This is Part Two of my communion time with the Holy Spirit to help us understand the importance of fully obeying the voice of the Lord without compromising any part of the word.

When the Holy Spirit led me to study Abraham’s complete journey again, I saw something very significant. I noticed that every time Abraham did not fully obey the Lord’s directive, there were consequences and difficulties that affected his progress. Abraham we are told left Ur of the Chaldeans, but unfortunately he brought Lot with him and Lot eventually became a stumbling block in his progress. This relationship hindered Abraham from moving forward fully in what the Lord had prepared for him.

The significance of this relationship becomes especially clear in Genesis.13:14-17 where we read these words: “And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: ‘Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward; 15 for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever. 16 And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. 17 Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.’”

Notice the timing in this revelation: “after Lot had separated from him.” So we see that once the separation took place, the Lord revealed the fuller picture of the promise to Abraham. Abraham from this time forward could now engage with the Lord in a different way because something that had been obstructing his progress had been removed. There is a serious lesson here we must learn that we cannot take everyone with us into the promise of the Lord for our lives.

There are relationships and attachments from which the Lord will require us to separate from, if we are going to move fully into what He has prepared for us. When Abraham eventually received Isaac, Lot was not a part of that promise. The lesson is not that every family relationship is wrong or that separation from people is automatically God’s will. Rather, the message is that we cannot carry into the Lord’s purpose everything and everyone He has instructed us to leave behind. Some relationships can become compromises and these attachments can keep us bound.

We must understand that some of the things we hold dear can prevent us from navigating forward into the promise with the Lord. The question therefore should always be: What has the Lord asked me to release from my life that I am still holding on to? As I revisited Abraham’s entire journey, I saw where he fell short of the promise and what his compromise with Lot cost him. I saw the process of getting him out of the pit into which that compromise had placed him, and then watched the process of restoration back toward the place the Lord intended him to be at the appointed time.

I understood that Abraham had not fully obeyed the instructions the Lord had given him, and how that lack of complete obedience affected his journey. The Holy Spirit reminded me that He was now speaking to me about the final conversation with Abraham as Abraham was now approaching the manifestation of the promise through the birth of Isaac. At this point, Abraham needed to be found blameless in his conduct so that he could walk this out completely with the Lord. He could no longer afford to walk loosely as he had done in previous seasons.

His earlier patterns of compromised obedience had caused him to run in cycles and circles of defeat, frustration, and desperation. This is a very salient lesson that we must adopt if we desire to inherit the promise of the Lord for our lives. We must remember that religious activity cannot be a substitute for obedience. Abraham built altars in his journey as he sought to hear the Lord. Yet there came a point where there was no further voice of the Lord coming to lead and direct him until he separated from what was holding him bound.

The issue was not that Abraham had no spiritual activity. The real issue was that something was obstructing his complete obedience and this is an important warning for us. We can be doing things that appear spiritual while still holding on to something the Lord has asked us to release and the answer is not merely to build another altar, pray another prayer, or engage in another religious activity. The answer is to obey what the Holy Spirit is saying to you to do.

The Father graciously points us to Abraham in Isaiah.51 so that we can learn from his journey and avoid the mistakes and pitfalls in his journey. Abraham thus becomes a prototype and an example for those who follow righteousness because His story gives us something concrete to consider and examine. We can learn from where he succeeded, keep protected from the places where he fell short, understand what his compromises cost him, what the Lord required him to release, and how he eventually returned to the place of alignment with the Lord’s purpose.

Father, thank You for Your Word and for the grace to hear what You are saying. Holy Spirit, I surrender myself afresh to You. Please make me a true seeker of the Lord as a true faithful listener who waits to hear Your voice, understands Your instructions, and responds with prompt obedience. Please show me anything in my life that is hindering my progress into the Lord’s promise. Reveal to me every relationship, attachment, plan, influence, commitment, or human suggestion that I have held on to when You have been asking me to release it.

Give me courage to obey You even when obedience requires difficult separation or a change of direction. Search my heart and bring me into the bullseye of the Lord’s will for my life. Deliver me from running cycles and circles of defeat because of my partial obedience and teach me how to walk fully in the pattern You have established for me. I choose to daily deny self and surrender my own way, so You can Make me into who the Lord wants me to be and separate me unto what He has called me to become for His glory.

I declare that every relationship, attachment, plan, influence, or human instruction that is hindering the Lord’s purpose for my life will be brought into the light by the Holy Spirit. I will not hold on to what the Lord is asking me to release and I will not allow human relationships or human suggestions to become substitutes for divine direction. I surrender self by surrendering my own way. I surrender my preferences with every attachment that competes with the will of God.

I receive grace to become who God wants me to become and to be separated unto what He has prepared for His glory. I declare that I am moving into the bullseye of the Lord’s will for my life and I will not remain in cycles and circles of defeat, desperation, or partial obedience. I am shifting into full alignment with the purpose of the Lord for me. I will fully engage with the Holy Spirit in the manifestation of the God-breathed promise for me in Jesus name. Amen.