma disorients hell and attracts angels long after the hunger pangs fade. Your greatest breakthroughs may come not during the fast, but in the trail of its fragrance—when you’re too weak to preach but your obedience still shouts. [28:18]

“And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God…” (Matthew 4:2-3, KJV)

Reflection: What spiritual fragrance does your life leave behind? How could fasting amplify the lingering power of your prayers?

Day 5: The Pre-Created Path Beside Your River of Doubt

God didn’t carve your path when you reached the river—He buried it in eternity’s bedrock, waiting for your hunger to uncover it. Fasting isn’t about creating new roads but dusting off ancient ones, the “lion-free” routes reserved for the desperate. Your current crisis is merely the excavation site for a highway hidden before your birth. The vultures circling your Ahava can’t see the road beneath their wings—but your fasted prayers activate what grace already laid. [32:03]

“There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture’s eye hath not seen.” (Job 28:7, KJV)

Reflection: What “river” are you facing where God’s pre-created path awaits discovery? How does fasting become your shovel to unearth it?

Sermon Summary

Romans 12 calls the church to present the body as a living sacrifice so the mind can be renewed and the perfect will of God proved. That call lands right on fasting. Fasting is where the flesh gets told no and the Spirit gets invited in. “Fasting will punch you in the face.” The body craves food and expects to be obeyed. When it gets denied, it rages. That resistance is exactly why fasting positions a believer for the perfect will of God.

Ezra 8 stands up and shows the path. The exiles halt at the River Ahava, “I shall live,” and proclaim a fast to “afflict” themselves. Afflict means humble. God does not take their humility job. “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God.” So they fast, and out of that humility comes favor, direction, peace, and clarity. The decision at the river becomes a confession: “I shall not die, but live.” The spirit of suicide, depression, fear, and discouragement gets rebuked, and a made up mind taps a river that carries the people to destiny.

Ezra seeks “a right way.” Not just any way. The straight path. The nonstop flight. No layover. The flesh path meanders and wastes years. The Spirit path takes a person directly where God is leading. And that path is not only for the adult; it is “for our little ones” and “for all our substance.” Pharaoh would have left the kids in Egypt. God will not. The fast becomes intercession for family and provision, and a poverty mentality gets shattered by promises that are exceeding and abundant.

Job 28 then opens a secret: there is a path “which the vulture’s eye hath not seen.” Humility makes that path invisible to hell. Pride is a siren to demons. “But when you get humble, you get invisible.” God puts His hand over the route. Fasting with prayer pulls God near. Ezra says they fasted and “besought” God, and He “was entreated.” Prayer is the request; fasting is the fragrance that lingers and keeps heaven engaged after the words stop. Psalm 23 seals it. He leads in paths of righteousness “for His name’s sake.” He goes before, lays honey in the rock, straightens what is crooked, and prepares a way long before the crisis appears. The resolve becomes simple and steel strong: make up the mind to live, to trust, to stay on the path. Revival is not coming; it has begun. The liberty of the Spirit is here, the angels strengthen, the gifts flow, and the waters of baptism stand open because anything is possible where He leads.

Key Takeaways

1. Fasting positions you for God’s will. Fasting puts the body on the altar so the mind can be renewed and the Spirit can lead. It is hard on the flesh and sweet on direction. The discipline becomes the doorway to clarity, favor, and a straight shot into God’s purpose. [08:04]
2. Humility makes you invisible to hell. Pride is loud in the spirit world; humility goes stealth. When the will bows low and says, “Not mine, but Thine,” God covers the route so the vulture and the lion can’t track it. Hiddenness becomes protection on the way to promise. [25:34]
3. Prayer with fasting draws God near. Requests alone fade; fasting adds a fragrance that lingers and keeps the need before God. Ezra says God “was entreated,” meaning the need pulled Him in. When desire seeks His face and not just His hand, heaven breaks in. [28:18]
4. Make up your mind to live. Ahava means “I shall live,” and that confession breaks suicide, despair, and fear. A made up mind taps a river of strength and carries a believer into destiny. Life answers those who decide not to die in their dilemma. [14:19]
5. Seek the straight path, not flesh. There is a right way, a direct course, a nonstop flight. The flesh meanders; the Spirit moves straight. That path is for the adult, the children, and the substance God entrusts to the house. [19:51]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[08:04] - Living sacrifice, fasting for God’s will
[09:49] - Deny flesh, invite Spirit
[11:14] - Ezra at Ahava, proclaim a fast
[13:29] - Ahava: I shall live
[17:54] - Humble yourselves with fasting
[19:51] - Seek the right, straight way
[21:28] - Fight for the children too
[24:27] - A hidden path hell can’t see
[27:25] - Fast and pray, be entreated
[28:18] - The fragrance that follows prayer
[29:44] - He leads for His name’s sake
[32:40] - Fasting story and open door
[39:55] - Revival now, get on the path
[56:55] - Blessing and sending

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Romans 12:1-2 (ESV)
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Ezra 8:21-23 (ESV)
Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods... So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.

Job 28:7-8 (ESV)
That path no bird of prey knows, and the falcon’s eye has not seen it. The proud beasts have not trodden it; the lion has not passed over it.

Observation Questions

According to Romans 12:1-2, what two actions are required to discern God’s will, and how does fasting relate to these actions?
In Ezra 8:21-23, why did the exiles fast at the River Ahava, and what specific outcomes did they seek? [13:04]
Job 28:7-8 describes a hidden path. What imagery does the passage use to emphasize its invisibility to destructive forces?

Interpretation Questions

Why might denying the body’s cravings through fasting create a “doorway to clarity and favor” in pursuing God’s purpose? [08:04]
How does humility act as a form of spiritual “stealth mode,” and why would pride attract demonic attention? [25:34]
The sermon describes prayer as a “request” and fasting as a “fragrance that lingers.” What does this metaphor suggest about the relationship between prayer and fasting? [28:18]

Application Questions

“Make up your mind to live” was a declaration at the River Ahava. What area of your life (e.g., fear, despair, stagnation) needs this same resolve, and what practical step could you take this week to “tap into the river” of strength? [14:19]
The “straight path” avoids fleshly detours. Where have you been settling for meandering or delayed solutions instead of seeking God’s direct route? How could fasting shift your focus?
Fasting is described as intercession for family and provision. Who in your circle (children, friends, coworkers) needs breakthrough, and how could you intentionally fast or pray for them this month? [21:28]
Pride “screams to demons,” but humility invites God’s protection. What habit, attitude, or relationship in your life might be signaling pride, and how could you actively humble yourself there?
The sermon says, “Revival is not coming; it has begun.” What specific action (e.g., baptism, sharing testimony, serving) could you take to align with this reality rather than waiting passively? [39:55]

Sermon Clips

43s

“There is a place waiting for this church right now, and the devil doesn't see it. I know. wish you could see what I see in the Holy Ghost. God's got his hand over it right now. And when he moves his hand, we'll see it. The devil will see it, but it'll be too late because God had already oared. There's a path that the vulture cannot see. And when you get humble, you get invisible in the spirit world.”

30s

“Hear me. Hell sees pride all day. It's like, come get me. It's like a it's like an alarm. If you're walking in pride, you are screaming to the demons. Come talk to me. But when you get humble, you get invisible, when you say not my will, but thine be done, I don't care who gets the credit. I don't care who preaches. I just wanna be in the atmosphere. I just wanna be in a place where when you get humble, God puts his hand over the path.”

38s

“He said, it's not that I don't think we're gonna get there. It's I wanna get directly there. It's not that I don't think we'll end up there. I just want the straight path to it, not the flesh path to it. Oh, yeah. The flesh path will take you around in circles. The flesh path will take you in the wilderness. But if you get up in the spirit, you can get to things a lot faster than you ever could being in charge yourself.”

45s

“So fewer disciplines in life are more difficult than fasting. Because believe it or not, your body wants food more than anything. body wants food more than anything, any other pleasure you give your body food you crave multiple times a day, and nothing stops you. And so when you don't eat because the word fasting means to not eat and to muzzle one's mouth. And when you don't eat and when you give yourself to God, it's so difficult because you are now putting your flesh in a place where it's not just wanting it and getting it. It's wanting it and being denied.”

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Ahava - Pastor Josh Herring

Devotional

Day 1: Fasting as a Muzzle on the Mouth of Flesh

Day 2: The River Ahava and the Declaration of Survival

Day 3: Invisible in the Spirit: Stealth Mode on the Devil

Day 4: The Fragrance of Fasting Lingers Beyond the Fast

Day 5: The Pre-Created Path Beside Your River of Doubt

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

Ahava - Pastor Josh Herring

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