What do you do with ongoing sin/ bad habits? You want to stop and tried many times but you always go back to it and keep asking for forgiveness from God.

Habitual sin is a common problem among sisters. It's one of those things that people in the church make blanket statements about, but rarely is anyone specific on how to handle it. So first, a few reminders:

We all have sin in our life that we have to continually confess. First John 1:8 says, "if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. IF we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us." the struggle is real, but God also promises that temptation will never be more than you are able to bear (1Corinthians 10:13) and that he will provide a way of escape. Remember this because forgiveness is real, and while God does not want you to sin, He understands our humanity.
Continual sin, without repentance, opens doors in your life for other bad habits to take hold in your life. When you sin, you give the enemy a legal right to wreak havoc in your life. You are walking outside the agreement you made with God to live according to His ways, which is why you need to make it right with Him, or else one thing can become an octopus unchecked.
Sin is sin, but not all sin is equal. Some sins will be easier to resist than others. Some have a greater hold on our lives because there are spirits that have attached themselves to our families and are causing behaviours to repeat. Sometimes we do things that are not normal, but we don't realize it because it has been part of family practice, or culture or tradition for so long, yet no one knows why we do these things. I'm sorry if that sounds cryptic, I know that someone will read that sentence and understand it was meant for them. To break these patterns of sin, it sometimes takes more than the initial release of the Holy Spirit power we get at salvation. Paul talks specifically about some sins that are committed in the body, sexual sin, and how those sins are particularly destructive to the body( 1 Corinthians 6:18). These things are more complicated, but can still be overcome.

I would recommend taking this matter to God in prayer. Let Him know your heart, and reiterate with your words that you do not want to continue doing this thing. Recognize that He is able to do all things, and ask for the Holy Spirit to give you the ability to stop this act.

Next, I recommend you do things to strengthen your spirit, so that it will be easier to overcome your very real physical desires. This includes regularly reading your Bible (the book of Galatians and Romans are good places to start),participating in devotional prayer, spending time with other Christians in fellowship and going to church. If you want ideas on how to make prayer and Bible reading practical, I encourage you to read my post on Christianity 101. I also want to mention that fasting helps to strengthen your spirit. There are many different kinds of fasts you can do, but my favourite is abstaining from food from 6 to 6, and making the effort during that time to spend your time besides work in prayer.

Take some time to think of the problem logically. Write down the circumstances that lead up to you finding yourself in sin. Are there people or events that trigger it? Make a list of your observations.

Create a list of things you can do when next you experience temptation. The most important part of this is to train yourself to think before acting- to give time to your spirit to react and counter what your physical nature wants to do. When you are facing temptation, create ways to walk away from it and then do it. Fleeing the enemy sounds drastic but it really does work.

Last but not least, find someone you can trust in church- an older, mature Christian, possibly a leader, or the Pastor. If this is something sexual in nature, seek out someone of the same gender. Ask this person to pray with you that you will not fall into sin, and allow them to keep you accountable. This is the hardest part, but one of the best ways to stay honest. Telling someone where you are at strengthens your prayer network and can help you resist.

There may be times when you will still fall into sin, but be encouraged that if you're doing these things, you should start to notice a decrease in frequency as well as more time between being tempted and actually giving in to temptation. That time is to allow you to make a choice above how you feel and what you desire, to choose to do what is right, even when others are not looking. This is how you develop integrity and spiritual stamina.

Willpower is nothing compared to the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. Cultivate a real relationship with Him, talk to Him like He is a friend and you will be surprised to see how much easier He makes it to live everyday life. God bless you sis! Praying for you today!