Many Christians today live in a secret kind of fear because they don’t know how to address the blockages affecting their own growth. Instead of facing the problems keeping them away from God, they try to ignore it and just get by. 

You don’t have to be among those who live like this!

All of us have to repent of the same basic thing: We have to change from works to grace. We have to address our blockages with truth. While that is the bigger and more important issue let me first talk about what to do with specific areas of sin. 

Ask yourself what does it feel like I want? What momentary benefit would the sin provide? What would I be trying to get out of this? Is it thrill and pleasure that I want? Relief from boredom? Reassurance? A feeling of security? A feeling of having power?  

Do your best to determine what it is you are wanting at that moment and then use thanks and praise to turn your heart to enjoy God and His closeness as what you desire -- rather than the "benefit" you desire having to come from sin. Then be sure that you enjoy God. The Psalmist tells himself, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits" (Psa. 103:2). Temptation is strong and sin results when we forget to love and enjoy the practical benefits of the closeness of God to us.     

But please note that our biggest problem isn't that one area of sin that so easily upsets us. Our biggest problem has to do with trying to achieve a sense of having the "benefits" without God. The suggestions in the first two paragraphs work best after you have done the work of softening your heart into turning to trust the grace of God to draw near and be what you need most. Don't see your problem as some specific sin. See it as a general need to turn your heart to believe and love God--in many underlying areas.      

Confess it as sin to the Lord when you do something wrong. But work with your heart to trust His forgiveness without having to earn righteousness by self-condemnation or drawing away from God! Get your heart to rest in God by rejoicing about the greater power of the blood of Christ. Keep on walking in His light and keep on trusting the radiance from Him to cleanse you from all unrighteousness.

Try to be especially aware of any "glory source" in everyday life. Watch for things that might be put downs if you were having to rely on your own human glory. When someone says something hurtful, thank the Lord inside with great joy that you don't have to drink from the cup that they are trying to force feed you with. React to these things with great delight toward God that you don't have to drink by needing to have reason to praise yourself. Turn your heart by praise toward the closeness of God as your glory.

Watch for when you swell up with tension and are ready for a fight. Help yourself choose to rest by thanking the Lord that you don't have to find refuge or strength by glorifying yourself. Turn to Him and drink.

If they hurt you, trust you are before the Lord and soothe yourself by standing in the radiance around your God. Rest and enjoy the Lord!

Rest in confidence and security because of the closeness of God. Rest, but not because you are priding yourself about what you have over the other person.

When someone gives you a compliment tell them, "Thank you." But inside stay turned and feeding on God's presence. If you turn toward the compliment, the glory of their praise is all the reward you will ever receive. Thank them graciously, but don't settle for feeding yourself with so little.

The answers to the questions below will help you know where to apply heart-training in everyday life. Respond to these things with repentance that strongly directs your heart to drink from God with joy.

Ask yourself: what it is that is taking the majority of my thought time? What does the evidence suggest that I am wanting to drink from? What attribute of God am I trying to find a substitute for?

Am I staying before the Lord, looking at Him, and clinging to His presence with me here?

If not, is the reason a lack of ability or is it motivation? Is it an obstacle preventing freedom or is it a lack of confident hope for the present?

Ask what do you feel inside when you think about applying the verse that says, "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you..." (James 4:8). Do you have fear about drawing near to God? A sense of pressure to perform and disbelief that you can? Disbelief that God will draw near to you? Fear that God might not want to draw near to you?

Ask yourself, "What is making me feel confident and secure—what do my actions indicate I am wanting to be able to depend on as my refuge, strength, and glory?" Is there disbelief about God that is keeping me from being able to draw near?

Am I having feelings of pressure to earn the right to have close relationship with God? Where are you, or what are you doing when you are having those feelings?

What do my behavior and attitudes indicate that I am loving, or are wanting to love and drink from? Ask yourself what you are trying to get out of it that would be better to get because of drinking from God. A place of refuge? A sense of strength? A fortress of protection? God wants to be all these things to you! Get your heart to believe it enough to act on that belief and live it out.

Ask yourself, "What are the ways I am trying to achieve a sense of having glory—in ways that are related to what God is like?" Remind your heart that the glory of God is far greater. You don't have to achieve it like you do with earthly glories.

Ask, "Do my actions indicate I have confidence to glory in the presence of God right now?" Are you holding back? Go after that!

Observe in yourself the prevailing emotions you have been feeling during recent days. These are often very good clues about where you need to turn your heart.

Troubleshooting Spiritual Roadblocks

Once you begin to verbalize what you observe in yourself, you have to learn to identify—or, guess about—what those things indicate are the substitutions you are trying to make for God. Doing so isn’t that hard to do! Using the Heart-training! book will help to increase your practical understanding of everyday issues so that you are better at trouble-shooting your spiritual roadblocks. Just keep reminding yourself that you want God and that God draws near to His people because He is true to His word.

If you are using the Heart-training in some area and heart doesn't respond the reason could be because you need to go back and remind yourself about what the scriptures say. Our minds are for knowing. Our hearts are for believing. Once you know it with your mind, immediately begin to work on your heart to hear and believe it.

Another reason you may be struggling with disbelief is that you might be protecting yourself from God because of disbelief about His character and attributes. Here again, you need to go back to the scriptures. Read it from the Bible so that your mind knows it. Then immediately begin to rejoice about the truth with joy in your tone of voice.

Basically, if your heart doesn't respond then try something else. The Heart-training Index should help for trouble-shooting this kind of thing. Even then, you will seldom know for sure where the problem is until after you do some heart-training. If you heart responds you are on target. If not, keep asking the Lord to direct you and keep targeting other things.

For additional help trouble-shooting why you may not be receiving God's word as effectively as you desire, go to the section under "How to Repent" and then to the section about how to help your heart to hear better.

Applying principles of Heart-training! in real life situations is where a small group becomes important. Guilt-free discussion with other Christians can help you to better recognize the substitutions you are making and learn how to address them. Even so, what you do during the small group meeting isn’t what will help you to turn your heart toward God nearly as much as what you do alone with God and all during the day. That is why they call them "support groups."

After you have made your best guess about the obstacle/substitution you are making, then you need to apply the principles about how to change—principles that are given by example, all through the Heart-training! material. You can do this when you are sitting or walking with just you and God. It will be vital that you also learn to react to life by repentance that helps you direct the ways you quench your thirst toward God.