The Power of Habit

1. The Power of Habit Doing what you don’t want to do because you have too not because you want too = HABIT

2. The Power of Habit • Habit, what is a Habit? Webster defines Habit as: A settled or regular tendency or practice, esp. one that is hard to give up. • All habits are not bad there are actually some good habits such as helping others, praying, grooming, and such like. But today we want to take on the Bad Habits that seem to have a way of bringing a slow but steady destruction on the lives of those that it takes captive.

3. The Power of Habit • Let’s take a moment and name a few bad habits: • Smoking • Drinking • Pornography • Drugs

4. The Power of Habit • Before we take a look at the effects of these Bad Habits on our lives let’s first see how they became a Habit in the First Place. • Before we develop a Habit we must first take the bait or “Get Hooked.” The Smell of Cigarette Smoke, the Taste of Liquor, the Sight of a Beautiful scantily clad woman. These are what we consider the Bait of Satan. They are the beginning of Habit and Addiction. The Bible often refers to them as TEMPTATIONS.

5. The Power of Habit • Habits often start small and grow to be so big that we can’t feed them enough; neither can we control them. If we hang on to them too long breaking them becomes impossible. • Imagine Habit as something that seeks to bind you. • A Thread = I’ Can Break it any time.” • A Cord = “Difficult to Break I will make the effort later.” • A Cable = “Breaking this is going to be REAL HARD! • A Chain = “Bound Hand and Foot – I want to be free; but I can’t stop!!! Help me Please!!!”

6. The Power of Habit • Habits have short term and long term affects. They change who you are, they affect those around you, and they seal your fate for all eternity. • Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny. – Ralph Waldo Emerson • People in Hell never thought they would be there. The alcoholic never thought he would be one. The prostitute never thought she would sink so low. The drug user and abuser never saw it coming when he took his first hit. How did it all happen? The Power of HABIT

7. The Power of Habit • What are some of the effects of Bad Habits besides a life that is destroyed and a soul damned to Hell? • Smoking = Lung Cancer, Throat Cancer, Bad Breath, Stained Teeth, Loss of $$ Money $$ & DEATH. • Drinking = Cirrhosis of the Liver, Age Faster, Abusive, Negligent Homicide, Life in Prison, Loss of $$ Money $$ & DEATH. • Pornography = A Demented Mind, Bad Relationships, STD’s, Loss of $$ Money $$. • Drugs = Burned up Brain Cells, Mental Disease, HIV/AIDS, Prison Time, Loss of $$ Money $$, & DEATH.

8. The Power of Habit • We have now reached the point in this presentation where we have to ask the question: • Can a Habit be Truly broken? • What does it take to break a Bad Habit? • Can I break it on my own? • Can someone else break the Habit for me? • Yes, a Bad Habit, all Habits, and the Power of any Sin can be Truly Broken. • “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” • “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” --St. John 8:33 & 36.

9. The Power of Habit • Jesus died to break the Power of Habit and the Power of Sin and Satan upon our lives. • You want to be free and God died so you can be free….So what do we have to do to become free from the Power of HABIT?

10. The Power of Habit • Acknowledge the Habit exists: “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” – Proverbs 28:13. Don’t just confess it; but turn away from it once and for all. • See it as Wrong and Life Threatening: “For I acknowledge my trangression: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned.” – Psalms 51:3-4 Ask yourself: “If I continue to allow this to have the power and authority over me where will it take me; what will it do to me?” • Don’t Blame others. Accept Responsibility. “And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.It’s easy to pass the buck; to blame others for our failures. If we want to help we have to stop looking at others and start looking at ourselves.

11. The Power of Habit 4. Find someone to hold you accountable. “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.” – James 5:16 It’s good to have a friend, a confidant, counselor, Minister or Pastor who you can turn to and will love you enough to hold you accountable for your actions. • You Can’t do it on your own. “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” – Phillipians 4:13 At some point we have to realize that we don’t possess the WILL POWER or the I WON’T POWER to break a Habit. We need the Divine Power from God Daily to break the Power of Habit. • You must Renew you mind through the Word of God. “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.” – Romans 12:2 By reading the Word of God daily we are sowing good thoughts to reap new actions, habits, and Character.

12. The Power of Habit • Destroy the “Triggers” that lead you into the Habit. “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” – Matthew 26: 41 Triggers are those Sights, Smells, Tastes, Activities, Places that set us on the path to Relapse. We must avoid Temptation. We may be SAVED but we are not SAFE!! • Don’t just avoid Temptation… Flee from It!! “Flee also youthful lusts..” 2 Timothy 2:22 Don’t trip your Trigger by getting to close to it. Stay as far away as possible. This may mean having to relocate, giving up certain friends and family, avoiding the Internet, ect… • Take it slow… One Day at a Time. “And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed...” – Matthew 26:39 Recovery is a Cinch by the Inch and a Trial by the Mile. So take it slow and celebrate the little victories that you win each day with the help of God.

13. The Power of Habit • The Last and Final Step to breaking the Power of Habit is to:

14. The Power of Habit We Hope this Presentation on the Power of Habit was beneficial to you. If you would like more information visit our website: www.churchofgodinmaconga.com “Deliverance in Zion – Where the Chains are Broken.”