Ask, Obey, Protect.

"Some time later, the Lord spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, "Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great." But Abram replied, "Oh sovereign Lord, what good are all your blessings when I do not even have a son? Since you ave given me no children, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth. You have given me no descendants of my own, so one of my servants will be my heir." Then the Lord said to him, "No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir." Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, "Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That's how many descendants you will have!" And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith. Then the Lord told him, "I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as your possession." But Abram replied, "O Sovereign Lord, how can i be sure that I will actually posses it?" The Lord told him, "Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove and a young pigeon." So Abram presented all these to Him and killed them. Then he cut each animal down the middle and laid the halves side by side; he did not, however, cut the birds in half. Some vultures swooped down to eat the carcasses, but Abram chased them away." Genesis 15:1-11

I would like to point out a few things to take away from this:

Abraham (Abram at the time) asked "O Sovereign God, how can I be sure that I will actually posses [the land]?

Ask God. Whatever you are concerned about, whatever you are confused about, whatever burdens you, whatever you desire, whatever you question, etc. Ask the Father. 1 John 5:14 says, "Now this is the confidence we have before Him: Whenever we ask anything according to His will, He hears us." Luke 11:9 states, "So I say to you, keep asking and it will be given to you. Keep searching and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened." God wants nothing less than to bless you with the desires of your heart, according to His will. I think we need to loose the mindset of "I am selfish if I ask for things." That is as far from the truth as you can get. Do not misunderstand me when I say this, guys. There is a difference in always reading off your "wants, needs, selfish desires" list every time you pray and asking for provision in your life. Let's remember we serve a very compassionate father; a God who gave His son's life for you. Just ask...


After asking God how he would know he would possess the land, God have him very specific instructions and very specific animals. Then, "Abram presented all these to Him and killed them.."

Obedience. After asking, God faithfully answered him and told him exactly what to do. Let this apply to your life. I know you have all asked God for some clarity on a specific situation and possibly the answer you got was, "Trust me." Are you being obedient in that instruction or are you allowing fear, worry, or doubt to steal your obedience? Romans 16:26 shows us that obedience is faith. Flow completely through that. Allow your obedience in what you asked for in the first place show your alliance with God and your complete faith in Him. Let obedience establish faith in your life that you are more than confident in not only God's instruction on how to approach or handle situations in your life, that he works together for our good may I add (Romans 8:28), but also in his completion in your situation. If you have no intentions on being obedient in the instruction you asked for in the first place, don't expect to ever be secure in where you are going. Bluntly, that also should show and reveal just how self-centered we are rather than God-centered. Think about it.


"Some vultures swooped down to eat the carcasses, but Abram chased them away" Verse 11.


Protect. Dang vultures. Clearly, God was going to secure this promise of the land his descendants would have and make the covenant to Abram through his obedience in the sacrifices that God told him to bring...after Abram asked ;). The covenant was made...after he asked...and then became obedient with the answer he received...Hmm...I love how scripture says Abram chased them away. Hear me out: You have got to do whatever you have got to do to chase off the "vultures" and protect that sacrifice to ensure that your obedience in what God instructed you to do is not hindered or destroyed so you can reach the promises of God. That means this: You got to get rid of friends, thoughts, habits, mindsets, work environments, words, etc that hinder your obedience! Protect your heart! protect your mind! protect your virginity! protect your purity in every way! protect your dreams! protect your sacrifices to God to ensure that what you asked for in the beginning is fulfilled and not delayed because of a lack of protection or guarding the very things you are laying down to gain the promises for your life!

I hope you understand all of that. I hope you really grasp it.

If you ask God for something, expect to receive an answer in His time. When given an answer, follow through with it and completely protect yourself so you reach the perfect promises for your life. Got it?