This sermon is copyrighted to Ken Wilkinson. I put this here so if people are wondering about Christianity, or struggling in some way, then perhaps it can help them. Feel free to share it, but please don't steal it. If it helps you, or if you would like to comment on it, please send me an email. Thanks!

Presumption

Psalm 127:1 says Unless the Lord builds the house they labor in vain that build it.

There is a teaching that some say is biblical in which God gave his authority to man, and so we control the destiny of the world. Of course, there is nothing in Scripture that clearly says God gave his authority to any man, and it goes against logic to think that he would do so, but some still seem to think it must be so.

Even if we deny this view that implies we are gods in this universe, we can still get led off course very easily considering spiritual matters. Unfortunately, it happens all the time.

The main reason we get confused or led astray is our own presumption. Maybe we do not go as far out as the ones who make outrageous claims about being masters of their universe, but because we are Christians we tend to do things thinking God is in them simply because we approve of them. Being a Christian does not give us authority to go if God is not in it. Fools go where angels fear to tread...

Matthew 4:7 tells the story of the temptation of Jesus, and it says Jesus refused to tempt God. If we claim our authority from him, then we would do well to look at that verse.

Since it is so easy to get confused, how do we know if God is in something or not?

Here are some options to consider:

Fasting

The gospels mention many times that Jesus went alone to pray at night. He was in close fellowship with his Father. That is one thing we should do. We should seek God's company. We should make him welcome into our lives by living our lives in obedience to him.
When many of us consider fasting, we tend to think of the object, that is the fast itself. We assume the proper air of fasting, Or, we think about the object of our fast, that is the thing we are fasting about, the answer, the desire. It is nothing more than the means to an end. Is this what God had in mind when he called us to fast? Isaiah 58:6 says, "Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?" Maybe we should consider fasting that thing we do to draw near to God by denying ourselves things. Longing for his touch so much that we lay down our food so we can have the Bread of Life, or giving up drink so we can achieve the Living Water." The focus is on being near to God, not deliverance. Being near to God will bring deliverance.
Jesus overcame the temptations after fasting (Matthew 4:2). Most of us think that fasting will lead us to that mountain-top experience, but Jesus showed that fasting led him to a confrontation with the Devil, and Jesus was in a weakened state. However, Jesus overcame the Devil because his heart was so set on pleasing God. We should always expect our confrontations with the Devil when it best suits the Devil, but we should also remember that by living closer to our Lord, by our submission to him, that we live victoriously.

Praying

Praying is simply communicating with God, both speaking and listening.
I will start with hindrances to prayer. If your prayers are not answered, why aren't they answered? Is it because of sin or some other obstacle?

Psalm 66:18 says unconfessed sins can hinder prayer.
1 Peter 3:7 says that bad relationships between husbands and wives hinders prayer.
James 4:3 says that we ask selfishly for things, and those prayers will not be answered.
Matthew 5:22,24 says that not forgiving someone else will hinder prayer.
James 1:6,7 says unbelief will hinder prayer. This verse may need explanation. Some people think that having a doubt means that we do not believe. A study of Scripture will show that God answered prayer for many people who doubted. The word "wavering" in the KJV implies not being certain of what you are asking. v8 says the double-minded man will not receive. This gets closer to the meaning. Sometimes people pray not certain of whether God actually listens or that he actually cares or that he even exists. Hebrews 11:6 says that we must believe in God, and that we must believe he will reward us.

Waiting

Sometimes we have to wait on God to answer. Perhaps circumstances are not right, perhaps the timing is not right for an answer to prayer. I cannot say what reasons God may have for making us wait, perhaps with time we grow more certain of what we need in a situation and escape our double-mindedness. Whatever the reason, Isaiah 40:28-31 suggests that waiting is active, not passive. We think of waiting as passing time until we hear an answer on something, but we can be about the revealed will of God even if we have questions about the unrevealed will of God. Would you stop feeding the hungry or helping the destitute simply because you didn't get an answer on another question? If you are doing God's will, then it is likely your answer will come sooner than later. One interesting story in Daniel 10:12-14 about an angel being hindered in delivering a message. The point is, waiting is never without cause.

Having gotten this far in the study, now we must consider the answers we might get: Yes, wait, or no.
If God says yes, then all signals are go, and we celebrate.
If God says wait, then we wonder why, but we actively continue doing what we are doing.
If God says no... Now what?
Do we go ahead and act as if God said yes? Hopefully not. If we do this, then we should be assured that we are on our own authority. Perhaps we should celebrate a no as much as we do for a yes answer. In my experience, being told no means missing a lot of heartache. If we continue on, then we wind up in situations that are not only sinful, but oftentimes, have other consequences.

As we walk with God, let us go in faith that what God is in the process of building he will be faithful to complete, and let us avoid presuming in our situation that we can change things on our own.