[b]happy Sunday nairalanders. I thank God for an opportunity to be among the land of the living. its a privilege to share this article to bless someone's life and liberate someone who has been struggling in different habits that depreciate the quality of ones life by the help of the holy spirit.

much thanks goes to my mentor pastor Iyke Oyeka, a man sent from the university teaching hospital of heaven for the youths, for opening my eyes on certain scriptural truths. its quite long but ur freedom lies in here therein. don't be someone afraid of letters, in books are the keys to suçcess.

Cc oam4j
lalasticlala
seun

I think it should make FP cos there are people this could help change their lives


Habits
A Habit is an action performed repeatedly and automatically, usually without awareness. It flows from your subconscious. It's an established action, practice or pattern done without thinking. Habits are either good (build you up) or bad (tear you down). People aren't born with habits, they are only learnt. Habits flow from your heart not your head, and so overrules reasoning.  That's why doctors still smoke and nurses get pregnant and commit abortion despite knowing the inherent dangers. Samson had a bad habit of womanising,  thats why even though he knew delilah worked with the philistines and they tried to capture him several times, he still went ahead to fall asleep on her bosoms. 
Bad habits take you deeper into it than you wanted to go, keep you more than you're willing to stay, and cost you more than you're willing to pay. Achan cost the israelites a very simple battle cos of his bad habit, stealing.
When you get born again, it's your spirit that is reborn not your body, and so if you were stealing or masturbating or sexually pervert before giving your life to christ, you'll likely remain the same unless you take conscious steps to battle the scourge, thats why your mind must be renewed. In Romans 12:2, Paul spoke to believers and he knew these bad habits were still limiting them from assessing the pleasures of God. It's a thing of the mind, habits subconsciously control the mind. 
Where you are today is a product of your habits, and not what you consciously do. Ask your self, why are some people having a CGPA of first class, have a wonderful shape and in good health, why is my case different? It's because those with a first class have a habit of reading, those with good health develop good eating and working out habits, e.t.c. It is said that where you end is dependent on two things,
90% of it is determined by your habits,
10% is determined by your conscious actions.
Little wonder we are were we are. Habits decide your response/judgement on certain issues. Someone with a habit of procrastinating will push a knocking opportunity into the hands of his rivals.
The question becomes, "how do I break bad habits and then develop new ones".

It's quite a long expose but I trust God to be able to summarise and give us practical steps from the inspiration of the Holy spirit and my mentor.

Habits (contd)
Things that fuel bad habits.:
Routine- this means a repeated action. The first act when developing a bad habit is usually difficult,  but after it becomes easier. Repeating that habit creates a giant out of it. When you stop doing it, it starts dyiing. If a habit can be starved for 21 days, it greatly reduces it's controlling effect or addiction on the mind.

Familiar environment-
The atmosphere in which one finds himself greatly determines the next action you take. The atmosphere or climate of a region determines what kind of plants grow there. Whatsoever activity done in a place over and over again creates and enthrones the spirit of that activity there. That's why a christian visiting a club is more likely to commit sexual immorality because he entered an environment ruled by that spirit. Sound city,  mtv base, e.t.c all have spirits of drug addictions, sexually perversion etc, little wonder why some guys watch few music videos and head for the bathroom with one thing in mind, wanting away their destinies. Hope you get the drift?
Re - enforcing culture:
Things that fuel the habit and creates the atmosphere or brings you into the habitat of that bad habit are called the re-enforcers. Friends could be one, the social media, porn sites, e.t.c are not left out. Until you see this group as the enemy, you can never let go of the habit.

I'll give few characteristics of habits and how they affect our living in my next post. [/b]

[b]Some characteristics of habits
Case study, Daniel 6:6-11.
1. Habits don't hide themselves, Daniels addiction for prayer couldn't be hid even when his life was threatened.
Your habits can never hide themselves even if you were going to be put to death. It only takes a matter of time for them to manifest.
2. Habits determine your response to challenges.
Daniel would have laid low for 30 days so he won't get into trouble, but his reasoning was jettisoned by his addiction to prayers cos it was his 'usual custom' as the bible puts it. People who use sex to get what they want, usually resort to sleeping with lecturers in school and see no 'biggie' with it cos it's a lifestyle. Those who use their money to buy their way also resort to sorting in universities cos it's not an instruction, its simply the first response to the challenge. Same goes for those who cheat in the exam hall, the habit of low self esteem and lack of self confidence.
Pressure reveals content.
Habits determine your end, as your habits become your habitat.
Bad Habits nullifies intentions, it cripples a lot of new year resolutions, habit drives your choices, enslave you and control you.
They break away your will power to stop them,  making you believe you can't break out.
It makes people say "I've done everything and so I'm giving up" instead of saying "I've done everything I know to stop this, but I'm still willing to learn and apply more". The difference is the will power. You can't win without a will power, cos when there is a will, there is a way.


6 habit centers to work on
1. Spiritual habits- prayer life, buying books, messages, e.t.c
2. Family habits- relationship with relatives.
3. Relational habits- be a team player, one who is needed by his peers for the right reasons. If Joseph didn't have a good relational habit in the prison, he might not have ascended the throne. Learn to lead by influence not by money, cos a time will come when you'll run dry and your followers will run back to the man with influence.
4. Financial habits- impulse buying, overspending are the major signposts on your journey to poverty. Cultivate a saving habit, at least 20% of your income could be saved.
5. Health habits: you need your body to achieve greatness, dead men don't command exploits. Exercising, a good diet does more than you can ever imagine. Rest well too.
6. Work habits- embrace problem solving, be a team player, punctuality is key. Don't be a fireman who always uses the fire brigade approach. [/b]

[b]Now the real deal breaking the bad habits

In Matthew 26:31-35, Peter had a habit of inconsistency.
As recorded in the bible earlier,  Peter actually went back to fishing fishes even when Jesus had made him a fisher of men.
People go back to their bad habits because they are inconsistent in the fight to stopping it. They underestimate the damages the habit could cause them(proverbs 6:27-28), and even over estimate their abilities to conquer these habits. By strength shall no an prevail.
Now here are the steps, as outlined using deutronomy 7:1-6, the anchor scripture.
The nations in the scripture above could be seen as habits that would want to prevent us from reaching our promise land.

Step 1:
Identify the bad habit.
When you want to kill a dog, give it a bad name. Don't just call it immorality,  call it by its name "masturbating,  Fornication,  adultery". Name the nations so you can know whom you're waring with. Jesus performed miracles by addressing the spirits by their names, e.g. The spirit of infirmity, be thou loose from the woman.
There can never be a general drug for general diseases, antimalarials deal with malaria, Piriton deals with cough and catarrh.

Step 2:
See that habit as an enemy, not a pleasure. Show no mercy, be ruthless in trying to end it. You don't file your enemies knifes for them cos you know therein lies your death.

Step 3:
Subject that habit to the name of Jesus in prayers. If you can't NAME the habit, you can't bring it under the NAME of Jesus, because Jesus' name is above all other names. If you can't name it, you can't tame it.

Step 4:
Engage the word of God. Hebrews 4:12-13 analysis the word as:
Powerful- it energises your spirit man, and once your spirit man is energised,  carnality is reduced. The flesh is in constant enmity with the word. They are both in a seesaw, give one attention and watch the other loose strength. Mary madgalene constantly sat at the feet of Jesus (the word) and was able to leave prostitution.

Surgical- it can cut away unwanted traits. The word is not made for the head for cramming, its activated by your spoken words. Revelations 1:16b says that out of his mouth came a two edged sword. The sword of the spirit must come out of your mouth for it to be effective,  cos God said specifically, what I hear you say in mine ear I will do. He confirms the "words" of his servant.
Sentence that habit to the pits of hell with your mouth, tell yourself, I will live above stealing,  lying, gossiping, Fornication.  Now you may not see the result immediately,  but don't give up. Remember, when you cut down a tree, it still remains green, until after a while it turns brown. Think of your words as the sword or axe cutting down the tree of that habit.. Don't stop, the root is still there to be cut.

The word Discerns thoughts, judges thoughts and passes a sentence on them. So even before I think of stripping that lady in my mind, the word of God sentences that thought to life imprisonment. Aleluiah.

The word of God exposes, it makes your secret deeds naked, opens them up. That's why you are smiling as you read this.lol I got you, no, actually,  the word did.
 

Step 5:
Ask for help from the Holy Ghost. John 5:5b,  romans 8:28. The Holy Ghost teaches you a way out of the mess you find yourself. He is a standby generator, ready for action, only if you can pull the starter rope or engagé his ignition.

Step 6:
Quit feeding the habits. I elaborated on that earlier. Stop being idle, stay away from environments or friends that may likely lead you back into those bad habits.

: Step 7:
Be accountable to someone:
Locate a friend you can trust, or a mentor to confide in. Don't tell a blabber. Psalm 141:1, that was David's key to rehabilitation from whatsoever he faced then. It's recorded that he sought for the righteous to always caution him. Tell someone you know you can't lie to and will encourage you, without taking advantage of the situation.  Have a destiny friend or mentor. Note that secrecy is the power of sin. If you can't tell someone about it, you will die in it. We overcome by the blood of the lamb and the words of our testimonies, not one but from others who are willing to overcome. Its in the mouth of two or three witnessed a thing is established, bible says. So your victory is established in the encouragement of some mentor or soul friend.

I learnt all these from reading and sitting under a mentor, and I typed all these from my scripture study note. It pays to have someone who helps you achieve purpose.

Note that the devil was a serpent in genesis chapter 3, but in revelations he turned out to be a dragon. A little habit you foster can pull you down when you get to the top. You can ask bill Clinton, Ibori,  alams,  e.t.c.

Lastly, you should know by now that the earth arbors vacuum. Once a bad habit is dropped, a new one must be cultivated before the bad habits comes back in full force. Bible recorded that after a spirit has being casted away, he prowls for a while, looking for a home, and when he finds none he returns to the home he came from, finding it well swept and organised, rushes back to enter.  He doesn't just do so alone, he calls seven of his wicked ogas so he will have a stronger footing than before, see Luke 11:24-26. Ever wondered why drug addicts who go to rehab once and relapse again find it even harder to drop the habit than when they just started it.

The article on building good habits will be for another day, I'll post on fb and drop the link [/b]

[quote author=Lildreezy post=34512038] [b]


I like this post @Op. Am suprise no one is following this topic

Nice post

[quote author=Confedon post=35180473][/quote]
Tnx bro. am surprised to. I cc'd lalasticlala ishilove and seun yet nothing. I knew it would be a blessing, but ever since I wrote this one and no one seemed to take drastic action I decided to stop writing stuffs like this on naira land. I just use Facebook instead and I get lots of positive feedbacks and testimonies.

but if its tonto dikes unclothedness in a jaccuzzi , with just one comment its already on FP. people see freedom and run away. the bane of a Blackman.