To presume is - to suppose to be true; to take for granted; to take the liberty; to be impudent, etc. The Message Bible puts it this way “Test yourself to make sure you are solid in the faith. Don"t drift along taking everything for granted” (2 Cor. 13:15). The easiest way into presumption is to stop hearing from God! Faith does not come by having heard but by hearing the Word of God. Man does not live by the words that proceeded out of the mouth of God, but by every Word that proceeds from His mouth! Can you imagine what could have happened if Abraham stopped hearing from God after the first instruction to go offer his son Isaac as a burnt sacrifice? (Gen 22) The child of promise would have been killed! We must learn to keep our ears glued to the mouth of God. It is not just about what God told you yesterday, it is also about what He is saying now! It is not just about God"s written commandment, it is also about His voice. “And all these blessings shall come upon you and
overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God” (Deut. 28:2). Jesus said “My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me” (Jn. 10:27).
A lot of folks are presuming on God; His manifest presence, His ability and willingness, His grace, His mercy, etc. and they take a plunge into the deep, claiming to be in faith. David didn"t presume on God rather He asked: “shall I pursue these troops? Shall I overtake them?” And the Lord answered him “pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail, recover all” (1 Sam. 30:8). Don"t forget that David was a Jew, he had a covenant with the God of Israel; yet he wanted to hear from God specifically in that particular situation. You can become a “faith” casualty if you walk in
presumption. The Bible says, “Samson awoke from his sleep and said ‘I will go out as before, as at other times and shake myself free". But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him” (Judg. 16:20). Was
Samson not a Jew? Samson presumed on God"s presence with him.
The Psalmist prayed “keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion over me. Then shall I be blameless and I shall be innocent of great transgression” (Ps.19:13). The Hebrew men replied to
Nebuchadnezzar “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the
burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image that you have set up”
(Dan.3:17-18).
Did you notice that, (1) those guys were not afraid of death, (2) they were not afraid of men, and (3) they did not presume on God"s deliverance. But thank God, He delivered them in the fiery furnace. Here, God did not deliver them from the fire but He delivered them in it! He said He will be with us when we pass through the fire and the flame, and the fire won"t burn us nor the flame scorch us (Is. 43:2).
A lot of folks are in presumption while claiming to be doing great things for God. They start something in the flesh and expect God to come and bless it. Understand this clearly, God can"t be blackmailed. What He didn"t order for, He won"t pay for! What He is not the Author of He won"t be the finisher of! So, get your orders correctly from Him and even after you have heard from Him, stay in touch with Him.