“The Will To Win” – Pastor Rob Yanok
Text: Joshua 1:8, John 15:16, I Cor. 9:24
Proverbs 21:5 – Says “The Thoughts of the diligent tend only to the plenteous...”
I. Thoughts on Winning
1. Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing – Vince Lombardi
2. Winners spend time building dreams, losers spend time criticizing them
3. Nobody remembers who came in second – Charles Shultz
4. I never lost a game, I just ran out of time – Bobby Layne
5. S long as a person doesn’t admit he is defeated, he is not defeated – he’s just a
little behind and isn’t through fighting. – Darrell Royal
6. The Victory will go to the one who doesn’t quit – Van Crouch
7. Theres always room at the top – Daniel Webster
8. Champions are a rare breed. They see beyond the dangers, the risks, the obstacles,
and the hardships. – Lester Sumrall
9. Failure is never final and success is never ending – Robert Schuller
Definition - to finish first in a race, contest, to succeed by striving or effort: to gain the
victory; overcome an adversary: to succeed in reaching (a place, condition, etc.), esp
to gain (a prize, fame, etc.).to be successful in (a game, battle, etc.). to make (one’s way),
as by effort or ability.
1. God Created us to Win
1. Genesis 1:26-28
1. Ephesians 2:10 (AMP) Your Mind is the womb for the painting of God’s
Masterpiece
2. Psalms 139:14 – “We are fearfully and wonderfully made”
2. How we were Created – Tripartite Being – Body, Soul and Spirit
1. I Thess. 5:23
2. 3 John 2
3. Soul – 5 Components
i. Mind
ii. Will
iii. Emotions
iv. Imagination
v. Intellect
4. Success and Winning is a product of effort and never occurs by chance,
therefore we must be Intentional, we must WILL IT!
3. We must take the Can’t out of our lives if we are going to Win!
1. 1840 – Anyone traveling at the speed of 30 mph would surely suffocate
2. 1878 – Electric lights are unworthy of serious attention
3. 1901 – No possible combination can be united into a practical machine by
which men shall fly
4. 1926 – This foolish idea of shooting at the moon is basically impossible
5. 1930 – To harness the energy locked up in matter is impossible
•There will always be people who say it can’t be done. That is what the experts said. The
real tragedy is 99% of the people believed them
•Quit thinking about all the reasons why you can’t do something and think of all the
reasons why you can!
•”We are only limited by what we tell ourselves we can or cannot do”
•Each one of us has been told that certain things are not possible and, therefore,
we have limited our performance to agree with what we have been trained to believe.
Those who Win in Life do so by deliberate action to either ignore or discard the
limitations that hinders others.
•Jesus said, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him that believes.” Jesus did not
eliminate anything, he said, ALL THINGS.
•Phil. 4:13
4. What is your Excuse?
1. Excuses are the crutches for the uncommitted, and just beyond your
excuse is the effort you need to win!
2. Hebrews 12:2 – Jesus’ mind was on the resurrection
3. Winning over the critical challenges in life is the hallmark of the Christian
way of life
4. Winning is the aggressive focused pursuit and attainment of worthy goals
by functioning with excellence by overcoming obstacles and developing
one’s potential.
5. When you win the personal battles of life it will cause you to experience a
higher quality of life.
a. Battles reveals that your enemy fully believes you are
capable of winning! If your enemy believes you can win, so
should you!
b. Read thoughts on Adversity from Real Success
II. Understanding The Human Will
A. The Primary element in controlling human behavior change is the Will of
Man
1. The will of man is the thermostat of Life
2. Once the thermostat of life, which is the will, is set, all internal
processes are set in motion to accomplish the will’s desire
3. It is YOUR responsibility to harness your will and direct it so that it
works for your benefit, it sets a new course for your life.
B. The will of man is the most dominate authority over human affairs in the
earth
1. God will not violate man’s will
2. Satan cannot make a person do anything against his will (Sorry, the
devil didn’t make you do it)
C. The Importance of the Will of Man – It controls the following
1. The degree of obedience – It is always a matter of conscience effort on
our part regulated by our human will
2. The level of believing – what are you willing to accept as believable?
3. The consistency of our character – This is subject to our willingness to
function a.t. the values and core beliefs
4. The measure of blessing we enjoy in life – The quality of life we
experience is subject to our willingness to pursue what we have
defined as quality of life.
D. Life is Choice driven
1. Deut. 30:19
2. The winning life does not come automatically - we must be willing to
follow God’s principles to experience the promises of God
3. Establishing your will is your responsibility, not God’s.
i. John 20:24-25
ii. Thomas set his will, not to believe
4. Luke 22:41-44
a. When we set our wills in agreement with God’s will for
our lives with a commitment to pursue his plan at all
cost, our lives get strengthened.
b. That is why Change for a person is a product of Human
effort sustained and strengthened by the spirit of God.
c. Ephesians 3:16 – “to be strengthened with might by his
Spirit in the inner man.”
d. Romans 12:1-3
III. Understanding the Will Setting Process
A. Before you can take control of the will setting process you must understand
How God engineered the process to work
B. Romans 7:14-23
1. The Law of the mind implies that the mind functions in a certain way
all the time
2. The mind is the center of reasoning where deliberation of the issues of
life takes place.
i. The will of man carries out the deliberation of the mind by
instructing the body to behave based on the info that the mind
has processed.
3. “As a man thinketh in his heart so is he” – Your mind is the drawing
room for your tomorrow
4. Mind – thoughts, feelings, will thinking power, imagination,
understanding.
C. The quality of our lives is conceived by our thoughts composed by our
choices, confirmed by our words (Prov. 18:21), and constructed daily by our
actions
1. II Corinthians 10:3-5
2. The will of God for man to be in control of his own will
3. I Corinthians 7:37 – “Nevertheless he that standeth stedfast in his
heart, having no necessity, but hath power over his own will, and hath
so decreed in his heart...”
D. The Will is the gatekeeper of the expressions of deliberations of the mind
1. Isa. 1:19-20
2. Job 36:11-12
3. Prodigal son – “I WILL arise and go to my fathers house”
IV. The Paradox of Winning
A. “The purpose of the game is to win and to dilute the will to win is to destroy
the purpose of the game” – Red Blaik (Legendary Football Coach of West
Point)
B. “We want to perfect ourselves so that we can win with less struggle and
increasing ease, but the strange thing is that it’s not the easy wins we fervantly
seek, but rather the different struggles to which we really look forward. “ –
Vince Lombardi
C. I Timothy 6:12 – “Fight the Good Fight of Faith, lay hold on eternal life...”
D. I John 5:4
1. Overcomes – (Nikos) – to conquer to win, champion of the games
E. Romans 8:37 – “Nay in all things we are more than conquerors through him
that loved us.”
1. (Hypernikos) More than, over, above and beyond, greater, top notch,
1st class, paramount, overwhelming, enormous.
2. This is our position in life!
3. John 15:7-8 – “If ye abide in me and my words abide in you, ye shall
ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my father
glorified, that ye bear much fruit, so shall ye be my disciples.”
