***Listen To Audio Version: Reset The Habits Audio 616
Today’s Devotional Scripture: “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” - James 1:22 KJV
The Message For Today (August 13, 2026):
***Listen To Audio Version: Reset The Habits Audio 616
There comes a point when what we believe has to become visible in how we live. In my hood, you would hear “don’t talk about it, be about it” often.
Here’s a reality: we can pray for change, load up vision boards, declare scripture daily, listen to sermons, read devotionals, attend conferences, and say we are ready for something different. But eventually, transformation will and should ask us to show our work.
That is what I believe James 1:22 confronts so clearly: “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” And deception can be a silent killer when God wants us to live. There is an inherent danger in hearing truth repeatedly without allowing that truth to change our behavior.
You understand, we can know what is right and still not have the capacity to practice it? Or we can have head knowledge on what we should do and still delay doing it. More importantly, in my opinion, we can be highly spiritually informed but practically inconsistent. And if we are not careful, we can mistake exposure to truth, only, for transformation. When exposure actually has the power to lead to expansion.
You see, knowing is not the same as doing. Just as believing is not the same as building. Nor is desiring the same as developing. And wanting freedom, certainly, is not the same as practicing the habits that will produce it.
That is why this week’s financial reset is about our habits.
For our reset to be effective, we have to deal with the patterns and cycles of behaviors that have been formed by what we have repeatedly believed. In spending time in this space, examining my own life and helping my clients transform, I discovered that habits are “something else”. They are so subtle but very powerful because they operate quietly.
Habits do not always feel dramatic but run deep and can happen automatically without warning.
Let’s explore a few:
We wake up and reach for our phones. We get paid and spend before we save--living 100% off of earned income. Oftentimes we allow immense pressure and react before we pray. We feel disappointed and withdraw, and will wear isolation like a badge of honor.
Sadly, for some of us we receive an opportunity and immediately think of why it will not work or talk ourselves out of not accepting it.
We tell ourselves we are going to do something later, and later keeps getting pushed further away. The “shoulda”, “coulda” and “wouldas” become common place, unchallenged.
Sure, one habit does not seem significant in the moment. However, that’s the deception without understanding, because those habits become patterns. Patterns become lifestyles. And lifestyles produce outcomes.
This is why freedom has to be a desire, it is so often connected to what we repeatedly do and don’t. When aligned with God, what we do yields freedom and relieves us from what “we” do that doesn’t.
We may want financial stability, but if our habits (what we do) continue to support instability, our desire and our discipline are moving in two different directions. These are competing interests of the Father. We may want peace, but can we really expect it if we constantly consume confusion, chaos, conflict, and comparison?
We may desire growth, but if we continue avoiding the very things that require maturity, then growth remains something we talk about instead of something we experience. Habits really do display what we are practicing. It could be a few dollars or few minutes here or delay, impulse or excuse there.
We are forming habits. And over time, they either become support systems for our future or stumbling blocks to it.
Now, please don’t rush to obsessing with perfection. I don’t believe God is asking us to live flawless lives, just to become faithful to His will and way for them.
You see faithfulness is different from perfection. Faithfulness says, I will keep practicing what aligns with the life I am asking God to help me build. I strongly believe that faithfulness gives grace room to work through consistency.
That grace allows us to embrace this truth, any habit, that is in-congruent with the will of the Father, can be changed. Therefore, we are not permanently bound to the patterns that may have brought us to needing a reset. Yes, even the ones, we may have learned in childhood, developed them in survival and repeated for years. But, please know, repeated responses do not have to be permanent ones.
And, that matters because many women live with a quiet belief that, “This is just how I am”. Even if the habit didn’t serve them in the past and is evident today.
We must be careful with the language we use about ourselves. Because if we repeatedly label ourselves by our worst habits, we begin protecting patterns God is trying to help us change. A habit is something you do. It is not who you are.
The Word of God calls us to renewal, obedience, maturity, and transformation. That means our behaviors should continue growing as our faith grows. The more we understand, the more we should begin to practice.
This is where faith, finances, and freedom meet in a practical way.
Faith gives us the courage to believe that change is possible. Financial stewardship requires us to create habits that support stability and wisdom. Freedom is what begins to emerge when our daily behavior stops working against the life we say we want.
Let’s think about finances for a moment.
Financial freedom is not usually created by one large moment. It is often built by very ordinary habits repeated over time. Looking at your numbers: knowing what is coming in and going out. Saving consistently and reducing unnecessary spending. Paying obligations on time, preparing before emergencies happen and learning before investing. Building margin by increasing income intentionally and avoiding decisions based only on emotion.
We cannot expect extraordinary results while repeatedly practicing habits that undermine them.
At some point, we have to ask whether our routines are cooperating with our prayers.
If we are praying for financial stability but repeatedly spending without awareness, something is out of alignment. If we are praying for growth but resisting accountability, something is out of alignment.
God can absolutely open doors. But sometimes our responsibility is to become the kind of person who can walk through them well.
Jesus often taught principles of faithfulness in small things.
Luke 16:10 says, “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much.”
There is something deeply spiritual about how we handle small things.
Small amounts of money. Small commitments. Small acts of obedience.
We often pray for more while overlooking what “more” will require from us. More income may require stronger management. More influence may require better boundaries. More freedom may require saying no to habits that once provided comfort. The question is not only, What do I want God to give me? I believe the better question is, What habits would help me steward well what I am asking Him to trust me with?
That is where implementation becomes essential.
Because revelation without implementation becomes another thing we heard but did not apply.
James warns against deceiving ourselves because it is possible to feel spiritually productive while remaining practically unchanged. We can underline the verse and still avoid the action. We can say amen and still keep the pattern. We can be deeply inspired and still return to the same routine by Monday. This is not condemnation. It is an invitation.
This week, as always, the goal is not to overhaul your entire life. It is to interrupt one pattern, just one.
One habit that has been working against your faith, weakening your finances or delaying your freedom.
Maybe it is spending without a plan, checking out emotionally when things become difficult, avoiding your bank account, saying yes to everyone and leaving no margin for yourself. Perhaps it is waiting until the last minute, starting but not finishing, talking about the vision more than you work on the vision.
Or these three, equaling one: staying up too late, waking up too rushed, and starting every day in reaction mode.
The habit itself may look small or seem normal. But changing it can create more room than you realize.
This is why we should not despise small beginnings. Small, repeated obedience becomes a powerful force over time. A small savings transfer each week can become a reserve. A small reduction in spending can become margin. A small commitment to morning prayer can become peace.
There is something powerful that happens when you become the woman who does what she said she would do. Not because you are perfect, but because you are becoming intentional, which creates order and capacity for increase.
This is the kind of freedom we are building.
Not simply freedom from a bill or a difficult season. But freedom from patterns that keep recreating the same problems. Freedom that is spiritual, financial and practical. Freedom that allows us to live with greater peace, stability, and choice.
Here’s a grace gift: your habits may not change overnight; they just need to begin moving in the right direction.
So this week, do not focus on becoming a completely different person. Focus on practicing the behavior of the woman you are becoming.
If she is financially wise, practice one financially wise action. If she is spiritually grounded, practice one spiritually grounding habit. If she is free, stop repeatedly choosing what keeps you bound.
Then do it again tomorrow. And again the next day. That is how change becomes a lifestyle.
Faith in Focus
Faith is not only what we say we believe. It is revealed in how we respond to what God has shown us.
A faithful life is built through repeated acts of obedience, especially when those acts seem small.
Financial Wisdom
Financial stability is created through consistent stewardship habits.
We do not need to fix everything at once. We need to stop allowing small financial habits to quietly work against the future we are trying to build.
Freedom Step: This Week’s Implementation
This week, choose three things:
One habit to stop.
Choose one repeated behavior that is working against your faith, finances, or freedom.
One habit to start.
Choose one simple action that supports the woman you are becoming.
One habit to strengthen.
Identify something you are already doing well and become more consistent with it.
Keep the actions small enough that you can actually complete them.
Weekly Declaration
I am not bound to old patterns. I am becoming a doer of the Word. My habits are coming into alignment with my faith, my financial goals, and the freedom I desire to walk in. I will be faithful in small things. I will practice what supports the life God is helping me build. Through His grace, I am becoming more consistent, more intentional, and more prepared to steward what He places in my hands.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, In Jesus’ name. Your Son, Your Only Son, Your Holy Son!
I pray for your daughter today. Thank You for Your Word and the grace provided for her to grow.
Lord, I Thank You she is not permanently bound to old habits, old patterns, or old ways of responding. I thank you that she is only constrained by your love. Glory To God!
Father, in Jesus’ name, help her to become a doer of Your Word and not a hearer only.
Reveal and uncover the habits that are working against the life You are calling her to live. Give her, hallelujah, wisdom to recognize what needs to change and courage to take responsibility for her choices. Hallelujah, understanding that there is therefore no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus who walketh after the Spirit and not after the flesh. Glory To God!
Father where she has been inconsistent, strengthen her. Holy Spirit, where she has procrastinated, help her to begin. Father, In Jesus’ name, where she has avoided responsibility, give her the courage to face what needs her attention. We denounce the spirit of anxiety and avoidance. In Jesus’ name.
Where she has repeatedly chosen comfort over discipline, help her remember the future she is building in. Father, remind her that you are the Chief Architect, that your plan is perfect, and when she walks in the ordered steps you have provided, the burden is lifted and the path is clearer. Holy Spirit help her to be faithful in small things, so that she can be ruler over many! Glory To God!
Lord, help her to steward the finances you make accessible with wisdom.
Grant her the grace to practice what supports peace, stability, growth, and freedom.
Father, I declare that she won’t just want to simply know what is right but she lives it and reaps a harvest! Hallelujah, Glory To Your Name! I declare in Jesus name that her daily choices reflect the faith she professes. I decree that her routines support the prayers she prays. Holy Spirit, help her habits prepare her for the opportunities, resources, and responsibilities she is asking for you to place in her hands.
Father, I thank you that even if she misses the mark, with humility and repentance, she will lean into Holy Spirit, solicit help to reset without shame.
We come against any illegal spirit of discouragement and defeat. Father, I am asking you to remind her that consistency is built one decision at a time and she can always begin again! Hallelujah!
I thank you now, that when old patterns try calling her back, that the Angels you have given to have charge over her, will give her the strength to choose differently.
In this moment Lord, receive her surrendered habits and yes to You! Order her steps, strengthen her discipline, renew her commitment. And help her to become faithful in the small decisions that are shaping her future. In Jesus’ name!
Lord, may her faith become visible through her actions. May her finances reflect wisdom and stewardship. And may her daily choices continue moving her towards greater freedom.
In the mighty name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.
