There are times when the devil doesn't have to stop us from doing what God wants us to do, simply because we don't want to do it. That might sound harsh, but it's true – the choice to obey God's Word is ours to make and no one else's.

To help shed some light on what I mean, think about a basketball player in the court. He dribbles the ball, runs and makes some good crossover moves, but no matter what the rival player does to stop him, it's his choice to either shoot the ball from the three-point line, near the basket, or simply pass it to someone. No matter what other people do, it's his choice to shoot or not.

Same goes for us Christians. Many of us often blame the devil for hindering and tempting us, when in fact there are instances that it was our choice not to obey God. I'm not defending the devil here. I'm merely stating the obvious fact that we're at fault at times, although we may hate to admit it.

Do you want to know how we believers stop ourselves from doing what God wants us to do? Here are some ways we do it.

1. By Putting It Off to a Later Time

The Bible tells us that if it's in our power to do good, we should do it and not put it off for later (see Proverbs 3:27-28).

How many of us do the opposite and decide to put it off for another time? How many times have we ever passed by a person in need and decided to ignore him or her simply because we were busy, or perhaps didn't see it as an urgent or important matter?

We must realise that what good we do to or withhold from those in need, we do to or withhold from God. (see Luke 10:30-37; Matthew 25:34-40)

2. By Doubting If It's Really God's Will for Us

How many days, weeks, months and years have we lost simply by not believing God's will for all of us?

For example, the Bible tells us that God wants all men to be saved (see 1 Timothy 2:4). Thus, we should be all in the business of preaching the gospel, even to our enemies (Mark 16:15).

How many of us doubted God's command that we should preach?

Many of us think we're unable to do what God wants us to do, and end up not doing anything. We doubt God's plan for us because we can't see ourselves doing it.

Friend, if it's God's plan, then only He can do it, but He needs us to cooperate and obey Him.

3. By Prioritising What We Want

Don't get me wrong: Desiring that job, house, or whatever good thing might not be bad, but if our desires are a higher priority than doing what God wants as according to the Word, then there's going to be a problem.

The Lord Jesus said that if we want to follow Him, we must first deny ourselves and then take up our crosses. If we still prioritise ourselves, we won't do any of that. (see Matthew 16:24-26)

We can't have more of ourselves and more of God at the same time. It's either the flesh or the spirit. We choose.