This is a very wonderful question, Mrs Uche! I hope that my response will give you some edification.

We’ve indeed seen a Christianity that has people going to church, praying, fasting, and carrying out all manner of religious activities, yet we find the fruit of the Holy Spirit missing.Let me start by saying that genuine and lasting change is never something that happens coincidentally. Our character is a summation of the conscious and unconscious choices we’ve made over the years.

There is a saying that goes: sow a thought and you will reap an action; sow an action and you will reap a habit; sow a habit and you will reap a character; sow a character and you will reap a destiny. The Bible puts it plainly like this:

'Do not be deceived; God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. '- Galatians 6:7-8

I taught on Saturday that every single one of us is a product of our meditations. I will also go further to say that every single one of us is a product of our decisions. Yes, upbringing and environment indeed have a great influence on the formation of our character, but that is all they are: influences. It is not the influence that forms our character, but the decisions we make based on that influence.

Shouting is a decision. Anger outbursts are decisions. Deception is a decision. Foul speaking is a decision.The more we continue to make these decisions, the more we become hardened by their nature. Everything we are today is learned and perfected through practice. Laziness is learned. Greed is learned. Vengefulness is learned, and so on. Anything that is learned can also be unlearned. Now, where does the Holy Spirit come in? Jesus described the Holy Spirit by saying:

'And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another helper, that He may abide with you forever - John 14:16

Why is the Holy Spirit called a helper? Spirits are like energy; they are like fuel. They don’t do things for us; rather, they enable us to do things. - Fuel does not drive the car, but it enables us to drive the car. SPIRITS ARE ENABLERS.

When you decide to carry out an action that pertains to a spirit, then you will experience their support. You are the one who has to open the door for them first before they can take over. How do we open the door? With our thoughts and actions. This is true with the Holy Spirit, and this is also true with the spirits of this world.

We fellowship, pray, and study to receive fuel. Change, however, can only happen when we put this fuel into action. It is not enough to just pray or read; we must intentionally practice what we have prayed and what we have studied. In the process of practice, the spirit behind the practice begins to rest upon us and support our labours.

One of my students told me of a time she went to a conference hosted by Apostle Arome Osayi in Kaduna. She said after he taught and prayed, he imparted them. According to her, he cautioned them that this impartation will only stay and bear fruit in their lives if they study their Bibles daily. So, she studied her Bible every day for a month and had all manner of wonderful experiences and changes in her life. The moment life got in the way and she stopped reading her Bible, everything ceased.

This is what happens a lot in church. A person gets prayed for, and they fall down and think that is it. There is a need to inquire, "What exactly was imparted to me?" "What must I do to fully utilise and harness the impartation that just happened?"

In the same way the spirit of lust needs us to practice lustful things in order to tabernacle with us, so also does the spirit of self-control. Every spirit has a work. Every spirit has a labour. The moment we begin to put into practice the labours that pertain to its dimension, we begin to manifest the dimension of that spirit. There is something I always say, and I want everyone reading this to remember this phrase: “Christianity is a practice.”

We have to practice telling the truth. We have to practice forgiving people. We have to practice kindness and generosity. It is in the practice—the conscious practice—that we begin to experience the help of the Holy Spirit. There is no other way. Our willingness and efforts must be involved in the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Beyond that, we actually have to desire these things. We have to spend some time visualising ourselves speaking calmly to someone who is speaking rudely to us. We have to “want” to be that kind of person. Prayer brings down potential energy, but that is all it is: potential. It does not become kinetic until we begin to practice. That is why James said:

'But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. ' - James 1:22

It is good to hear the word when we go to church, pray, and study our Bible, but beyond that, we have to “PRACTICE”. We will speak heavily on character development in Module 3: Awareness. It will cause every single one of us to look in the mirror and give us tools to expose ourselves to ourselves so that we can begin to collaborate with the Holy Spirit to break the hold of vices in our lives.