Jesus gave the sinner “Living water.” How do we find it? To me, the Christian who is obviously “different,” who is filled with love and purpose has “Found it.”
The challenge is… We accept Christ, and then struggle in habits that keep us from purpose. To break habits, the rule of 10 says to focus on one new habit now, this week, this month, even though we need all 10. We need to start somewhere.
Learn the “Praise the Lord” habit. This habit fights addiction and depression, and it is a big part of “It.” When David was doing spectacular things for God, he had the constant habit of praising the Lord.
If you have constant thoughts of drinking or drugs, consider praying:
“I am sorry,” and praying, “I worship you Lord, not drinking or drugs. I Praise You, Lord.” Try to make it a habit to do this with every bad thought.
Problems: You say, that is weird, not respectful, my church never taught that. But… Does God prefer you fighting bad habits, or trying to keep a deep religious respect for Him? I say that fighting bad habits is the deep respect for Him.
Problem # 2. You may fail 100 times, 1000 times, or more. But…Real success is working on forming the habit consistently. Real success is “Trying” every time a tempting thought pops up.
Finally, we find “It” by spending a block of time in prayer. My most important hour of the day is my time in prayer. Consider trying to pray more and more. Prayer helps us start to make better decisions. Better decisions are key to fighting habits. #2 Prayer helps us to start to know God’s will. The more we do what we are supposed to be doing, the less time we have for bad habits. #3 Prayer helps us to focus on good things. It will be helpful to focus on good things more this year.
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