We who minister the things of God have two choices. We can plan out in our mind what we should do, or we can seek the mind of the Lord concerning what we should do. It appears throughout Church history that the ministers of God have attempted to perform the work of the Kingdom according to their own knowledge, wisdom, strength, and talents.

A study of the Book of Acts will reveal that the Apostles leaned more on the directions given by the Spirit of God than they did on their own understanding of "missions."

It was and yet is true of the Lord Jesus. While on earth He did not speak His own words or perform His own actions. Everything Christ did and said, and all of His judgments and decisions, were of the Father through the Holy Spirit.

It is interesting that the eleventh chapter of the Book of Hebrews, the "faith chapter," does not contain one instance of aggressive faith or of the use of faith to meet the needs of the world. Rather, the saints described in Hebrews exercised the faith that is obedience to God rather than a faith that puts God to the test.

True faith results in obedience to God’s will, not an effort on our part to try to believe something into existence or to cause something to take place as we follow our own idea of what we think God wants.

Trying to serve God and do His will is always dangerous. It is dangerous because Satan becomes involved. If there is any personal ambition, romanticism, enthusiasm operating in the would-be minister, Satan will use that to deceive the individual.

God is not in much of the Christian activity that takes place. Almost all Christian work, it seems, is performed by well intentioned believers who desire to please God. But they do not understand that Christ is not waiting for human beings to decide to build the Kingdom of God according to their own understanding. Christ is sovereign in His power and wisdom, in His knowledge of God’s will. He is building His Church on the Rock He Himself is.

Any Christian leader, no matter how small and seemingly insignificant his or her work may prove to be, is of the same spirit as the mightiest of the denominations if he or she is proceeding according to his or her understanding rather than obeying the explicit will of Christ.

But how can we know the Lord’s will?

We know the Lord’s will by going to Him continually and letting our requests be known. Then we continue doing what is set before us, making no changes until we have heard from the Lord.

Presumption