Heb 11:6 (NIV) And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

Mark 11:24 says we must believe we receive the answer to our prayer. Why do we believe we receive it? Because we believe that God rewards those who earnestly seek Him. What did we receive? The ability to LOVE to pray, read our Bible, read Christian books, listen to Christian music, attend church, spend more time with Christian friends, and share the things of God with the lost. This will be the way God answers this prayer we just prayed.

The above list represents the tools that God is going to use to bring us closer to Him. They are also the tools that God is going to use to drive the inconsistencies out of our life. For us to start ENJOYING doing these things will intensify our cooperation with them. This is how we will start shining the light into dark areas of our life. This list of things to do with God are light sources. They are God relationship builders. But, they are only as effective as our focus on them. If our heart isn't really into talking and listening to God, reading the Bible and Christian literature, listening to sermons and Christian music, maintaining good Christian fellowship, and sharing Jesus with those who don't know Him; we will just be going through religious rituals.

STEP ONE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP. AND, IT IS USUALLY THE MOST DIFFICULT.

What we are attempting to do is develop new "habits" and "addictions" to use worldly terms. God is wanting us to become "addicted" to Him and His ways. This analogy will only serve to illustrate the direction we are going. Exchanging old, worldly and satanic habits and addictions for new, godly ones isn't exactly what is going to happen. But, if we will just follow this train of thought for a moment, it will help us see what God has in mind. The withdrawal pains of our former habits and addictions are calling to us. We will find that we are addicted to things that we had no idea we were addicted to. Boredom, desires to stay busy, people wanting to be with us, needs for information for information's sake, cravings for entertainment, etc. will pull at us like a fish on a hook is pulled on a fishing line. If our Christian life can't compete with the things that motivated our life in sin, we are going to be trying to swim upstream for the rest of our life.

Habits are those things we do routinely. We don't have to even think about doing them. Most of us go through a routine of going to work Monday through Friday. We have a routine for getting up and getting ready. Christians can often establish habits. They get into the routine of doing devotions, going to church, “saying” a prayer, attending various church functions. At first, these habits are good. They are replacing old, bad habits. We are starting to change where we go, what we listen to, who we associate with, what we read, what we watch and look at, and where we spend our time and money. All of that is a great step in the right direction. However, if we will just take a few minutes to examine our old routines, they weren't the things that lit up our life.