Generational Influences

The Nature and Cause of Generational Sin 

One of the ways Satan harasses us is by sending evil influences through “doors” that are open in our spiritual hedge (refer to Job 1:10) due to sins committed by our ancestors.  God tells us this is so in several scriptural passages (Ex. 20:5 and 34:7, Num. 14:18, Deut. 5:9, Jer. 32:18).

Few would argue with the existence of physical heredity—with the natural process of passing on genes and DNA to our sons and daughters, which results in the tendency of our offspring to possess some of the physical characteristics and nature of their parents and ancestors. (“body” reference)  Few, also, would argue with the existence of hereditary pre-disposition of offspring for the mental problems of their parents (for example, depression, worry, anxiety, mental illness—“soul” reference).   Likewise, there is a spiritual inheritance passed on when we are conceived.  How do we know this?

Let’s look at a couple of examples from the Bible.  (1) David took (raped) Bathsheba, (2 Sam 11:4), and later Amnon, David’s son rapes his sister Tamar. (2 Sam 13:14)  David’s son Solomon had 1000 wives and concubines (1 Kings 11:3).   (2) Abraham was a liar.  Twice he lied about Sarah being his sister. (Gen 12:13 & Gen 20:2).  Isaac lies to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, saying Rebekah was his sister. (Gen 26:7).  Jacob and his mother Rebekah lied to Issac in order for Jacob to obtain the blessing.  (Gen 27:19).  Jacob’s ten sons lie to Jacob about Joseph’s death.  (Gen 37:33)

Within the middle of verse five of Exodus 20 (the Ten Commandments), we find these words from God:  “for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments” (Ex. 20:5-6).  The root of original sin began in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve.  Notwithstanding the sin of Adam and Eve, they later walked with God and were obedient to Him.  Adam and Eve passed on to their sons—through spiritual heritage—both the sins of rebellion and idolatry and the blessing of mercy (vs. 6).

Abel chose to be obedient and thereby received mercy.  Cain chose to be rebellious and committed the sins of idolatry and murder.  For this, Cain’s sons and daughters were cursed from then through now.  This passing on of blessings or curses (which began with Adam and Eve) continues to this day in the spiritual law of heredity.

Why is God so adamant about this?  Let’s more thoroughly examine the Ten Commandments, first reviewing the verse where this particular law is recorded, following immediately after the first three commandments (which concern the sin of idolatry).

Begin with vs. 2:  “I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage” (Ex. 20:2).

In this verse God reminds the Israelites that they belong to Him.  He created them, freed them from the Egyptians, suffered with them through their exodus from Egypt and the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness because of their rebellion.  The following verses state:

  3Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” 

4Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.” 

5Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;” 

6And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.”

The first three commandments shown above address the sin of idolatry.  It is no accident they are the first addressed in the list of all ten.

In his book Hard Core Idolatry, C. Peter Wager defines idolatry as “worshipping, serving, pledging allegiance to, doing acts of obeisance to, paying homage to, forming alliances with, making covenants with, seeking power from, or in any other way exalting any supernatural being other than God.”   Idolatry, then, is all about worshiping things of the invisible world (spiritual principalities, powers, etc.); doing so often leads to special recognition of (or the worshipping of) tangible objects in the visible world (cars, houses, and clothes, as well as idols, statues, etc.).  Idolatry is all about giving something else (such as our jobs, our finances, our children) the attention, place, and priority that God rightly deserves.  Our loyalties should go to God first (His designs, purposes, laws, etc.); God and His righteousness should be given first priority in our lives.

While physical adultery is repulsive within God’s value system, spiritual adultery (which we identify as idolatry) is abominable.   God hates sins of idolatry more than that of any other sins.  He patiently struggled with the people of Israel and their sins of idolatry for 2500 years.  And when most of the people living upon this earth chose “wickedness,” God drowned them all in the flood (except Noah and his family).

Even so, the Israelites didn’t learn from the lessons of the past.  When Moses came down from the mountain with the original laws (Ten Commandments), Israel—under the leadership of Aaron—was found worshiping a golden calf idol, and 23,000 individuals were involved in sexual sins and orgies (1 Cor. 10:8).

When anyone commits a personal sin or a sin against another individual, or participates in some form of the occult, the sinful experience takes root in their spirit, opening a door in their spiritual hedge.  And unless they repent of it (following God’s design), the sin becomes a focal point of their thoughts and behavior:  the sin is kept secret (if possible) and is easily repeated.  The person removes their focus from God and His design and places it instead on the sin, which is a representation of Satan and the kingdom of darkness.

However it occurred, a person has allowed something else to take priority within their heart.  God’s way is no longer being upheld in their heart.  The sinner begins to “follow other gods,” just as when Eve knowingly sought the forbidden fruit.  God considers this to be idolatry, and thus the law of spiritual heredity comes into effect.

This unrepentant sin becomes a generational curse, and many authors and intercessors use this incidence to describe heredity sin.  To understand more completely how these iniquities continue from generation to generation, study (alongside the study of this section) the section on “Healing from Curses.”  Suffice it to say, we can exhaust all our efforts trying desperately to get healed, when what prevents our healing is a curse—the root of generational sin which was sown decades ago.  This effort is like trying to fight off the enemy with both hands tied behind our backs.  Generational sin provokes at least four of God’s laws, as identified below.

    1. God’s Law of Blessings and Curses: Deuteronomy 28 talks about both blessings and cursing.  In Deuteronomy 28:1-2, God says that those who hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord to observe and do all His commandments will be blessed with the blessings listed in vs. 3-14.  But for those who do not hearken unto His voice or observe to do all his commandments, He promises the curses listed in vs. 15-48 and 58-61.  (See also Deut. 27:15-26.)

2. God’s Law of Sowing and Reaping: “For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap,” ( 6:7).  When our ancestors faced adverse situations and circumstances, or when they experienced trials, troubles, and temptations, some remained in close communion with God and turned to Him for help; they repented of their sins, asked for blessings for their trials and troubles, and prayed for healing of the hurts and wounds which occurred.  They planted “good seed,” and those born in later generations were able to reap love, joy, happiness, and blessings from the right choices of those ancestors.

Others of our ancestors reacted differently when also faced with trials, troubles, temptations, or adverse situations.  They became hurt, wounded, abused, or devastated by them, and they did not turn to God for help.  Instead, they turned away from God in unforgiveness, responding in anger, resentment, revenge, disobedience, etc.  Some tried to solve their own problems.  Some continued to harbor their ungodly feelings of anger and hatred, and they lost sight of God’s purposes for them.   When they did forgive others, they entered God’s grace and were forgiven.  When they did not forgive and repent, they fell back under the Old Testament law of an eye for an eye.

Because of these open gates, evil spirits attached themselves to these evil deeds and then were able to pass on to subsequent generations.  These evil spirits then sowed seeds of lust, rejection, abuse, Satan worship, and any number of other kinds of evil, and when those deeds were participated in, the generations that followed reaped the ensuing curses of emotional, spiritual, and physical illness, which also reaped continued personal and social estrangement.  These later generations reaped curses and evil spirits (and the resulting dysfunctional lifestyles) for themselves and their future families, oftentimes filled with bitter, addictive, and/or incestuous relationships.  And this state of affairs becomes progressively worse as each generation advances unhealed.  Is it any wonder our society is in the alarmingly ill health (in body, mind, and spirit) that we find ourselves in today?

Not realizing that present-day emotional, spiritual, and physical problems may have had their beginning generations earlier (with a traumatic event or a grievous sin), many individuals are now reaping a harvest of depression, anxiousness, and fear, as well as various physical problems.  Christians in this current generation wonder why (in their spiritual walk) they cannot hear or see God, as well as why they seem to be having such a struggle.

    1. God’s Law of Binding and Loosing:

     “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Mat. 16:19).

When our ancestors committed sin, they bound all future generations with the effects or results of this sin.  Only Jesus Christ can loose these bands.

Some seekers wonder whether or not the origin of their heredity sin began further back than four generations.  This prospect is questioned particularly in African Americans—whose ancestors were slaves, as well as Native American Indians or those from certain nationalities (such as Japan and Germany).

Some reason that if the sin is beyond the stated “four” generations, the offspring automatically are released from under the curse, thinking the curse is repeated for only four generations and then ceases.  This is not so.  For every generation that is unrepentant, the first generation sequence begins again.  The curse repeats itself over and over again until repentance occurs.   Once the children repent, they then fall under v 6And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.”

Exodus 20:5 uses the word iniquity.  There is much confusion about the difference between the terms sin and iniquity. There are 16 Greek & Hebrew words that are translated into English as “iniquity”.  In some scripture verses, it means “gross sin”.  In this scripture reference it means the effect or consequences of sin on others.  Simply put, sin is the cause, and the iniquity is the result of the sin on others.

Ezek 18 makes it very plain that children are not responsible for the sins of their parents.  However, if a parent commits a sin (such as occult involvement or sexual sin), it produces a curse.  The parent committed the sin, but the curse causes a generational iniquity or weakness which is passed down within the family line.  Poor health habits, or acquiring venereal disease during pregnancy, can produce physical deformity in the baby.

Spiritual sin produces immediate spiritual sickness in the person who committed it, and it produces the iniquity of physical sickness and/or deformity in the generations that follow.  Let there be no mistake, the forgiveness of our sins has already been provided for by the death of Jesus on the cross.  We are not accountable for the sins of previous generations, but God did not promise we would also escape the consequences of their sins without divine intervention.  In fact, He said that they would be “upon the children unto the third and fourth generation” (Ex. 20:5 and 34:7, Num. 14:18, Deut. 5:9.

    1. God’s Law of Multiplication:

 “But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold” (Mat. 13:8).

Whatever we sow will multiply.  If we plant an apple seed, we reap a tree full of apples.  If we plant (in a good year) a bushel of wheat seed, it will produce 30 bushels at harvest time. If we plant thorns, thorns will multiply.  Consider the following modern-day examples of how this law applies.

A study was done by the State of New York’s Welfare Department on Mag (a woman who lived in the early 1900’s), an immigrant who became a prostitute.  Over the course of 70 years they traced 1,200 of Mag‘s descendants and found the following:  280 were state-supported paupers, 148 were jailed criminals.  The cost to the state (using 1903 currency rates) was $1,308,000.

A study was done on 1,200 descendants of the Jukes family.  Max was an atheist who married a godless woman and had some 560 descendant’s; 310 died as paupers, 150 became criminals, 7 were murderers and 100 were known to be drunkards.  More than half the women were prostitutes.  The cost to the government was $1.5 million dollars using 19th century currency rates.

Now let’s consider Jonathan Edwards who lived during the time of Max Jukes.  He was a Christian who married a godly woman.  Of his 1,394 descendants, 295 graduated from college, 13 became college presidents and 65 became professors.  Three were elected U.S. senators, 3 were elected state governors, and others were ministers to foreign countries.  Thirty were judges, 100 were lawyers, and one was the dean of a medical school.  Seventy-five became officers in the army and navy.  One hundred were well-known missionaries, preachers, and authors.  Another 80 held some form of public office.  One was Comptroller of the U.S. Treasury and another became Vice President of the U.S.  And all this was at no cost to the government.

Consider Andrew Murray, who was a South African missionary.  He had 11 children:  5 became ministers, 4 became minister’s wives, 10 grandsons became ministers, and 13 grandsons became foreign missionaries.

A study done by Dr. D. H. Scott revealed a 237% greater risk of having a child with physical and emotional handicaps if the mother is in a stormy relationship or has a troublesome marriage during pregnancy.

Father Marshall Lowell—an Episcopal priest—was a member of a family that had a repeated pattern of one male per generation dying at alternating ages:  one died at age 42, the next died at age 65, the next at age 42 again, and so on.  He prayed to God to break the curse and survived.

A study done in 1978 at Loyola University found that some patients attempted suicide every year on the same date.  They found that the date coincided with the dates on which their mothers had tired to abort them.  Even the method which they used in attempting suicide corresponded to the method that had been tried in the attempted abortion.

Molly—a healthy and intelligent women of 30—developed what she described as a new and ridiculous phobia, a fear of traveling anywhere near water.  It was discovered that an uncle who had drowned in the Titanic disaster was never “committed to the Lord.”  There was never an opportunity for closure (as in a funeral); when closure was accomplished, the fear was completely removed.

Margaret was 73 years old when her “attacks” began—violent outbursts of temper and unprovoked aggression.  Her mother (who had died four years previously at age 96) had behaved in a similar way.  In addition, it was discovered that for the past six generations, the eldest female in the family had shown signs of similarly disturbed behavior.  It was also discovered that this behavior began about 150 years earlier with a murder which took place in the family.  Thereafter, within the family line, the eldest daughter had always become an alcoholic, exhibiting similar behavior.  Margaret was healed through prayer.

A young schoolmaster had recurring nightmares.  In each one, he was standing on the brink of a “black abyss.”  It was discovered that when he was two years old, his father had died on the deck of a submarine, as it was sunk during the war.  After prayer, the nightmares never returned.

Alletah Nagako—an African woman, at age 33—had a 1.5″ high “horn” that had been growing on top of her head over the course of the previous four years.  She discovered she had a great, great grandfather who was a witchdoctor—who also had a horn on his head.

Author Noel Gibson has discovered what he calls heredity alcoholism, which can cause any of another six addictions to manifest without the addict being interested in alcohol.  Addictions can skip a generation before taking control again.  The other addictions are drugs, nicotine, gambling, excessive exercise, food, and excessive spending (Freedom in Christ, page 233).

Let’s Consider the Following Modern-Day Research 

    1. Children who had grandmothers who smoked are twice as likely to become addicted as those in the general population, even if their mother did not smoke.
    2. Children have twice the risk of committing adultery in their marriage if their mother or father committed adultery, even if they did not know about their parent’s unfaithfulness.
    3. Children of divorced parents have ten times the suicide rate.
    4. Female children of divorce have a divorce rate 5 times the national average.
    5. Male children of divorce have a divorce rate 3 times the national average.
    6. Children of alcoholics are 3-5 times more likely to become alcoholics; their EEG and hormones are different than children of non-alcoholic parents. They can consume more alcohol without getting drunk.
    7. There is a 237% greater risk of having a child with physical and emotional handicaps if the mother is in a stormy relationship or unsettled marriage during pregnancy.
    8. 80% of those in prison or who’ve become prostitutes were sexually abused as children.
    9. 22% of all children are sexually abused.

Biblical Examples of Generational Sin

    1. Abraham deceived two kings, claiming Sarah as his “sister.” Later, Rebekah (the daughter of Abraham’s brother and the mother of Jacob) plots with her son (Jacob) to deceive his brother, Isaac.  It is later recorded that she dies having no additional children; barrenness was a disgraceful curse in Israel (Gen. 27). 
    2. Because two people of Mose’s family sinned in murmuring against him, the families of Korah, Dathan, and Abiran died, plus an additional 250 men (Num. 16:35).
    3. The children of Achan died with their father because of his sin (Josh. 7:1-26).
    4. Eli’s neglect of correcting his sons’ disrespectful behavior caused a curse to be placed on his descendants (1 Sam. 3:13-14 and 2:32-33).
    5. The Lord visits anger on the head of the people of Judah two generations after Manasseh, even though Manasseh repented and Josiah proved to be the most righteous king ever (2 Ki. 23:26-27).
    6. Jeroboam’s idolatry cursed both his sons and his nation (1 Ki. 14:9-11).
    7. King David admitted, “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Ps. 51:5). He was a descendant of Rahab, the harlot (Mat. 1:5-6) and struggled with adultery and polygamy all his life.  His son Amnon lusted after and committed incest with his sister.  Solomon, David’s son, had 600 wives and concubines (some of which were from Egypt) which brought idols and false gods back into Israel.
    8. Joshua was deceived and made a treaty of peace with the Gibeonites (Josh. 9:7); 430 years later David prays and asks God why there is a famine. God tells David it is because Saul broke the treaty of peace and killed many of the Gibeonites (2 Sam. 21:1-6).  David acknowledges the sin of Saul and the Gibeonites require seven sons of Saul to be hanged as atonement in order that the famine can be lifted.
    9. When crucifying Jesus, the Jewish crowd said, “His blood be on us, and on our children” (Mat. 27:25). The Jewish people have suffered persecution every since.
    10. Jesus told the lawyers, “That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation” (Luke 11:50).

Sin can travel through generations within religious or political groups, as well as through families (Mat. 23:29-36).   In vs. 31 we find,”… ye are the children of them which killed the prophets,” and in vs. 35, “upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Batrachia, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar,” and in vs. 36, “Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.”

Other Scriptures Dealing with the Hereditary Nature and/or Judgment of Ancestral Sin Include:

Lev. 26:39-40                 Num. 14:18                   1 Ki. 22:52             2 Ki. 5:27        2 Ki. 23:26-27             Neh. 9:2                          Ps. 106:6                       Jer. 2:9                  Jer. 3:25          Jer. 14:7                       Lam. 5:7                         Dan. 9:1-20                    Mic. 7:6                 Mat. 27:25      Luke 19:42                  Luke 11:47-52                Luke 23:28                    John 5:25              John 9:2         1 Pet. 3:19                        1 Pet. 4:6

Healing Prayer for Inherited Sin

The Good News

The Good News is that when a person in the present generation turns to Jesus for help, His healing and forgiving love is able to flow freely back through all previous generations to heal the source of the problem, thus rendering the “iniquity” or consequence harmless.  He is able to loose us from our previous bondage and to reverse the results of the sowing of bad seed.

When the seeker turns to God and asks for healing of the current problems, God brings His power and light, His life and forgiveness into all the hurting places within the family line.  The painful experiences of the past are cut off, allowing healing and wholeness to be experienced by present-day family members.  “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:  That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith” (Gal. 3:13-14).  Jesus died not only for our sins and curses but also for those curses heaped upon our children.

We cannot explain exactly how the healing of generational influences takes place any more than we can explain how the death of Jesus on the cross atones for our sins, or why confession and repentance takes away the tools Satan can use against us, or why fasting is so beneficial.  These are mysteries provided to us through the grace of God.

We do know that in heaven there is no time.  God can go back to any experience at any time in the life of someone of a previous generation—to bring healing, just as He can for those in the present generation through inner healing.  He can cause us to revisit any experience.  He doesn’t change the situation but He brings about change in our response to it, in order to allow his love, grace, mercy, and healing to flow into it.

Biblical Prayers for Release from Generational Sin

The ability (within our own lifetime) to identify and repent for the sins of our forefathers is somewhat of a new thought to most Christians.  And what about praying (repenting) for the sins of those who have already died—which may be required in order for us to be healed?  Praying for the sins of those who have already died is termed  identificational repentance—praying in repentance for our forefathers in order that we may be set free.  Consider these scriptural precedents:

    1. Ezra and the Israelites pray for forgiveness for the sins of their fathers (Neh. 1:6 and 9:5-15).
    2. David prays that former iniquities will not be remembered (Ps. 79:8).
    3. David prays and confesses the sins of his fathers (Ps. 106:6).
    4. David repents for the sins of Saul, in killing the Gibeonites (2 Sam. 21:1-5).
    5. Jeremiah acknowledges the wickedness and iniquity of the forefathers of Israel (Jer. 3:25, 14:7 and  20, and 32:18).
    6. Daniel confesses his sin and the sin of the kings and people of Israel (Dan. 9:1-20).
    7. Nehemiah prays for the sins of Israel (Neh. 1:4-11 and 9:1-4).

Praying for healing for heredity sin requires three steps:

      • First, we must identify the sins and the curses.
      • Second, we must pray prayers of identification repentance asking God to forgive those who originally sinned.
      • Third, we must pray asking God to release us from these generational curses in order to set us free.

Identifying Generational Sins and Iniquities

There are two ways to identify generational sins and iniquities affecting your spiritual walk with God.  One way is to have someone who has the gift of discerning of spirits and who has experience in this area to pray for you.  Many times these intercessors can discern the names of the sins and the generations in which they occurred.  However, intercessors with this gift and experience are rare.  Even if they are available, the use of a genogram will assist them greatly.

In the absence of such gifted persons, the use of a genogram and the following steps may help you identify the generational sins of your forefathers.  Sometimes you will have clues with regard to what these sins are through the manifestation (or signs) of the sins in your life (for example, rejection, lust, promiscuity, low self-esteem, pornography, control issues, etc.).

To identify these generational sins, follow these steps:

      1. Follow the genogram associated with this section. Place the names of ancestors where noted as far back as you can remember. If needed ask your still-living ancestors for assistance.
      2. Use the three checklists below to identify specific ancestors who were involved in the behavioral patterns, as designated. Write their sins on the genogram next to their names.  Some of the problems are obvious and others are known only to God and can only be revealed with the help of the Holy Spirit.  Don’t worry about what you don’t know.  Jesus will reveal what you need to know, and what He reveals, He will bring into healing.
      3. Look for patterns that emerge through the generational lines. Sometimes the curse affects only one ancestor within a generation—sometimes all of the ancestors.  Sometimes the curse will skip one or more generations and then return.  Some problems (curses) come down vertically (as from grandfather to father) while some come down horizontally (from aunt to aunt or cousin to cousin).
      4. Work through the previous sections of this study to remove—by identification, repentance, and forgiveness—all the known sins in your life.
      5. If possible, secure the assistance of an intercessor experienced in prayer for generational influences. If none is available, offer the list at a Eucharist.

Checklist #1—Identify any of the following spiritual problems which occurred: 

      1. Occult activity: consult the lists regarding this topic in the section on “Healing from the Occult.” 
      2. An unusual, violent or untimely death: an accidental or sudden, unresolved grief; murder, attempted murder, (committed) suicide, or the pattern in the male line of the family, of dying at an early age
      3. The uncommitted dead: those who died without a proper burial or without being committed (entrusted) to the Lord; those who died in wars, who were lost at sea, aborted, miscarried, born as a still birth, etc.; likewise, those who died in a mental institution, a nursing home, or a prison; those who were not given a Christian burial, including a committal or memorial service or prayer, or who were (for whatever reason) buried but un-mourned.
      4. Sexual Sins:
        1. adultery and/or fornication
        2. prostitution
        3. homosexuality or lesbianism
        4. incest
        5. pornography
        6. sexual perversions, such as bestiality
        7. sexual promiscuity
        8. lust
        9. sexual addictions
        10. unusual sexual practices involving bondage, pain, etc.

polygamy

5. Abuse: sexual, physical, verbal, or emotional 

6. Addictive behaviors: excessive exercise, spending or work addictions; drug, food, gambling, sexual, alcohol, or nicotine addictions, etc.

7. Repetitive sins: lying, cheating, stealing, gossiping, criticizing, etc.

8. Possession or soul bondage: being previously dependent upon and now tied to someone who is dead (for example, one parent who was dominate and the other submissive)

9. Destructive or abnormal patterns of relationships: divorce, abandonment, someone attracted to individuals with problems or troubles

10. Historical family trauma: massacres, plagues, slavery, conquests, ethnic-origin issues (relating to the history of their race)

11. Religious history: non-Judeo and non-Christian religions, particularly Eastern religions

12. In-utero wounding: Research shows some children have memories recorded in their subconscious experiences, from conception (most can remember as early as the fourth month of pregnancy). Examples follow:

          • a child conceived in lust or rape
          • illegitimacy
          • a parent who followed through with—or considered—adoption or abandonment
          • a mother who had a miscarriage (or miscarriages) or abortion before the seeker was conceived
          • fears and/or anxieties (as in the mother having difficulty carrying the child to full term

13. Young childhood trauma and/or rejection experienced through:

          • ambivalence or rejection from either parent
          • loss of their father or their mother
          • a life-threatening illness of the mother or father
          • a life-threatening illness of the baby
          • a father or mother who abandoned the family
          • a child who was adopted or sent to live with other relatives
          • any unnatural fear(s) of either the parents or other relatives
      1. Rejection and lack of self-worth: The most common ways the roots of past generational sins are manifest is through rejection, self-rejection, fear of rejection, lack of self-worth and depression—all of which share many of the following characteristics (refer additionally to the section on “Healing from Rejection”):

—a withdrawn personality                                            —a tendency to please

—agony within                                                              —the development of a facade

—hunger or starvation for love                                  —insecurities, inferiorities

—feelings of unworthiness                                        —self-hate

—feelings of abandonment                                       —self-accusing

—no lasting relationships                                          —can’t accept or give love

—internal hurt and pain                                             —they don’t know who they are

—can’t accept the love of others                             —a propensity to earn acceptance

—have a propensity toward:  by being good or hard-working, promiscuous love or affection

Checklist #2—Identify what you consider to be “patterns of sin” within your family tree (add others as you identify them):

anger                                       jealousies                                 holding grudges                       greed                    unforgiveness                       vengeance                                 having a temper                       arrogance            materialism                           stubbornness                            exhibiting cold love

Checklist #3—Identify health problems that seem to be prominent within your family (again, feel free to add to this listing):

cancer                      diabetes                              arthritis                       headaches                heart problems  mental illness         forgetfulness                     ulcers                          skin problems           nervous breakdowns            respiratory trouble            mental disorders       addictions               high blood pressure                  psychological problems

Prayer for Healing of Generational Sins and Iniquities

Generational sins and iniquities of the Old Testament are replicated in the incurable diseases of today.  The Good News is that because Jesus bore our sins and our iniquities, we can be set free.  Despite this fact, we still have to appropriate the power of the Cross, sometimes in very specific ways in order to receive the desired freedom (Acts 19:18-19, Eph. 4:28).  In prayer the seeker should:

      1. Affirm your belief in what Christ did for you on the cross; thank Him for the blessing of grace, the forgiveness of sin, the blood of Jesus, and the oil of the Holy Spirit.
      2. Reaffirm your baptismal vows; accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior and ask Him to come into your heart anew. Promise to follow and obey Him as your Lord.
      3. Repent of any sins of idolatry (known or unknown).
      4. Ask God to show you where the original sin (the root cause) began. Ask him to let you “see” the experience and those involved in it.
      5. Confess the sin of your ancestors: “I confess the sin of my ancestors, my parents, and my own sin of _________” (repeat this for each generational sin).
      6. Forgive the original sinner (they may not have known the significance of what they were doing)—as Jesus asked for forgiveness for His offenders while on the cross (Luke 23:34).
      7. Extend forgiveness to the original sinner on behalf of all other family members. “I chose to forgive and release __________ for the sin and the consequences of _________ (name the sin), in my life and in the lives of my predecessors.”
      8. Ask God to forgive you for any present or past fruits of this sin within your own life or within the life of immediate family members: “I ask you to forgive me, Lord, for this sin—for yielding to it and for the resulting curses imposed upon me and members of my family.”
      9. Intercede before God for the sinner and ask that he (or she) be forgiven (again, as Jesus did—and continues to do for us). If the Lord has shown you a mental picture of those who committed the original heredity sin, ask that Jesus come into the mental picture.  Continue praying until you see them come to Jesus in submission or until their clothing or countenance changes from dark to light or you see them kneel before Jesus asking for forgiveness.
      10. Ask (if possible) that they be allowed to come to an understanding knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, when they choose to do so.
      11. If there are any uncommitted deceased predecessors within your family line, mourn for them, and pray for God to receive them in love; and commit them to the Lord, asking Him to receive them. Pray for those who’ve grieved over these lost ones that they may be comforted in knowing these individuals are now with the Lord.  Pray they, too, will release these deceased to God.
      12. Pray the prayers in the section on “Healing from Curses” in order to break any curses that may have developed. Then bless the one who initiated the curse.
      13. Renounce any occult influence in the name of Jesus Christ.
      14. Pray that the cross of Jesus be placed between the sin and the rest of the family (past and present) and that the sin be covered by the blood of Jesus.
      15. Pray that the seeker and all within the family line are loosed from this sin and the resulting iniquities.
      16. Pray to be used as a conduit of His love and power so all those in the family line may be freed from any bondage, pain, or sin.
      17. Send forgiveness back to those in past generations on behalf of all family members, living or dead.
      18. Ask for forgiveness for any way in which we may have given in to the temptations of the sin—in the same way that past generations were tempted.
      19. Review the information on blood covenants in the section on “Healing from Curses.” Pray to the Lord asking Him to break all blood oaths or witchcraft curses upon any individuals within your generational line.
      20. Pray that all the children of present family members also be loosed.
      21. Give thanks to God for these healings.

Move on to the next generational influence (the behavior) which God wants to heal.  You will need to

repeat the above process for each separate evil influence.  It may take some time but will be well worth the effort.

Bible teacher Paul Cox has had success in praying against any number of generational sins using Isaiah 59—which speaks of spider webs and viper eggs (associated with gossip and slander), of critical judgment, envy, strife, holding offenses, accusation, and jealousy.  Paul and a group of other individuals have developed a prayer for generational and chronic spiritual, emotional, and physical disorders for the release (from the generational line) of the following:  lying, denying God, speaking accusations against God, conceiving and uttering falsehoods from the heart, speaking oppression and revolt, entering into witchcraft, bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, and slander, along with every form of malice.  He says the prayer is very effective.

Prayer for Breaking Generational Occult Curses

Lord, I come before you today wishing to be made clean and loosed from this generational curses of sexual idolatry, fantasy and lust and any generational curses.

I renounce all contact and influences with anything occult or Satanic now and in my heritage.

I cancel all Satan’s claims against me in accordance with Deut 7:26 and II Cor 6:14-15.

I recognize and repent for the breaking of the following Commandments by my ancestors.

Exo 20:3  Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Exo 20:4  Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

Exo 20:5  Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

Exo 20:13  Thou shalt not kill.

Exo 20:14  Thou shalt not commit adultery.

I recognize the worship of false gods in my generational heritage is like a weed planted in life that links me to satanic forces loosed in previous generations by those that willingly violated these commandments and others.  This weed has a long root going straight down through future generations and represents the evil and continuing influences of my ancestors who worshiped false Gods.  It is like spiritual adultery.

I cut this root in the name of Jesus in accordance with Matt 15:13 which says,  Every plant which my Heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.

In the name of Jesus, I ask you now to release me from every curse over my life according to Gal 3:13  which says.  Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree. That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

I repent of the sin of rebellion of my ancestors which according to I Sam 15:23 is as the sin of witchcraft.  This is an expression of their rebellion against God to manipulate, intimidate and dominate other Christians.

Lord, even as your son Jesus Christ pleaded repentance for me as He bled on the cross and died,  I plead forgiveness and repentance for my ancestors that have committed these terrible sins.  I ask that through the blood of Jesus, their effect on my life may be nullified.  I forgive them for what they have done, and hope that someday in some way they can come to the knowledge and conviction of these sins and accept repentance and forgiveness for themselves.

I bless all those in my ancestral line that have caused curses to come upon me in accordance with Luke 6:28 which commands me to: Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.

I confess my faith in Christ Jesus and His sacrifice on my behalf in accordance with  (Heb 3:1, Heb 11:6, Mark 9:23, Matt 17:19-21).

Peter denied Jesus 3 times, therefore Jesus reversed the curse by moving Peter into a good place in his life by allowing Peter to be affirmed. Jesus could have condemned Peter but instead, Jesus loved him, and by loving him, Peter accepted the opportunity to be forgiven. At that moment, the relationship was reconciled

 (Repeat the following three times.)    

Lord Jesus Christ,  I confess that I have sinned against You, and I ask that You forgive me for all my sins.  I believe with all my heart that You are the Son of God.  You left Your throne of glory in heaven and became a man.  You lived in this world and were tempted in all things like as are we, yet without sin.   Then, You went to the cross and laid down Your life.  Your precious blood was poured out for my redemption.  You rose from the dead and ascended into heaven.  You are coming again in all Your glory.  I give my life to You and ask that You come into my heart in the fullest measure possible, that I may live with You eternally.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen. 

In the name of Jesus, I renounce all forms of idolatry, all objects used in represent false Gods, and all of the works of Satan in satanic worship.

I break any contracts in blood or in words that any of my ancestors may have made with Satan.  I renounce and break any dedication of children in my generational line to Satan that may have affected me and kept me from worshiping and serving Christ as I desire.

In the name of the Father, Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost, I break every spiritual seal that covers me and protects any evil spirits and curses in my life from being broken.  I am set free by the sword of the Holy Spirit.

I renounce the satanic rituals of mocking the communion rite, of sacrificing of animals and people, of sexual violations, rape, fornication, adultery, and sexual orgies, and the betrayal of love and trust.

I renounce all emotionally, physically and sexually abusive acts that took place during satanic rituals in my ancestry, the mocking of Christian feasts, the fertility feasts arising out of ancient pagan rites, all sacrificial rituals and ceremonies that mock the death of Jesus on the cross, of black mass or communion where unholy substances are used for emblems and unholy objects or naked humans are used as worship centers.

I renounce the mocking of the suffering and crucifixion of Jesus by killing animals or innocent human beings, the acts of ritual murder and torture, of perverted sexual practices and sexual ritual abuse to glorify lust and desecration of the human body and Jesus’ command to love.

I renounce the process Satan has used to pervert memories of their victims so that real religious ceremonies and experiences inevitably bring back lustful imaginings.  I understand that fascination from which the word fantasy is derived in the Latin is actually the verb “to bewitch”.  I renounce all impure thoughts and fantasies and desire only good thoughts to come into my mine.

I renounce, and come against in the name of Jesus Christ, the evil spirit of Obsession, and the spirit of Amadeus (lust).  I renounce and reject the evil spirit of Succubus that may have caused unholy thoughts, dreams, or fantasies.  I renounce any representation of evil images that may have come from my contact with games such as Dungeons and Dragons.

Satan, I take back all the spiritual ground that may have been given to you by my ancestors or myself. You have no right to my life and no power over me.  I belong to God and will serve Him and Him only.  By the authority of my Lord Jesus Christ, I break the power of every evil curse that has come upon me.  I command every demon of curse to leave me now.  All Generational curses, witchcraft curse spirits, inherited curse of sexual idolatry, fantasy and lust must go now in the name of Jesus Christ.  AMEN

Healing Power of Communion

     After offering prayers for generational influences, the completed genogram should be released (offered) at a Eucharist service (or the sacrament of Communion), which presents one of the most significant ways the Lord brings healing.

Jesus’ death was the single most powerful moment within all of history.  At that moment, Satan was defeated for all time.  Through the cross, we appropriate all of the benefits of Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection—to heal all ancestral woundedness.

As the emblems are shared during the Eucharist, the supernatural power of the risen Lord is available to heal the hurt and the sin that has long-plagued the family line; the bondage—which may have been in the family line for centuries—is finally broken.  Sins are forgiven and people are set free from their hurts, emotions, and memories.  When we repeat the Lord’s Prayer as a part of this sacrament, we state, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven … deliver us from evil,” asking God to free both the living and the dead from all bondage to the evil one.

Within the Eucharist, we are asking that, through His blood (represented by the Communion wine), Jesus Christ cleanse the bloodlines (of the living and the dead) of all that blocks physical and spiritual life, especially by breaking any hereditary seals and curses and by casting out any evil spirits.  (Consider other suggestions within the section on “Healing Power of Communion.”)

Prayer for Breaking Curses

Lord Jesus Christ, I believe that you are the Son of God and the only way to God, and that you died on the cross for my sins and rose again from the dead.

I give up and relinquish all my rebellion and all my sin, and I submit myself to you as my eternal Lord.  I confess all my sins before you, I humbly repent of them and ask for your forgiveness, especially for any sins that exposed me to a curse.  Release me also from the consequences of the sins of my ancestors.

By a decision of my will, I forgive all who have harmed me or wronged me, just as I want God to forgive me.  In particular, I forgive (here stop the session and speak the names of all you need to forgive whom God places within your mind, then restart the session).

I renounce all contact with anything occult or with satanic beings or influences, and if I have any accursed objects, I commit myself to destroy each one as you help me to identify them.  I cancel all Satan’s claims against me.  I wholeheartedly renounce, in Jesus’ name, any curses placed on my life.

I repent for any of my ancestors who have willingly or unwillingly been involved in blood oaths, exposed to witchcraft, or prayed for by traditional “healers” of any sort.  And I humbly ask that you forgive them.  I also renounce any occult activities by my ancestors or by myself which caused me to have a blood pact with Satan.

I commit myself to serve and obey you, Lord, and on that basis I take my stand against every dark and evil force that has in any way come into my life, whether through my own acts, the acts of my family, the acts of my ancestors, or through something even larger of which I am a part.  Where there is any darkness in my life, any evil force, Lord, I renounce it now.  I refuse any longer to submit to it and I reclaim this spiritual ground for God.   I bless any and all those that have cursed me.   I will bless and curse not.

Lord Jesus, I believe that on the cross you took upon yourself every curse that could ever come upon me.  On the basis of what you did for me, I believe that Satan’s claims against me are cancelled.  So now, Lord, I submit myself totally to you, and I ask you to release me from every curse over my life, in the blessed name of Jesus Christ.  Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

I ask that the blood of Jesus cleanse me and set me free in all these areas.  I break their influence over me right now.  I render them powerless.  I recognize that I have the right to absolutely refuse to allow them to occupy any place in my life.  And I command them to leave, in Jesus’ worthy name.

And in the almighty name of Jesus, the Son of God, I take authority over all these evil forces and I loose myself from them.  By faith, I receive my release entirely from their power.  I drive them from me now, in the blessed name of Jesus, and I invite and invoke the Holy Spirit of God to move right in, to make my deliverance and my liberation fully effectual, as only the Spirit of God can do.  Praise God.

I thank you, gracious Lord, because “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:36), and I know you have now made me “free indeed.”  In Jesus’ name, I pray.   Amen.

Curses

While blessings and curses are direct opposites, they have several things in common.  They are words pronounced, decreed, or written in the Bible with spiritual power and authority for good (blessing) or for evil (curse).  This declaration sets in motion spiritual laws that will continue the blessing or the curse from one generation to the next until it is broken.  Blessings are mentioned 221 times in the Bible.  Curses are mentioned 230 times.

Scriptures Promoting Blessing

Two examples of blessing include:  (1) the blessing (in covenant) that the Lord gave to Abraham—and then again to Isaac (Gen. 22:15-18) and (2) Isaac’s blessing of Jacob (Gen. 27:27-29).  Note the inference within Isaac’s passage that God could not “undo” the blessing Isaac had already bestowed upon Jacob (Gen. 27:37-40; see also Deut. 8, 28:1-14).           We are commanded to “bless and curse not” (Rom. 12:14).  In addition, God promises us in many scriptures to bless us if we are obedient.  Blessings are carried out by angels from heaven.   Some examples of blessing follow:

      • “Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb” (Gen. 49:25).
      • “Blessings of health in your physical body. Blessings of long life as you continue to serve the Lord your God.  Blessings of peace and happiness for you and your entire family.  You will be blessed as you come in and as you go out.  And all that your hand touches will prosper” (Deut. 28:1-14). 
      • “Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me!” (1 Chr. 4:10, from the prayer of Jabez)
      • “Asher’s food will be rich; he will provide delicacies fit for a king” (Gen. 49:20). “Let Asher be blessed with children; let him be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil.  Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; and as thy days, so shall thy strength be.  There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky” (Deut. 33:24-26, the blessings of Asher).

Scriptures Promoting Curses

God promises curses for disobedience (Ex. 20:3-5, Deut. 27:15 and 28:15-68).  Curses always begin with sin:  “Now the serpent was more subtle [devious, scheming] than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made” (Gen. 3:1).  Curses began with the sin of Adam and Eve and continue to this day (“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and [the curse of] death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned”—Rom. 5:12). 

Because of disobedience God (1) cursed the serpent (Gen. 3:14-15), (2) cursed the woman—“I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee” (Gen. 3:16; this curse continues with the process of birth and continues with monthly menstruations and menopause), and (3) cursed the man—“Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return” (Gen. 3:17-19).  (Refer also to Gen. 4:9-13, where God curses Cain for the death of Abel.)  Curses are carried out by demons, principalities and powers.

 Indicators of a Curse (typically exhibiting a minimum of two or more in combination)

      • Mental and/or emotional breakdown
      • Repeated or chronic sickness
      • Barrenness, the tendency to miscarry, or other female problems
      • Breakdown of a marriage and family alienation
      • Continuing financial insufficiency
      • Being “accident-prone”
      • A history of suicides and unnatural or untimely deaths
      • A spiritual block/wall in the process of deliverance

In praying for spiritual healing with a person, sometimes the best indicator of a curse is when the seeker cannot hear anything from the Lord.  There is a spiritual wall that keeps the seeker and the intercessor from receiving the spiritual insights necessary for deliverance.  At such times, it is best to ask, “In the name of Jesus, is there a curse upon your life?”  If so, the seeker will usually have a sudden emotional experience that will indicate to them this is so.  

All curses have to have a place of entry, a landing place.  At times, when a curse is directed specifically toward someone who is a Christian, it is deflected to another person in the family.  Witchdoctor curses are among the most powerful.  The spirit of curse has a legal spiritual right to the space it occupies in the seeker’s spirit.  The seeker is literally in spiritual bondage. 

Sources of Curses

A curse is a supernatural edict enforced by a spirit being.  Every curse has a cause (or source); “so the curse causeless shall not come” (Prov. 26:2).  As we minister for the purpose of inner healing and come to believe there is a curse involved, there are three questions we need to ask:  (1) Is there a curse?  (2) What is the cause?  (3) What is the cure? 

Identified below are a dozen sources of curses.  Seekers can be under the influence of several simultaneously.  While some ministers consider a separate category altogether for generational curses (Ex. 20:5), in reality, all unrepentant sin on the part of our forefathers becomes a generational curse, particularly for the sin of idolatry. 

    1. Disobedience to God Brings Cursing (identified as personal sin curses): The Bible lists 37 groups of sins that result in curses of disobedience.   These curses cannot be removed without repentance and obedience:  “… if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord … to observe to do all his commandments … all these curses shall come upon thee…” (Gal. 3:10).  (Additional scriptural passages referring to curses of the law include Deut. 27:15-26 and 28:15-68.)  Review the following:
      • Idolatry, false Gods (Ex. 20:3-5)
      • Disrespect for parents (Jacob lying to his father, being deceitful and falsely representing his brother, Esau—Gen. 27:19-27, and Joseph’s brother’s hating him, selling him to traders, and lying to their father about his whereabouts—Gen. 37)
      • Treachery, deceit, or betrayal against a neighbor (Prov. 17:13)
      • Oppressions or injustice against the weak and helpless (Prov. 28:27)
      • All forms of illicit or unnatural sex (Lev. 20:10-16)
      • Anti-semitism against Jews (Gen. 12:3 and 27:29)
      • Trust in man’s own strength (Jer. 17:5-6)
      • Stealing, perjury, etc. (Zech. 5:1-4)
      • Financial disobedience or stinginess toward God: “Will a man rob God? … Ye are cursed with a curse” (Mal. 3:8-9)
      • Forgetting the poor (Prov. 28:27)
      • Religious and dead works (Jer. 17:5)
      • All forms of disobedience to God’s laws
      • See a good example of a disobedience curse with Eli (I Sam 2:27-33, 3:12-14).
    1. Man Pronouncing a Curse on Behalf of God:
        • Joshua curses Jericho (Josh. 6:26); 525 years later, King Ahab is the recipient of the curse (1 Kings 16:34)
        • Noah cursed Ham and the people of Canaan (Gen. 9:25)
        • Priests pronounced courses on unfaithful wives. (Num 5)
        • David pronounces a curse on Joab and his descendants (2 Sam 3:29)
        • Paul cursed Elymas (Acts 13:11)
    1. Persons with Relational Authority:

Those who have parental, spiritual, or governmental control over us can curse us, as in the example of Jacob and his wife, Rachel: “Let the one who stole, die” (Gen. 31:32); it was Rachel who stole and later died.  These are sometimes called non-deliberate curses (for example, words spoken by people against others—but not with the specific intention to bring harm to the person) which can only happen when there is some relational connection between the one who curses and the victim, such as in the involvement of a parent for a child, a teacher, a pastor, or a soul tie.  (These words are usually negative and destructive words spoken—and even prayed—by people close to us with whom we have soul ties or who have authority over us, such as parents or typically elder relatives.) 

    1. Unscriptural Covenants: as in the tenets of freemasonry (Ex. 23:32), or unholy vows and covenants with darkness. (see the section on vows).

 5. Professionals Who Use the Powers of Darkness to Curse Others:

      • Deliberate curses placed by men and/or women, witches, or servants of Satan
      • Witches, soothsayers, sorcerers, spiritualists, etc. (Duet. 18:10-12)
      • Balaam, who was asked to speak against (curse) Israel (Num. 22:4-6)
      • Invoking Satan’s power to “place” a curse by someone who operates under Satan’s power results in a demon of curse with a name (generally, not just anyone can choose someone at random and speak a curse against them)
      • In order for the curse to be effective, there has to be some item or object that can be linked to the victim (used as an access point to the victim, such as personal belongings or hair clips—which sometimes are stolen and are frequently used in cursing rituals)
      • Sometimes an owned object is cursed and returned to the owner so that the demon of curse is able to operate directly against the victim through the accursed thing (defined more thoroughly under #7 below, “Accursed Things Curse”—nail clippings, hair trimmings, and blood are especially powerful through this means; photographs or dolls are also used)
      • By stabbing the doll or the photograph in specific places, the voodooist calls on and uses demons to induce identical symptoms in the body of the victim
    1. Territorial Curses: include areas such as homes, shrines, countries, regions, and towns (Dan. 10:13).  Places or homes become occupied by the presence of evil in a number of ways:  through curses, Satan worship, crime, violence, other sins committed there, objects therein that are occupied by the presence of evil, or by the presence of evil in those that inhabit the land or place.  A “place” can become “defiled” when someone there becomes involved in the occult (such as in participating in divination, sorcery, spiritualism, clairvoyance, witchcraft, or family ceremonies).  Other activities that can cause defilement of the place where curses occur include:  adultery, sexually perverted practices, rape, murder or attempted murder, sexual abuse, or satanic ritual abuse. 

Because these activities occur as a result of the choices and actions of those involved, it gives the powers of darkness permission or a spiritual right to claim the land and/or place for their purposes.  This is similar to what happens in our human spirit when we sin:  in essence we give the evil one permission to influence that part of our spirit.  To a less severe extent, people with evil spirits bring some evil with them and tend to leave some evil behind.  Visiting such places can result in contamination from the curse. 

In addition, for a more thorough discussion of territorial curses see the sections on “Setting Your Church Free” and “Healing Objects and Places.” 

    1. “Accursed Things” Curse: Bringing an abominable or accursed thing (accursed, as in “being under or considered being under a curse”) into your house (“Do not bring a detestable thing into your house or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction. Utterly abhor and detest it, for it is set apart for destruction”—(Deut. 7:26).  Coming under a curse occurs when one innocently does any of the following:
      • Takes objects into his possession in disobedience (Josh. 7:19-25, Achan admitted taking a robe and other spoils and brought death to himself and his family)
      • Takes an accursed thing devoted to Satan into his possession (Ex. 20:4, Deut. 27:15—making false idols, and Deut. 7:25-26—bringing a cursed thing in your house)
      • If you take an accursed thing you become accursed yourself (Josh. 6:18; also review the section on “Healing Objects and Places for a detailed listing of accursed things)
      • Accursed things include books, occult objects, games, souvenirs from lands under a territorial curse, art objects created by persons under curses, or objects from previous love affairs or travels. There is no innocent or safe dabbling in the occult.
    1. Some Alternative Medicines: The origin of any alternative medicine (for example, Reiki, Acupuncture, and similar alternatives) should first be studied carefully before allowing it.  Visits to witchdoctors or psychic healers will result in curses. Visits to psychics, spiritualists, may result in curses as well. We can open ourselves up to a curse even without our knowledge. 

 9. Self-Imposed Curses: the words we speak against ourselves.  For example:

      • Genesis 27:13—Rebecca, the wife of Isaac, shouted, “…upon me be thy curse” and she never saw her son again; she died prematurely.
      • Matthew 27:20-26—At Christ’s trial, the crowd stated, “His blood be upon us, and our children” (Jews have been persecuted the world over ever since).
      • 2 Sam 6:22-23–Michal, David’s wife, speaks against the Lord’s anointed and is barren.
      • Num 12: Miriam complains against Moses and is made leprous. Also examine the sections on “Healing Your Tongue” and “Healing from Vows and Death Wishes”—vows are self-curses.

 Examples of Self-Imposed Word Curses Include: vowels or declarations give the enemy the legal right to impose these curses on individuals…..

10. Mental and/or emotional breakdown:

      “It’s driving me crazy.” 

      “I just can’t take it any more.” 

      “He just drives me mad.” 

      1. Repeated or chronic sickness:

      “Whenever there’s a bug, I catch it.”

      “I’m sick and tired . . .”

      “It runs in the family, so I guess I’m next.”

11. Barrenness, a tendency to miscarry, or other related female problems:

      “I don’t think I’ll ever get pregnant.” 

      “I’ve got the ‘curse’ again.” 

      “I just know I’m going to lose this one; I always do.” 

12. Breakdown of a marriage and family alienation:

      “The palm reader said my husband would leave me.” 

      “Somehow I always knew my husband would find another woman.” 

      “In our family, we have always fought like cats and dogs.” 

13. Experiencing continued financial insufficiency:

      “I never can make ends meet; my father was the same way.” 

      “I can’t afford to tithe.” 

      “I hate those ‘fat cats.’  They always get what they want and it never happens to me.” 

14. Being “accident-prone”:

      “It always happens to me.” 

      “I knew there was trouble ahead….” 

      “I’m just a clumsy kind of person.” 

15. History of suicides and unnatural or untimely deaths:

      “What’s the use of living?” 

      “… over my dead body.”

      “I’d rather die than go on the way things are.”

16. Broken Vows:

Joshua made a vow not to attack the Gibeonites (Josh 9:19) which was broken by Soul.  The curse came in the form of a famine upon David.  (2 Sam 21:1-2).  Broken marriage vows can bring curses.

17. Witchcraft and Sorcery – Participation in witchcraft and sorcery always brings a curse which may include fear, poverty, and health problems.

18. Family or Generational Curses:

         Seekers who live in, or come from developing countries—such as Africa, India, Latin, or South America—may have been exposed to family curses or local gods of which they are totally unaware.  In many of these countries, babies are ceremonially dedicated to demonic gods through blood oaths at birth, and then again when they come into adolescence. 

            Many Christians are unaware that they (or their ancestors) have unwittingly made blood oaths with devils through a tradition they are required to keep—while they have only sought to be obedient to their parents in upholding these family traditions.  In many cases, these individuals would be disowned by their family if they failed to take part in these demonic ceremonies (in disrespecting the elders of their tribe and family). Yet most of these individuals will not even speak about these things or they are unaware that such things ever took place within their family line.  

            In referring to Exodus 20:5 (and 34:6-7; “And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.”) the curse to “the third and fourth generation” continues anew for every generation until it is repented of and broken.  Many African Americans (for example) are only 4 or 5 generations from their African heritage, and while they may now be dedicated and committed Christians, the curse of previous ancestors still claims them.  Examples of these curses can be found in the Chapter on Witchcraft.

Many individuals living in developing countries have ancestors who moved from rural areas into urban areas, carrying their spiritual baggage with them. 

Bewitching Others: 

The enemy does not have the right to afflict your life just because he wants to.  There must be open doors, either historically in your family trees or historically in your personal life in which we have wandered outside the parameters of obedience to God’s knowledge, provision or covenants.  No one can “bewitch” another just by looking at them.  However, if the person who is looked at thinks they can be “bewitched” then it may be possible. “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Prov. 23:7). 

Breaking Curses

For a curse to be broken the curse must be named, and if possible the source identified. It must then be renounced and the individual must come under the blood oath of Christ Jesus.  It is through the blood of Christ and the finished work of Atonement at Calvary that the seeker can be set free from curses, including blood oaths, witchcraft, and the curses associated with ancestral worship.  God made provision for this release with the divine exchange which took place on Calvary (“Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:  That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith”—Gal. 3:13-14). 

Jesus became a curse for all mankind.  He transferred to Himself the curses that we are under, as (at the Cross) He took upon Himself all sin.  However, one must appropriate the exchange by true repentance and renouncing ancestral sins.  Only then does the individual come under the cleansing blood of the Lord Jesus, after which the enemy no longer has any legal spiritual right to continue to work any generational curses.  These generational curses become null and void through Christ’s finished work and the new blood covenant made by Jesus.  The following steps are necessary in the process of breaking all kinds of curses: 

      1. Recognition: Identify the source of the curse, by name if possible.  The seeker may have inadvertently given legal spiritual ground—or a spiritual right—to Satan.  Ask the Holy Spirit to show you the root, cause, or link of the curse; it may be something in their possession or in their home. 
      2. Appropriation: Appropriate—take exclusive possession of—the Atonement of Jesus by faith (Duet. 21:23).  Jesus was made a curse (Is. 53:6) and the iniquity of all was laid upon Him (Is. 53:5).  Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13-14).  Have the seeker confess their faith in Christ and in His sacrifice on their behalf; confess their faith in Christ’s death and resurrection. 
      3. Establish Spiritual Authority: Make a declaration to establish spiritual authority over the curse.  (Read aloud the following scriptures:  (Prov 26:2, Luke 10:19, Gal. 3:13-14, Eph. 1:7, Col. 1:12-14, 1 John 3:8,). 
      4. Repent and Commit: Have the seeker verbally tell God they are sorry and they commit themselves to obedience (Jesus spoke to the man healed at the pool of Bethesda—“Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee,” John 5:14; also, to the woman caught in adultery—“go, and sin no more,” John 8:11).  The seeker is to repent for every known sin (this is important).  Repent for those sins previously committed by their ancestors (identification repentance), even though they perhaps acted in ignorance. 

      NOTE:  If the seeker has followed all the recommended steps for each of the preceding chapters in this series, they may have already done these things. 

      1. Forgive: The seeker is to forgive every person who has ever harmed or wounded them, including the one who cursed them—if this person is known to them. 
      2. Renounce and Rebuke: Have the seeker verbally renounce generational iniquities and words and/or blood oaths spoken over their life or over that of their ancestors.  If this is not done, the enemy of their soul still has the legal spiritual right to oppress them according to the covenant recorded in Deuteronomy 27:15-26 and 28:16-19.  The seeker should renounce all contact with the occult committed by themselves and by their ancestors and cancel all legal grounds and spiritual rights previously given to Satan.  The seeker is to dispose of all contaminated objects, books, etc., in their possession and to rebuke Satan in the area of the curse; they are to tell Satan they don’t want this anymore, that their mind, as well as their body, is a temple for the Lord Jesus Christ.  In difficult cases, it may be necessary to repeat the renouncement three times (as sometimes the curse has been set in place by a witchdoctor who had the blood oath repeated three times). 

            Example: How vows work….

      1. John 13:37-38, Mark 14:30 Peter’s denial foretold
      2. Matthew 26:33-35 Peter’s vow
      3. John 21:15-17 …… Peter Restored
      4. Remove All Abominable Objects: The seeker is to remove all abominable objects from their home.  Refer also to the section titled “Healing Objects and Places.” 
      5. Pray the Blood of Jesus: To break the curse, pray to place the blood of Jesus between the one cursed and the one who initiated the curse.  If this proves insufficient, command the curse to give its name and cast it out, as is done with evil spirits.  Break all soul ties between the one who initiated the curse and the seeker. 
      6. Bless the One Who Initiated the Curse: Luke 6:28 tells us to, “Bless them that curse you ….  Romans 12:14 also states, “… bless, and curse not.”  In obedience to His Word, proclaim God’s blessings upon those who brought cursing. 
      7. Release and Resist: Curses of disobedience can only be broken by obedience (Mat. 16:12, Jas. 4:7). Be obedient
      8. Anointed Oil: If blessed anointing oil is available, it is beneficial to anoint every place on the seeker where the “healer” has “cut” them, as part of his or her witchcraft practice. Or, if they have been cut in private places, anoint a small corner of a handkerchief for them to touch the private places where they have been cut by the witchdoctor. 
      9. Barrenness: Many individuals who have been to a witchdoctor will experience barrenness or have sexual dysfunctions (male and/or female). Pray specifically that this curse be broken, that they may become fertile and dedicate their future offspring to Jesus. 
      10. Re-new Baptismal Vows: In some difficult cases, it may be necessary for the seeker to renew their baptismal vows by praying, “I turn now to Jesus Christ and accept Him only as my Savior. I put my whole trust in His grace and love.  I promise to follow and obey Him as my Lord and Savior.  It is in Jesus’ name that I pray.  Amen.” 
      11. Dagon: If the seeker struggles to be released from curses after all of the above, consider praying to break the curse of Dagon (1 Sam. 5) and offer the Prayer of Restoration and Regeneration (space does not permit a full discussion of this subject here

Before offering prayer to break curses, it would be beneficial to have the seeker read the section on “Healing from Generational Influences” and to follow the suggestions in that section on completing a genogram.  The genogram may help identify possible curses and their root causes.   No matter if you have prayed parts of this prayer previously, God won’t mind the repetition.  We want to make sure that every open door is closed.

Divorce

In the beginning, God created Adam and Eve and intended they be joined together as husband and wife: “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh” (Gen. 2:24; also Mark 10:6-9).  Paul informs us that God’s intentions for the marriage relationship between husband and wife could be used as a picture of God’s intentions for the relationship between Jesus and His church (Eph. 5:23).  In addition, God gave humans free will; then Satan entered the picture and he has been working to end God’s design for the marriage relationship ever since.   Mal 2:16 says God hates divorce. 

Additional Issues and Concerns

 Marriage is a spiritual covenant between God and the marriage partners and it is taken very seriously by God. God intended that there be only one marriage (Gen. 2:24, Mark 10:6-9).  Godly soul ties are created through the covenant of marriage. 

    1. Divorce is not within God’s original design and, therefore, He considers it sin. Spiritual laws are violated in the practice of divorce (Mat. 5:32). 
    2. There are three easily-identifiable justifications for divorce within the scriptures: (1) adultery and fornication (Mat. 5:32), (2) an unbelieving spouse who leaves the relationship (1 Cor. 7:15) or a spouse who has been cheated on and has not sinned by divorcing the guilty spouse, is free to remarry without sin (Mat. 5:32), and (3) while abandonment or sexual sin on the part of either party is clear justification for divorce, other passages (such as 1 Cor. 7:2-5) suggest a spouse is not under bondage to stay married to a person who violates the vows of rendering due benevolence, that is those who have been physically or verbally abused.   
    3. The issue—scripturally—is not “what was the reason for the divorce” but whether or not either spouse has sex with someone else after the divorce, which the scripture calls adultery (“whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery”— 5:32).
    4. When adultery happens, God’s “two shall become one flesh” plan (Gen. 2:24) becomes confused, polluted, and broken. When this plan is broken, it provides an entry point for the powers of darkness. 
    5. Ecclesiastes 5:4-6 suggests that a curse of divorce may be set in motion by breaking a vow with God (and marriage is a vow).
    6. Deep wounds of rejection, anger, and abandonment may remain after the broken relationship.
    7. Soul ties remain between the couple until these are spiritually cut.
    8. The Good News is that God in heaven sent his Son Jesus to die on the cross for us so that we might be forgiven of every sin (Matt 12:31) (including divorce, sexual sin, or adultery by remarriage), washed clean by the blood of Jesus, and renewed in relationship to Him by the power of the Holy Spirit. 
    9. The focus of healing from divorce should not be on trying to determine whether or not sin was committed through this experience but on asking for forgiveness where due and accepting the grace and forgiveness of our loving Father.

Prayer for Healing of Divorce

The petitioner should follow these steps:

    1. Ask God’s forgiveness for your part in the divorce (it is seldom one-sided).
    2. Ask God’s forgiveness for any sexual sin that happened before or after the divorce.
    3. Ask God’s forgiveness for any sins because of remarriage.
    4. Healing from divorce requires total forgiveness of the former spouse.
    5. Pray that the part of you that remains with your spouse be loosed.
    6. Pray for inner healing for the feelings of rejection, anger, or abandonment.
    7. Pray to break the soul ties created by the former union with the sword of the Spirit.
    8. If the person is now unmarried, pray they can remain celibate so as not to commit sexual sin.
    9. If the person has remarried, pray God will recognize the current relationship as the original one designed in heaven with all the rights, privileges, and blessings of the two becoming one flesh covenant agreement.
    10. Pray God will bless the union and the family, in Jesus’ name.

Inner Healing Required

Notwithstanding the adultery questions involved here, there will almost always be a need for inner healing for feelings of anger, betrayal, abandonment, hate, bitterness, and rejection that may result from a divorce.  More about inner healing can be found on the section “Healing of Hurts, Emotions and Memories”.

The Occult

Before you start this session, I would encourage you print-out the Occult Checklist.

One of Satan’s favorite weapons against us is occult involvement.  Occult involvement occurs when an individual seeks to gain knowledge or power from a spiritual source other than God.  (“Occult” means to conceal, or cause to disappear from view, secret, mysterious, supernatural).  It is a combination of deception and rebellion.  The scripture (1 Sam 15:23) says rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft.  Witchcraft can be defined as “demonically inspired manipulation and intimidation for the eventual purpose of control and domination”. The special danger of occult involvement is that it appeals to our spiritual hunger, which is our innate desire to find the Lord, and it diverts us from right relationship with Him into the occult underworld—which opens people to the demonic. 

Satan and his dark angels continually labor to rob the Lord of praise, worship, and devotion, and to usurp or seize these for themselves; they try to keep us from knowing and experiencing God by deceiving people and leading them into the kingdom of darkness.  But God desires “truth in the inward parts” (Ps. 51:6) and that we be set (made) free from all the dark influences within our lives. 

Though at times an individual’s pursuit into the occult is intentional, most often people become exposed to the occult unsuspectingly, such as when they innocently have their palm read, they visit a fortune teller, or they play with an Ouija board or a visit to a witchdoctor.  When an individual seeks understanding, guidance, truth, etc., but inquires through occult means—rather than those means designed by God, they are opening their “spiritual hedge of protection” to the dark side, allowing this act to create chains and bondage. 

The ensnared person then becomes dependent upon these dark angels, returning to them again and again for guidance, healing, power, and satisfaction of their personal desires.  By so doing, these unsuspecting individuals receive the illicit attention and worship they so strongly desire, although it isn’t from God.

The Bible (in a number of passages, such as in Deut. 18:10-12, Is. 47:11-15, Acts 8:18-20 and 2 Thes. 2:9-11) strictly forbids occult participation.  There are 110 scriptures about God’s curse placed upon those who practice occultism.   Occult practices use “the powers of darkness” rather than “the power of God” to accomplish the desired end.  

When we open ourselves up to occult practices, we become guilty of idolatry, and therefore violate the first Commandment, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Ex. 20:3).  Occult practices, whether participated in ignorantly or not, always have consequences.  There is no “safe dabbling.”  These are sins of a most serious nature. 

Peter Wagner and others have divided “spiritual warfare” into three separately-identified levels, as stated below:

    1. Ground or Personal Level: where the casting out of demons from an individual (commonly called deliverance) is practiced.  This procedure is more thoroughly covered in a separate section titled “Healing from Influences of Darkness.” 
    2. Occult Level: which deals with demonic activity occurring in objects, such as is practiced in Satanism, witchcraft, shamanism, curandero, and freemasonry (as discussed in several other sections within this material). 
    3. Territorial Level: spiritual warfare which deals with powerful principalities and powers over houses, neighborhoods, city, territories, regions, and nations (and is likewise further discussed in the section on “Setting Your Church Free”).   

Many believers who come for prayer and deliverance have “dabbled” with minor forms of the occult, such as fortune telling, Ouija boards, certain books and games, and the like.  Even these minor exposures will often allow a demon to inhabit the believer.  These exposures can prevent the Holy Spirit from communicating with the seeker for the healing they desire in other areas of need; they act as serious roadblocks and must, therefore, be dealt with early-on in the healing process. 

Those individuals whose exposure in the occult has run deeper and is more serious (such as regularly taking part in séances, making Satanic vows, being involved in witchcraft or Satan worship, etc.) will require more serious prayer and attention.  Addressing this expanded involvement is beyond the scope of these teaching materials.  In such cases an experienced intercessor or deliverance team is advisable. 

    1. The unwitting entrance into Satan’s Kingdom: by engagement in spiritualism or other occult practices (for example, using with an Ouija board or playing the game “Dungeons & Dragons”) without intending to contact Satan 
    2. Knowingly seeking spiritual power to harm or dominate someone: by such practices as casting spells (for example, going to a voodoo practitioner or witch, because you seek success or want to curse an enemy) 
    3. Becoming a channel or witch: allowing a spirit to take over part of your life (for example, through the practice of automatic writing)
    4. Commencing a knowing, direct relationship with Satan: by, for instance, making a pact with Satan 
    5. Becoming part of a coven, engaged in Satan worship: a coven is “an assembly or band of usually 13 witches” with the most severe levels of evil involving sexual orgies, torture, blood sacrifices (animal or human), and parodies (distortions) of Christian worship

Names of the occult spirits change as they graduate up the scale.  MacNutt suggests these highest levels of spirits are, for at least four reasons, especially hard to cast out. 

    1. They rule over entire families and clusters of spirits which they have brought with them.
    2. They have supernatural attributes (the demonic reverse of the “gifts of the Holy Spirit”), attributes such as knowledge (enabling them to read into your past or into your imagination) or communication (enabling them to influence another spirit inhabiting someone else for the purpose of making an eruption in another part of a meeting or church, thereby distracting you from your prayer and/or frightening bystanders).
    3. They have the capacity to draw power from other spirits which are higher than they are in their spiritual hierarchy.
    4. They are protected by a number of blocking spirits which surround them with a rebellious, lying defense system.

People get involved in the occult for a number of reasons, some of which are listed below: 

Prosperity                                              Prestige                                                Power and/or control

Knowledge                                             Pleasure                                               Desire for healing                     

Entertainment                                       Impatience (in waiting on God)

Noel & Phyl Gibson in their book’ “Freedom in Christ”, chapters 8 & 9 suggest that occult activities are progressive.  They feel many innocent people who “dabble” in occultism graduate on to witchcraft, then become Satan worshippers.  However the exposure or participation is categorized, it requires very serious deliverance. 

Why are occult activities so dangerous?

Exodus 20:3-8 contains a list of the 10 commandments.  I believe they are listed in order of importance.  Note the first three:

       v1  You shall have no other gods before (or beside) me.

       v2  You shall not make for yourself any idols in the form of anything in heaven or above or on the                 earth beneath or in the waters below.

       v3  You shall not bow down to them or worship them.

       To break these commandments gives full spiritual authority for Satan to dominate the person, as         well as placing them under God’s curse.

        v5 is of particular interest.  “for I the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sins of the gathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me”.  This provides the basis for generational or heritage sin. 

Symptoms (Possibly Indicative of Influence from Occult Spirits) 

      1. Psychic abilities, clairvoyance, divination (the feeling of having special powers)
      2. Inward perception of a separate personality, name, or voice, that prompts undesirable thoughts or behaviors
      3. Fearful, repetitive night visitations by an evil presence, sometimes of a sexual nature.
      4. Separation of the mind from the body (spacing out, dizziness)
      5. Inability to focus on and retain Biblical truths
      6. Difficulty staying focused or participating in prayer (agitation, nausea, anger, rebellion)
      7. Uncontrolled thoughts or impressions (for example, sexual perversion, cursings, violence)
      8. Uncontrolled compulsive behaviors (sexual sin, anger, chemical indulgence)
      9. Preoccupation with thoughts of death, despair, hopelessness
      10. Uncontrollable and irrational or paralyzing fear
      11. Unusual, non-typical emotional expressions (laughter, sadness, crying, anger)
      12. Extreme nervousness (at the mention of the name of Jesus, while reading the scriptures or while in prayer)
      13. Can’t say or pray the name of Jesus
      14. Thoughts about committing suicide
      15. Headaches occurring for no known physical reason

Other Symptoms Which Indicate Serious Occult Influence Include: (identified from “Blinding the Evil Eye”, page 46 Ministering Freedom from Occult Bondage by Doris Wagner Editor  2004)

      1. Repetitions of raps and other sounds
      2. Movements of objects (tables, chairs, etc.) without contact or with insufficient contact to explain the movement
      3. Apports (the paranormal transference of an article from one place to another or the appearance of an article from an unknown source)
      4. Moulds (for example, impressions made upon paraffin or similar substances)
      5. Luminous appearances (For example, sometimes images come to people: vague glimmerings, light, or faces—more or less defined.  Some of the people may be already dead or be in some other geographical location.  The images are seen as glimpses—dim, not definite, but with enough of an image that they know who they represent.  The image may appear unclear, observed partly in a shadow or in poor lighting.) 
      6. Levitation (the raising of objects from off the ground by supernormal means)
      7. Materialization or the appearance of a spirit in visible human form
      8. Spirit-photography (where the feature or form of a deceased person appears on a plate along with the likeness of a living photographed subject)
      9. Table-rapping in answer to questions
      10. Automatic writing or slate-writing
      11. Trance-speaking
      12. Clairvoyance; descriptions of the spirit-world
      13. Communications from the dead

The Occult Trap by James S. Wallace (see reference material at the end of this section) has an excellent list of primary and secondary symptoms (pages 212-216). 

It is important—in the process of healing from the occult—to know exactly what the occult involvement was (the root of the problem) and when it first occurred, in order to confess, repent, and pray for the eviction of the specific intruders. 

As you read through the following list, ask the Holy Spirit to recall to your mind every occasion of involvement you have had.  Keep in mind that many of these activities are clearly occult but the occult nature of others may not be as evident.  Mark all items that apply, even if there is a question in your mind as to their having (or not having) an occult nature so that you are confident that you have renounced all possible occult or demonic influences in your life. 

Occult Checklist

(Check those in which you are or have been involved.)

 Soothsayers, Fortune Tellers (Deut. 18:9-16, Dan. 2:26-28, Is. 47:10-15):

      1. Had your fortune told by tea leaves, palm reading, crystal ball, etc.
      2. Read or followed horoscopes or had a chart made for yourself
      3. Been hypnotized or practiced self-hypnosis, Yoga, or Transcendental Meditation (TM)

Necromancy, Spiritualism (1 Sam. 28:7-11, Is. 8:19, Lev. 19:31 and 20:6):

      1. Attended a séance or spiritualist meeting
      2. Believed in reincarnation or had a reincarnation reading
      3. Played with an Ouija board, tarot cards, a crystal ball, or played the game “Dungeon & Dragons”
      4. Played games of an occult nature (using ESP, telepathy, hypnotism, etc.)
      5. Consulted a medium or a numerologist, had your handwriting analyzed, acted as a medium, or practiced channeling
      6. Sought healing through magic spells or charms, a Christian Scientist, a spiritualists, or a psychic healing, or had psychic surgery
      7. Practiced table lifting, levitation of objects, pendulum swinging, lifting bodies, automatic writing, or soul-travel
      8. Used a charm or any kind of protection or “good luck” piece, or been superstitious
      9. Practiced water-witching to find out where to dig a well
      10. Practiced Transcendental Meditation or Yoga or connected with its spiritualist attendant
      11. Sought or communicated with apparitions that were not of God or with persons who have died
      12. Worshipped in pagan shrines or temples

Possessed or read books on any of the following (Acts 19:19-20):

      1. Astrology, the interpretation of dreams, Christian Science, Unity, Scientology, or Science of the Mind
      2. Witchcraft, fortune telling, magic, ESP, psychic phenomena or possession
      3. Anything in your home given to you by someone in the occult or of an occult nature or items made in non-Christian countries (which might be idols)
      4. Followed the writings of Edgar Cayce, Jean Dixon, Shirley MacLaine, L. Ron Hubbard (Church of Scientology), or any other New Age author
      5. Interest shown in demonic types of movies, such as “The Exorcist,” “Rosemary’s Baby,” “The Omen,” or been drawn to things like horror shows or scary movies
      6. Accepted the humanist theory, that man is self-sufficient, not needing God

Sorcery or Magic  (2 Kings 17:17 and 21:6, Is. 47:9, Mal. 3:5, Acts 8:11 and 13:4-12):

      1. Practiced mind-control over any person or animal, cast a magic spell, sought a psychic experience or contacted a psychic in person or through a psychic hotline

Devil Worship (2 Chr. 11:15, Ps. 106:37, 1 Cor. 10:20-22, Rev. 9:20-21):

      1. Made a pact with Satan or been involved in (or witnessed) Satan worship or Black Magic
      2. Attended the meeting of a coven
      3. Attended a Black Mass
      4. Made a promise, pact, or blood compact with Satan
      5. Have been (or are) a victim of Satanic ritual abuse

Witchcraft (1 Sam. 15:23 and 28:7, 2 Ki. 9:22, 1 Chr. 10:13, Is. 8:19, 19:3 and 29:4, Mic.   5:12, Gal. 5:19-20):

      1. Attended witchcraft or voodoo activities
      2. Visited or was taken to a witch doctor. (Africa)
      3. Participation in tribal ceremonies such as at birth, circumcision, weddings or calendar celebrations. (Africa)
      4. Using traditional medicines (Africa)
      5. Listened to hard rock or acid rock music with a Satanic influence, as in KISS, Black Sabbath, 9” Nails, etc.
      6. Visited or worshipped in a shrine or temple of a non-Judeo/Christian religion, or have in your possession any books, articles, or statutes from a non-Judeo/Christian religion
      7. Been involved in freemasonry, Eastern Star, DeMolay, or Rainbow Girls
      8. Wished somebody else was dead or wished you were dead
      9. Planned or attempted to take your own life
      10. Hoped someone else would die

Contact with Objects:

      1. Have you any object, image, charm, statue, bracelet, necklace, jewelry, or book(s) in your possession or in your home, that may bring an evil presence or influence with it; has someone involved in the occult given you any amulet or object?

Generational Bondage (Ex. 34:6-7, Num. 14:17-19, Deut. 5:8-10, Josh. 22:16-29, Ps. 33:11, Jer. 11:10-13, Acts 2:38-39):

      1. Have any of your ancestors been involved in witchcraft, pagan religions, or fortunetelling?
      2. Has anyone in your ancestry been a member of the Masons (see the section on “Healing from Freemasonry”)?

Personal Experience

I have found that occult spirits are most difficult to dislodge if the parents or ancestors have dedicated off spring to Satan, the person has made a contract with Satan, or is married to a deceased person.  It is extremely helpful if there is a member of the ministry team that has a high level of the discerning of spirits gift, who is able to discern the initial experience in the ancestry of the seeker, and the circumstances in which the spirit received authority to move in.  In some cases, it is necessary to gather a number of experienced ministers together who have a high level of spiritual power. 

The greater the dark influence available at the time of entry, the greater the spiritual power needed to remove it.  In some cases it is necessary to mentally visualize the perpetrator and the initial experience, and pray against the perpetrator until he/she turns white, usually beginning at the head and eventually out the feet.  Then the influence is broken for good.

Release from Occult Influences

          First, destroy all books, jewelry, statues, objects, and paraphernalia associated with any cult, occult, or false religion source (see additional section on “Healing Objects and Places”). I recommend burning them so no one else will read them.

Pray the following prayer aloud, specifically against each separate type of occult activity: 

Lord Jesus, I recognize and confess (ex: witchcraft) as a sin in my life.  I am deeply sorry for this sin and I repent of it.  Please forgive me. 

I renounce Satan in this area in all his ways; I take back any spiritual territory I have given him and I now give it to God.  In Jesus’ name I pray.  Amen.

After confessing and repenting of these sins, pray the following prayer aloud just once:

            In the name of the Lord Jesus, I repeat my baptismal vows and commit my life to Jesus.  Lord, I claim and thank you for all of the blessings made available to me because of your death on the cross. 

Lord, you gave us power over the adversary.  I therefore release myself and my family from any hold which any of these occult activities have, or have had, on our lives. 

I cancel any curse against me or against any member of my family.  And I claim the protection of the blood of Jesus over my mind, body, and spirit.  I close the door on you Satan, never to be opened again.  In Jesus’ name I pray.  Amen.

Sexual Immorality, Soul Ties

Sexual Sin

In the beginning God created Adam and Eve and intended they be joined as husband and wife.  “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh” (Gen. 2:24; see also Mark 10:2-12).  Becoming one speaks of an inseparable union, spiritually and physically.  What was joined on earth (through sexual union) would be joined spiritually in heaven. 

God intended that there never be sexual relationships outside of marriage, and that the first marriage would be the only marriage.  Paul presses further, teaching us that God’s intentions for the relationship between husband and wife can be used as a picture of God’s intention for the relationship between Jesus and His church (Eph. 5:23).  But God also gave them (and us) free will.  Then Satan, the father of lies whose agenda is to distort and destroy, entered the picture, and he has been working continuously to twist the commands and will of God ever since that first, fateful sin-event in the Garden of Eden. 

Unfortunately there is as much sexual sin displayed within the body of Christ as is displayed outside of it.  For many, the Bible’s teachings are considered irrelevant or they are dismissed as out-of-date.  Today’s primary concern has been for the physical dangers of unprotected sex, rather than for the more significant spiritual dangers—of which we are unknowingly being blinded.

Consider the following scriptures on this subject: 

    1. Exodus 20:14 asserts, “You shall not commit adultery” (included earlier, in vs. 5, are the “iniquities of the fathers” that will be visited upon the children unto the third and fourth generations).
    2. Proverbs 6:32 exposes that whoever commits adultery “destroyeth his own soul.”
    3. Malachi 2:13-16 infers the Lord made them one in flesh and spirit (vs. 15).
    4. Matthew 5:32 implies that whoever is divorced and remarries, commits adultery (see also Mat. 19:9).
    5. 1 Corinthians 3:16 and 6:19 confirm:  our body is the temple of God.  Immorality defiles God’s temple. 
    6. 1 Corinthians 5:1-6, where Paul speaks of immorality within the Church.
    7. 1 Corinthians 6:16-20 illustrates that sexual sins are spoken of in a separate category: “Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body.  The two will become one flesh.”  Sexual sins cause a person to sin against his or her own body.
    8. I Corinthians 7:15 a cause for divorce.
    9. Galatians 5:21 reads, “… those that practice such things (sexual sins) shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”
    10. 1 Thessalonians 4:3-6 advises us to “flee fornication”—it is a sin against our own body.
    11. Gal 6:8 “For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption.”
    12. In at least two scriptures in the bible, sexual sins are listed first among reasons the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God. (I Cor 6:9-11, & Gal 5:19)
    13. Every perversion including divorce, adultery, promiscuity, homosexuality, prostitution, bestiality and incest are thoroughly and repeatedly condemned in both the Old and New Testaments. (See Lev 18:22-24, 20:10-21, I Cor 6:9, Rom 1:24-32, 13:13; Gal 5:19-21; Eph 5:5;  1 Tim 1:10; Rev 21:8;  22:15.

Within no less than 55 passages, the New Testament denounces “porneia,” the Greek word for “sexual immorality.”  Sexual immorality is specifically applied to premarital sex in Paul’s admonition to unmarried Christians (1 Cor. 7:9).  There is no question as to whether or not God takes sexual sins very seriously.  Sexual sins are the third most-hated sins, after (1) “thou shalt have none other gods before me” (Deut. 5:7) and (2) murder (Deut. 5:17).  Be aware that these sins open up a very large hole in our spiritual hedge (reference to this teaching can be found on page 2 in the section titled, “Healing of the Spirit — Introduction”).  Consider also the 25 consequences of committing adultery (see Prov. 5:4-2, 6:20-25 and 16-22; 2 Sam. 10:12, 11:4-7, 12:1-7 and 13-14).

According to Jeremiah 3, God calls joining with or the worshiping of idols of any kind, a “joining” to another God.  He calls this behavior spiritual adultery.  In defining physical adultery as “all wrongful joining together—whether before or after marriage and as in same sex (homosexual) relationships or in relationships with animals,” the seventh commandment (Ex. 20:14) this has a much broader meaning than just that committed as “heterosexual sin by married people.” 

Through sexual union, there is a joining of spirit, soul, and body.  After intercourse, the bodies may separate but the souls and spirits are still joined together.  Something of the man becomes part of the woman, and something of the woman becomes part of the man.  The union creates a spiritual and a physical “soul tie” between the two partners.  This is as it was intended by God for the first union and marriage between a man and women.  Regrettably, when individuals have sex with those who are not their “first and only husband or wife,” the spirituality of “one flesh” becomes confused, and God’s perfect plan for us is thwarted, even as His plan for Adam and Eve was thwarted.  What is bound on earth is bound in heaven.  (Matt 16:19,  18:18)

When we join sexually with another person, we join or become connected to that person emotionally and spiritually.  Sexual union between a husband and wife (as defined in Gen. 2:24) allows the sharing of love and all other good gifts between them.  Sexual union outside of God’s design for marriage (Gen. 2:24) allows the receiving of all the corrupt things from this sexual partner (such as spirits of darkness, predispositions to addictions, all of the iniquities for which he or she may be the recipient—because of the sins of his or her ancestors that have been passed down through generational curses, as decreed in Ex. 20:5) and the additional results or consequences of sins this partner may have committed (such as dabbling in the occult). 

Through sexual union, we have become one with their spirit.  Not only are we connected with everyone with whom we have had a sexual relationship, we are additionally connected in chain-like fashion with everyone with whom they have had a sexual relationship.  Sex outside of marriage is a degradation of God’s creation and an insult to Him, of rebellion and foolishness.  Sexual sins allow any darkness or demons present in one partner to pass to the other partner.  Not only that, but it allows a partner to be exposed to every dark spirit from any of the previous partners either have had.  It spreads darkness like HIV. 

Some people feel helpless to be freed.  But now that you belong to Christ, no other power can force you to do anything unless you give it ground to do so through (1) disobedience (see John 14:30;  1 John 2:10), (2)  a love for sin (see Ps 52:3;  2 Thess 2:12;  Jam 4:4;  I John 2:15), (3) a self-righteous attempt to make yourself holy, (4) or a lack of desire to be free (See Rev. 3:15;16).   Even after forgiveness has been asked of god, and the sin placed under the blood of Jesus, there can still be a residue sense of shame.  Forgiveness of sin and cleansing of sin are two different things.

Soul Bondage and/or Ties

Soul bondage or soul ties result from any joining together.  Soul bondage or soul ties are the cleaving together of bodies, spirits, or souls in a relationship whereby two souls are joined or knitted together and become as one.  The term soul tie is not found in Scripture, but the concept is, particularly in the use of words knit and cleave. A soul tie can occur spiritually, emotionally, or physically.  Note that there are good (holy, God-empowered) soul ties such as Jonathan with King David (I Sam 18:1) as well as evil (unholy) soul ties such as when Shechem raped Dinah (Gen 34:1-3). The KJV says “His soul clave unto Dinah”. 

God-Empowered Ties

Ties that are God-empowered and blessed include those that are just and healthy within the “husband and wife” relationship in marriage, the parent and child relationship, sibling relationships, and other extended relative relationships (Gen. 2:24, Mat. 19:4-9, etc.).   When these soul ties are disrupted by death, divorce, or adultery, wounding can be severe.   

Unholy Satan-Empowered Ties

Unholy ties created by immoral sexual activities (and by dark vows, covenants, curses, oaths, and organizational secret oaths) are Satan-empowered and are an abomination to God.  Sexual sins produce unholy spiritual and physical soul ties that must be broken before healing can occur and the captives be set free. 

Non-Sexual Bonding Ties

Non-sexual bonding ties develop when one person dominates another in a manner not designed of God.  Sometimes unhealthy non-sexual soul ties are developed with parents, mentors or friends—those whom we strongly admire or with whom we have a close or intimate relationship.  Often these are evident in co-dependent relationships. 

Spiritual Adultery

Spiritual adultery takes place

(1) when a marriage partner gives to someone else what belongs only to their mate (for instance, giving personal and intimate communications from the heart or sharing deep fellowship with another),

(2) when a marriage partner’s heart has not yet learned to embrace it’s only source of manhood or womanhood in their marital companion,

(3) when flirting with or passionately kissing someone who is not your mate, or

(4) when sharing innermost feelings with another (who is not a counselor). 

Consequences of Sexual Sin Summarized

 Sexual sin blocks the love of God that flows between husband and wife in the true and holy expression of our sexual nature.

    1. Immorality is destructive and will eventually demand a price (the law of sowing and reaping applies here).
    2. Sexual sin produces sexual additions, prostitution, adultery, sexual abuse, incest, homosexuality, Sadomasochism, shame, guilt, and a lack of self-worth.
    3. Immorality and the Holy Spirit cannot abide together; if immorality continues, the Holy Spirit will leave.
    4. In ungodly sex, something of each partner is given away to the other and becomes part of them (See the example in 1 Cor. 6:16, where Paul talks of those who “join” together with a prostitute as “becoming one flesh.”).
    5. Sexual sin becomes a chain of bondage through which people are unknowingly influenced by the life and personality of those to whom they have been sexually joined.
    6. Ungodly soul ties provide opportunities for all of the following to be transferred (for the demonic to transfer from one person to another—both at the time of sexual intercourse and at any time subsequent): spirits of darkness, predispositions to addictions, all of the iniquities for which he or she may be the recipient through the sins of his or her ancestors as passed down through generational curses (Ex. 20:5), and the results or consequences of the sins the partner may have committed, such as involvement in the occult. 
    7. Those with many sexual partners begin to lose their own identity. They begin not to know who they really are. 
    8. Consider the 25 consequences of adultery noted in the following scriptures. (Prov. 1:8-20, 5:1-12 and 6:20-35, 7:1-27,  2 Sam 11:4-7, 12:1-14).
    9. God hates immorality. It is the third worst sin after idolatry and murder.

Healing Grace

The Good News is that God in heaven sent his Son Jesus to die for us on the cross that we might be forgiven of every sin, sexual and otherwise, washed clean by the blood of Jesus, and renewed in relationship with Him by the power of the Holy Spirit.  The Lord forgave King David, the woman at the well, and the woman caught in adultery. (2 Sam. 12:13, John 4:7-19, John 8:11).  He will forgive and release you also.

You may have already confessed your sexual sins to God when you were “born again” and been forgiven.  However, that does not necessarily also allow you to escape the consequences of your sin.  (For example, if you have an abortion, Will God will forgive your sin of murder?  Yes; He did that on the Cross; but will He immediately remove the consequences of that sin and return the fetus to life?  No.  The sin is on the head of the mother but the result or consequences of that sin is borne by the aborted fetus.  Christians can be totally repentant and still unknowingly be under the influence of darkness in parts of their spirit as a result of previous sin.) 

Until the open doors are closed and the legal rights which have been opened to darkness renounced and given to God, the adversary can still use these past sins against you, even though you are forgiven. 

Prayers for sexual sins, soul ties, and cleansing are identified below.   

Prayer for Sexual Sins

The prayer for release from sexual sins and bondage (or soul ties) should cover the following areas:  

    1. Pray for forgiveness.
    2. Pray for release and loosing.
    3. Pray to break the power of inherited lust; pray to forgive the one who introduced the problem into the family line.
    4. Pray for breaking of all soul ties between the seeker and every other partner or previous husband to which they are no longer married.

                  4a. Pray that the sword of the Spirit will separate each partner and break every                          soul tie. 

                 4b. Place the cross of Jesus between each partner and cover them with the                                blood of Jesus. 

                4c. “Loose” each partner from these unholy unions. 

               4d. In the name of Jesus, declare the spirits of the persons involved in                                         immorality to be separated. 

              4e. Take authority (in Jesus’ name), breaking any satanic power that exists in the                       person’s life as a result of illicit sex, non-sexual bondage, or spiritual adultery.

             4f.  If they are currently married to a “born again” spouse, pray that God will                                  recognize the current union as the “twain shall be one flesh” mentioned in                              Gen 2:24 and Mark 10:2-12).

    1. Pray for cleansing of body, soul, and spirit.

             5a. Pray to cleanse the person’s mind of pornographic images, ungodly sexual                           experiences and all sinful thoughts, words, deeds and acts. 

             5b. Pray to cleanse the eyes that have looked upon what they should not have                             seen. 

            5c. Pray to cleanse the ears from whatever they have heard that is unholy. 

            5d. Pray to cleanse the mouth, skin, hands, and sexual organs from what they have                    touched. 

    1. Pray against any spirits of immorality, pornography, and unusual sexual practices, particularly if the seeker has had an experience with a prostitute or with an animal.
    2. Pray the seeker is released from all iniquities and from the consequences of these sins.
    3. Pray the Lord heal all of these experiences so that Satan can no longer use them for evil purposes.
    4. Pray the seeker is healed of all guilt and shame.
    5. Pray for healing of all these sins and soul ties, that these be covered by the blood of Jesus.
    6. For single people, pray that all the “normal sexual emotions” be channeled into other acceptable and appropriate activities.
    7. Pray release from any immorality or polygamy of their forefathers.
    8. Renounce “Baal” (the god of sexual depravity) in the name of Jesus.

Sexual sin is an area in which it is most helpful to use an intercessor.  It is difficult for a seeker to pray for him-or-herself with complete success in this area.  The seeker needs first to confess the sins and to repent out loud naming the partner (or partners, if necessary, as the Lord directs). 

Again, the seeker should also repent from all illicit and unusual sexual practices and pornography, if applicable.  He or she needs to renounce the spirit of lust, lust of the eyes, and renounce Satan’s ground, previously given in all of these acts.  Most importantly, the seeker must be determined to live a chaste life in the future or to marry (1 Cor. 7:1-16). 

Because sexual sin causes the heart to be scattered, with a fragment given to each person he/she has relations with, it may be necessary for the seeker to repent of each instance of immoral conduct, naming names and breaking ties, and asking for his/her heart back that has been given to another and returning the part of each partner’s heart that was stolen. 

Previous sexual habits are difficult to break, particularly if the seeker is young and unmarried.  In every case, the seeker must be warned that Satan will sorely tempt them soon after their healing.

Prayer for Loosing and Release – Intercessor to pray

In the name of Jesus, I direct your spirit to forget these unions.  In the name of Jesus you are loosed from that person (or these persons).  I declare your spirit to be separated from each of these partners, and I place the cross of Jesus between you and each unholy union.  I cover you with the blood of Jesus as a protective shield from any and all detrimental influences to which you may have been exposed through sexual union with this (or these) partner(s). 

In the name of Jesus and according to Chapter six of the book of Ephesians, I take the sword of the Spirit and I cut every soul tie between you and any partner you have every been intimate with. 

I set your spirit free to cleave only to your own spouse.  I loose you in Jesus’ name, grateful for God’s word that proclaims, “…whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Mat. 16:19).  (Continue with the prayer for cleansing, which follows.) 

The petitioner should pray the following:

In the name of Jesus, I renounce all sexual and spiritual bondage to (name of the person ) and to the authority I have given him (or her) by submitting myself to him (or her) and offering him (or her) my body.  I cut every soul tie with (person’s) name, and renounce every dark spirit that may have come to me through this union with him (or her).  AMEN

NOTE:  The person may need to pray this prayer for each one with whom they have had an immoral sexual union.  If there are many, or they are not able to remember their names, they can ask God to allow them to repeat this prayer for as many as they can remember and to put all the others into one “basket” and present them to the Lord as one.

In the authority of Jesus,  I plead the blood of Jesus to stand between me and this person.  I separate the one flesh union, I send back to them everything I have taken from them when I became one flesh with them.  I call back to me everything I gave to them in this one flesh union.  I declare the blood of Jesus to be a wall of separation between us.  Thank you Jesus for restoring my soul.  AMEN

Prayer for Cleansing

In Song of Solomon 4:12-5:1 the term “garden” is a specific symbol for a woman’s sexuality.  The term ruined gardens” implies sexual brokenness. Many times the seeker will feel dirty, unclean, or sexually broken, and need to be restored to innocence by God, and be cleansed in spirit and body.   This is a good opportunity for “behold and be held” prayer where we ask Jesus to come and take the seeker into His arms and make them clean and innocent again.  He many times will use the symbol of clean water being sprinkled upon them.

Lord, Jesus,  From both Ezekiel 36:25 (“Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.”) and Acts 11:9 (“But the voice answered me again from heaven, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.”) we trust you will cleanse and make new __________ (name of seeker); and through Hebrews 10:10 (“By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”) we trust that through the offering once of the body of Jesus, she/he is sanctified.  I pray God pour His holy water over all that needs cleansing.  (Sometimes the Lord will give you a picture; pray over what you distinguish within the picture.)  

            Jesus, we ask you now to pour your streams of living water all over (name of seeker) and into every cell of his (her) being.  Let the water flow over every part of his (her) body, head, arms, private parts, legs, and feet.  

Thank you Lord that your living water is washing him (her) “white as snow,” (“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”—Is. 1:18) that every bit of defilement, shame, and guilt is being washed away. 

Thank you, Lord for making him (her) squeaky clean, inside and out.  Lord, you now see them as clean and white as the day you created them in heaven—you’ve given him (her) a new body in Jesus, perfectly clean and pure.  Thank you.  In Jesus’ name I pray.  Amen.

Pornography

Pornography is derived from the Greek word “porne”, which can be translated as “female captives” or “prostitutes”.  Porneia is often translated as “fornication”, “whoredom” or “sexual immorality”. In the New Testament there are twenty-six references to porneia. 

Of these twenty-six, six occur in Paul’s letters to the Corinthian saints. The context of these letters is that believers are not to conform to the cultural norms that the church found itself confronted with.  .  “But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” (Mat 5:28). 

I believe this scripture refers to women we look at online, in magazines, or in person.  Our bodies are not made for porneia (I Cor 6:13), we should run from it (I Cor 6:18), we should not seek it out ( I Cor 7:2) and we should repent if we fall prey to it  (2 Cor 12:21)

Unfortunately in the United States, the courts have determined that viewing pornography is one of our First Amendment rights of the Constitution.   With the advent of the Internet, pornography is pervasive in our society.  We can keep it a secret by viewing in our own homes with the blinds pulled.  People hide their porn habits and try to make sure that no one else finds out. Whatever is hidden is available to the devil to use against us.

A group called Promise Keepers was founded in 1990. The group held meetings of church men met in stadiums across the country.  Those attending were encouraged to commit to the 7 promises of the organization. In one of these meetings, the speaker asked the group of over 20,000 to raise their hands if they previously or currently had a problem with pornography.  Over 60% raised their hands. 

These were church men who attended church regularly and held positions as deacons and elders.    Out of this movement came some popular resources such as the video curriculum entitled Personal Holiness in Times of Temptation, as a part of “The Biblical Manhood” series for Promise Keepers developed by Dr. Bruce Wilkinson.

The problem is not isolated to a few “deviates” isolated from church. It is within the church as much as without.

Pornography dishonors the image of God in an individual by treating him or her as a sexual object to be consumed.  Pornography takes human sexuality out of its natural context, intimacy between two human beings and makes it a product to be bought and sold.

It debases the human body and reduces its value.  Pornography is the consumption of sexual poison that becomes part of the fabric of the mind.  It inherent degrades and dehumanizes. 

Pornography shapes and rewires us in such a way that we become unable to view women as we should.  It has numbed the healthy sexuality of men who are active consumers of it. Many men have confessed their frustration and shame as their inability to view women as beautiful human beings created by God, but rather immediately focus on the woman’s breasts, buttocks or hips and evaluating them in terms of potential sexual partners. 

Pornography demonstrates to women the reality that men are prone to selfishness, domination and violence.  Many men feel a deep sense of shame or guilt as a result of viewing and sexually acting out to pornography.  The more pornography a man views, the less freedom he has over what he thinks and pursues. 

Just as food is consumed and digested by the body, pornography is consumed by the senses and digested and deposited in the brain.  Pornographic images are stored as pictures in the brain forever, to be recalled at will, or by the influence of the adversary in our times of trial or lust. Research has shown that repeated exposure to pornography creates a one-way neurological superhighway where a man’s mental life is over-sexualized and narrowed.  It affects our brain in ways similar to drugs and alcohol.

It becomes very addictive.  Each time that an unhealthy sexual pattern is repeated, neurological, emotional and spiritual erosion carves out a channel in the brain that will eventually develop into a canyon from which there is no escape short of God’s intervention.  The brain is a complex organ.  How pornography affects our brain is a complex process

Pornography is not only addictive, it is progressive.  That is, over time it demands more and more visual stimulation progressing from soft porn, through hard core porn, viewing sex with animals, child porn and eventually to sadism & masochism (S&M) (if you do not know what this is, look it up in the dictionary.)  Porn is vicarious and voyeuristic at its core. 

Masturbating is almost always a part of viewing pornography.  When this occurs it causes an addiction to the fantasy.  Pornography and the masturbation fuels the sins committed against one’s own body (I Cor 6:17) Are bodies are temples of God (I Cor 6:12-20). 

When we engage in sexual activity not sanctioned by God (married man and wife) we dishonor the image of God.  .  It also grieves the Holy Spirit which will leave us.  Whenever we sin we grieve the heart of God and we defile His image (Eph. 4:31) .

Each time a man views pornography he impairs the ability of the Holy Spirit to direct him toward sanctification, and he slips further into depravity (I Thes. 5:19).

Remember all human beings, men and women, are created in the image of God.  We are created for the purpose of knowing, loving and worshiping Christ. We are to conform to the image of Christ Sanctification is the process by which we are made holy. It is the process by which we become what we are intended to be. This process of sanctification extends into our sexuality.  God calls us to live in sexual purity.

There should be no question about viewing pornography being a sin.  There may be some question as to whether accompanying masturbation is a sin.  But this is not the correct question.  Although the Bible is silent on this question the better question to ask is “Does masturbation lead me toward sanctification?  (Some quote Gen 38:9 “And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother’s wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother.” in support of the Bible saying masturbation is a sin, but that interpretation is in error. 

This passage speaks of the Israelite law requiring the brother of a deceased husband with no sons to impregnate the widow in order that the dead husband would have offspring to continue the family name. In this case Onan was disobedient to the law, so the Lord slew him also.)

How then do we re-wire our brain and move toward sanctification.  How does a man change from being addicted to pornography to become addicted to holiness?  How do we neurologically become “enslaved” to purity rather than porn? 

The answer is the same as for any other thing that leads us away from God rather than toward him:  Confession and repentance.  What remains hidden and secret is open to the adversary.  It is not enough just to confess to God.  We need to confess to God and our brethren”. 

This does not suggest we should necessarily confess before the whole congregation. But it does mean that we need to confess to a pastor, or if we are a pastor, to a fellow pastor or bishop.  Or someone of high spirituality to which we can become accountable, and who will mentor and encourage us.

And who will help us if we fall.  But confession is difficult for many men because it is an admission of failure.  It goes against our culture to admit weakness.  But many of God’s teachings in the Bible go against current culture. 

Then, whom shall we follow and who do we fear, or fellow man or God?  If we want to be healed, we have little choice.  There is no other way.  For more information on this subject and what it does to your brain.

Prayer for healing from Pornography.

After the seeker has been led in prayers of confession and repentance for the sins of lust, lust of the eyes and adultery in his heart (Matt 5:28) the intercessor should ask the Lord to bring to the seekers mind the very first time the seeker was exposed to pornography. 

Then a prayer of inner healing should be prayed, asking Jesus to come into that picture in the seekers mind, and to stand between him and the pornography. Pray the blood of Jesus cover the seeker. 

A prayer to behold and beheld is appropriate here. (This is described in more detail in another section)   The seeker needs to ask God to remove from his memory all the images that do not glorify God and to unwire his brain from the results of pornography.   Demons of lust, lust of the eyes, adultery and masturbation should be cast out.

Miscarriages and Abortions

 Some may question, “Why are the healings of miscarriages and of abortions included in the same section? 

One is involuntary (miscarriages) and the other is by choice (aborations). In both cases, however, a life is lost, typically there is no funeral, and rarely is there emotional closure.  There may also be spiritual and emotional connections with the fetus for years after the event which need to be healed.

Miscarriages

          There is no accumulative number of miscarriages.  Even so, death is an intruder in God’s plan; He never intended for us to die.  The sin of Adam and Eve changed all that. 

God certainly does not desire that babies in the womb die, but because we live in an imperfect world riddled with disease, miscarriages occur.  The emotional trauma experienced by the mother over the loss of a fetus is compounded by the somewhat insensitive attitude of many fathers, as in the comment, “Let’s put this behind us and move on,” when the mother is still grieving and in need of closure. 

However, before the mother can have peace from her loss, she will need to have spiritual and emotional closure of the experience, and she will need to release the baby to Jesus.  (This situation is not gender-specific to mothers alone, but we will be using the mother’s experience for the sake of explanation.) 

Most often, an unborn baby does not have a burial (or a committal or memorial service) and the mother often has not encountered closure of the experience or released the baby to the Lord.  Without this closure and release, the law of binding and loosing comes into effect:  the mother is bound on earth and the baby is bound in heaven.

For the sake of the mother’s peace, inner healing is usually required.  The mother may blame herself, feeling that she contributed to the miscarriage because of poor health practices or because she is unsure whether or not she could have done something to prevent it.  The thought that she could have prevented it may be a lie from the adversary that the mother has accepted and chosen to believe.  Fear that the mother won’t be able to conceive again or other similar issues (pain of separation or unfinished grieving and, therefore, a tie to the unborn child) may formulate.  In addition to these possibilities, the spirit of death may enter through the experience of miscarriage. 

Prayer for Miscarriages (the intercessor should follow these steps)

The mother did not sin, so there is no need for repentance.

Let us step through the torn veil and ask Jesus to go with us as we,

 

    1. Bring the experience before the Lord.
    2. Pray that the mother may see the child with Jesus (sometimes the Lord will reveal the sex of the child).
    3. Ask the mother if she is ready to release the child to Jesus.
    4. Pray a prayer of committal for release (that the mother frees her soul tie to the child and she also releases the child to Jesus, committing the baby to Him for whatever good purposes He has for the child).
    5. Pray the Lord bring peace between mother and child.
    6. Pray for healing of any guilt involved.
    7. Sometimes the Lord will reveal the name of the child; if not, have the mother name the child.
    8. Pray a blessing upon the mother and upon the child.
    9. Pray that what is loosed on earth is loosed in heaven (Matt 16:19)
    10. During the prayer, the grief may come out as either anger or deep hurt, and there may be much sobbing, which is part of the process of release.

Abortions

Sadly enough, it is estimated that nearly 50% of pregnancies in the U.S. end in abortion.  Regardless of the circumstances, God considers this the taking of life.  Repentance is required for this act.  Remember, God forgave King David for taking a life and He will forgive the seeker as well.  Within this process, there is almost always a spirit of abortion that needs to be cast out, along with other companion spirits of various sexual sins.

There may also be a spirit of murder, and sometimes depression.  One of the results of abortion may be endometriosis (endometrial-like cells appear and flourish in areas outside the uterine cavity, most commonly on the ovaries) because it has to do with the hormonal interruption.

While the consequences of abortion have traditionally fallen upon the woman, others are equally responsible including:  the man who helped conceive the fetus, any who have encouraged her to have an abortion, paid money for it, or transported her for the experience.  All involved need to acknowledge their responsibility, confess, repent, and pray the following prayer. 

Prayer for Abortion (follow these steps)

    1. Have the seeker pray and confess the sin, repent, and ask God for forgiveness for the sin of murder.
    2. Have the seeker confess and repent for the sin of lust. .
    3. Pray for the healing of any guilt, shame, fear, and/or confusion that may have existed at the time of the abortion.
    4. If necessary, pray that Jesus will come into the experience.

The rest of the prayer is the same as for miscarriages.

    1. Pray a prayer of committal for release (that the mother frees her soul tie to the child and she also releases the child to Jesus, committing the baby for whatever good purposes He has in store for the baby).
    2. Pray the Lord bring peace between mother and child.
    3. Pray for healing of any guilt involved.
    4. Pray that the mother may see the child with Jesus (sometimes the Lord will reveal the sex of the child.).
    5. Sometimes the Lord will reveal the name of the child; if not, have the mother name the child.
    6. Pray a blessing upon the mother and upon the child.
    7. Pray that what is loosed on earth is loosed in heaven (Matt 16:19)
    8. Have both parents pray to forgive themselves. (During this prayer, the grief may come out as either anger or deep hurt, and there may be much sobbing, which is part of the process of release.) 
    9. Pray a prayer for cleansing.

How Gates Get Opened

 

In this next section of this study we will focus on the ways that doors in our spirit are opened. We will study in depth the most common ways that gates are opened.

Closing Spiritual Gates

Now that we have an understanding of the importance of confession and repentance in the process of healing, the next step in is the process of closing our spiritual gates and reconciling our relationship with God. When we take responsibility and identify the sin(s) in our lives –which open the gates through which Satan influences us.

When we sin, we set in motion the irrevocable forces of spiritual laws and give the enemy the legal right to influence us. One of these is the spiritual law of sowing and reaping, of consequence and retribution. Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap(Gal. 6:7). Remember sin is the cause of the iniquity. When we sow words and actions which into sin which produces iniquity; you reap darkness, torment, fear, guilt, shame, pain, illness, depression, irrational behavior, and feelings of worthlessness. With this law comes the certainty of blessings for the obedience and likewise, curses or punishment for disobedience.

Seeking repentance and forgiveness for sin is a lifelong process: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Remember we are only accountable to God for the sins we know about; in His merciful nature, during our lifelong walk with Him, He only convicts us of our sins a few at a time. If He were to reveal all of our sins at once, we would be overwhelmed and feel defeated, we would not even begin to reconcile. Therefore, He reveals our sins to us in layers—as in our attempt to peel individual layers from an onion. The closer we grow to God, the more we see the sin of our lives.

To make things even more difficult, the father of sin—Satan—blinds us, preventing us from seeing our impurities, so we either don’t see them or we rationalize them as not being a true problem. While the sins of our actions (such as lying, fornicating, stealing, cursing, hating, drunkenness, not tithing or involvement with pornography) should be so obvious to us that we should not need the conviction of the Holy Spirit to realize we are in disobedience, the sins of attitude (such as pride, rebellion, unbelief, envy, selfishness, ambition, control, self-independence, self-sufficiency etc.) are much more subtle and more difficult for us to see. These sins are a part of who we are; they are a part of our spiritual inheritance, our personal “culture.”

We are in need of God’s help (through His grace) to see and heal them. God can seldom deal with “the sins of attitude” until we have dealt with “the sins of behavior” (listed hereinafter).

Exactly when we are forgiven of our sins is sometimes not clear. There is absolutely no question that our Lord Jesus Christ’s death upon the cross provided the ultimate sacrifice for the forgiveness of all sin.

But when does that forgiveness actually occur in our life?

Is it at the moment of baptism or at the receiving of the Holy Spirit (being “born again,” John 3:3-6), or is it readily available, as is His grace which is always available to us but for which we must ask, and meet the conditions of confession and repentance in order to receive?

 Many individuals die without having first asked Jesus into their heart; the same may be true of their neglect in asking for forgiveness of sin. Many do not ask for forgiveness, therefore, they have not received it (Jas. 4:2, “… ye have not, because ye ask not”). When we confess, repent and ask for forgiveness, God immediately forgives us. (I John 1:9)

If we are unrepentant when we are baptized, will our sins be forgiven just because we “got wet?” I think not. Likewise, are we forgiven at baptism of the sins we don’t know about and for which we have not asked for forgiveness? I think not. But for these sins, neither are we held accountable until the Lord makes them known to us.

Christ died to cover the sins of the believer, as well as the sins of the heathen—who knows nothing of Jesus or His grace. As I have mentioned previously, we must remember that forgiveness of sin and the consequences of past sins are two different things, and will need to be addressed through two different processes.

There are those who know and trust that they have been forgiven, but yet feelings of condemnation, shame, and guilt continue to afflict them. These repented sins have been covered by the blood of Jesus and remembered by Him, no more.We therefore must depend upon the Holy Spirit to help us identify those sins that are currently (for whatever reason) uncovered and of which we are blinded.

As I read through the spiritual sin checklist lists, be open to the conviction of the Holy Spirit with regard to those sins in your spirit which may be “uncovered,” those of which you may yet be blind. There may be other sins not listed which may come to mind, as well. Those sins which are identified “today” are those the Lord wishes for you to deal with “today.” Other sins may additionally be identified for which you do not feel a conviction. Remember “Line upon line” and “precept upon precept” is the way of the Lord.

 Spiritual Sin Checklist

As we go through the list of 72 behavioral sins, pray that the Lord will convict you of any sins of which you yet need to confess and repent. Use this opportunity to identify and mark (perhaps with the date) those unrepentant sins as the Lord reveals them to you.

As you go through the list allow the Holy Spirt time to address the sin. When I feel convicted of a sin, I have a tendency to feel sad or grieved in my spirit. If you be uncertain of the meaning of any of the following words, I suggest you stop the recording and look them up in the dictionary.

Behavioral sins are identified in the following scriptural references:

      • Ex. 20:1-17,
      • Mark 7:21-22,
      • Rom. 1:29-31,
      • 1 Cor. 6:9-10,
      • Gal.5:19-21,
      • Eph. 4:25-31 and 5:3-5,
      • 1 Pet. 4:3,
      • Phil 2:3.

Ask God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to reveal to you if there are any other sins not on this list that you may have forgotten yet need to address. These sins remain in your subconscious for your entire life until you deal with them. As long as they are there, your spiritual gates remain open and give gives Satan the legal right to continue to use them against you.

Be open to the ways in which God chooses to reveal things to you. He may reveal a picture of something that happened in the past that draws up feelings and/or thoughts that need to be addressed or the name of someone may come to you to spark another memory. If anything is unclear, just ask the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, to enlighten your mind’s understanding.

On some occasions, however, there may be sins buried so deeply that you may need the assistance of an experienced intercessor to help in this process, in asking the Holy Spirit to identify them for you. Typically we are blind to our own baggage or “stuff;” without the Lord’s help and the help of another of His servants, we do not receive the healing we desperately need.

Let us pray,

Father, I ask for the grace necessary to confess my sins and the mercy necessary to receive my forgiveness and healing. I ask in Jesus name, amen.

Sins of Behavior (What we do)

 

Lord God, I confess and acknowledge and am guilty of…….

abortion                                                       evil concupiscence                                Lord’s name in vain

abuser of your body                                   evil thoughts                                           lover of money

abusers of themselves                              extortion                                                  lust

adulterers                                                     fearful                                                      lying

an evil eye                                                     filthy communications                         maliciousness

anger                                                             foolishness                                             malignity

backbiters                                                    fornicators                                               no graven images

bitterness                                                     gossip                                                       occult activity

blasphemy                                                    haters of God                                          other gods

boasters                                                        hatred                                                       pornography

clamor                                                           heresies                                                    reveling

covenant breakers                                       hypocrisy                                                  reviler

covetous                                                        idolaters                                                    sedition

debate                                                            idolatry                                                       slothful in finances

deceitful                                                         implacable                                                 strife

deceiving                                                       iniquity                                                         surfeiting

despiteful                                                      inordinate affection                                   thieves

disobedient to parents                               insecurity                                                      uncleanness

doubt/unbelief                                             inventors of evil things                               unforgiving

drunkenness                                                 jesting                                                            unmerciful

effeminate                                                     keep Sabbath holy                                       variance

emulation                                                       kill                                                                   whisperers

envy                                                                 lasciviousness                                              wickedness

without natural                                               affection                                                        witchcraft

not honoring father and mother

 Now let’s work on the Sins of Attitude (who we are)

prideful                                                             rebellious                                                      self-sufficient           

Independent                                                     seek to excel                                                slothful               

vain                                                                     controlling                                                    complacent

striving                                                               disbelieving                                                  self-righteous

…… as a sin in my life. I am sorry for my sin and I repent of it. I renounce this sin and give back the spiritual ground to my Lord Jesus. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

The process of confessing and repenting of the sins we’ve committed is the easiest step in the practice of closing open gates. Closing other gates may be more difficult. Although Jesus bore our sins, in some areas we have to appropriate the power of the cross in order to receive the desired freedom from sin (Acts 8:23 and 19:18, Eph. 4:28).

 Confession

I would encourage you to make a list of sins which the Holy Spirit shows and find a trustworthy friend, or a pastor, and share your list—for the purpose of confession. There is no need to go into specific details but you do need to verbally confess these sins. Ask your friend or pastor to pray for you, that the Lord might forgive and heal you of all your sins; pray that your spiritual gates in each of these areas may be closed and healed. Then give praise to Jesus.

 Prayer for Healing from the Sin of Lying

Lord God, I come now to confess and acknowledge the sin of lying. Father, only you know the many times I have lied. I know that lying is the language of hell. I am sorry for my sin and I repent of it. I renounce all the lies I have spoken. Release all those to whom I have lied from believing the lies I have spoken. I revoke all assignments of the lies I have spoken. I take back the spiritual authority I gave the darkness when I lied, and I give it to Jesus. I commit to you that I will not lie again. In Jesus name AMEN.

Inner Healing and Deliverance

Over the years as a Christian, I have pondered Romans 7:15,

15 For I do not understand my own actions [I am baffled and bewildered by them]. I do not practice what I want to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate [and yielding to my human nature, my worldliness—my sinful capacity].

What I failed to understand was that I was in bondage which allowed the enemy of my soul to influence me. I had to deal with anger, pride and much more. There are many Christians who do not recognize nor know they are in bondage and that they have strongholds and open “gates” or “doors” which allow darkness to influence them. The scriptural admonition stated in Hosea 4:6 is still applicable today: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

Isa 5:13 says “my people are gone into captivity because they have no knowledge”.

One of Jesus’ purposes in coming to earth was to destroy the works of the devil (I John 3:9-10). He came first to “preach the gospel to the poor” (those spiritually oppressed, Luke 4:18) and to “proclaim liberty to the captives” (Luke 4:18; Is. 42:7, 49:9 and 61:1), then, second, “to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:19, Is. 61:2). The order is very important.

Scripture also tells us that Jesus came to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom of God (Mark 1:4, Matt 12:28). Several other scriptures help us understand what the Gospel of the Kingdom of God is; it  “not in word, but in power” (I Cor 4:20), “But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you(Luke 11:20), “the Kingdome of God is within you”(Luke 17:21) and “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost” (Rom 14:17).

These suggest the Gospel of the Kingdom of God is reclaiming that which belongs to God, but has been temporarily occupied by the kingdom of darkness. Being in bondage to sin separates us from God. Bondage blinds us and keeps us from seeing and hearing the Word of God (Is. 6:9-10, 42:7-9, 42:18-20, Mat. 13:15, 2 Cor. 4:4). Bondage causes us to lose what good news we hear (see Mat. 13:13-17). In ministering to others, we first loose them from darkness so they can spiritually see and hear, then we preach the Good News to them and then they bear fruit even 30, 60 and 100-fold (Matt 13:23).

Other reasons why we should preach, teach, and minister include:

      1. Casting out demons was the first sign mentioned for those who believe (Mark 16:17).
      2. We should follow Christ’s example, wherein an estimated one-third of Christ’s ministry was demonstrated through casting out demons.
      3. Jesus cast out demons to bring the Kingdom of God to seekers (those seeking out Jesus; refer to Jesus’ declaration in Mat. 12:28).
      4. Jesus cast out demons to show that the Kingdom of God is not in word only but in power (see Mat. 6:13, 28:18, 10:1 and 12:28).
      5. We preach, teach, and minister to bring release to seekers, giving “beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness” (Is. 61:3).

 Two Kingdoms

Scripture teaches us that before we were formed in our mother’s womb, God knew us (Jer. 1:5, Eph. 1:4-5). God even knows the number of hairs on our head (Luke 12:7). He created us in love. From the very beginning of time, God desired for us to be healthy: spiritually, emotionally, and physically. Again, the order is important, as hereinafter revealed.

God created Adam and Eve in perfect health, in His own likeness and image (Gen. 1:26); He gave them dominion over all the earth (Gen. 1:28). Sickness and disease did not exist in the Garden of Eden. From the very beginning of his creation, man was not created to be sick or to die. Therefore, we know that God’s perfect will is for us to be in spiritual and physical health. In addition, from scripture, the attributes of the Kingdom of God versus those of the Kingdom of Darkness are made evident.

The Kingdom of God:

God’s kingdom is one of love, acceptance, and forgiveness.

      • He offers us mercy and grace.
      • He is the God of all hope.
      • He is our peace.
      • He will never leave us nor forsake us.
      • He is our deliverer (Rom. 11:26, Mat. 6:13), who has destroyed the works of darkness(ungodliness).

The Kingdom of Darkness (Corrupted Light):

Satan came, bringing disobedience, rebellion, sin, sickness, separation, pain, and torment. He is known as “the prince of this world” (John 12:31,14:30, 16:11). He is called the “God of this age” (2 Cor 4:4). ”and the whole world lieth in wickedness”. (1 John 5:19).

We know that Satan’s kingdom is one where there is no love, no joy, no peace, no acceptance, and no forgiveness; his purposes are to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10).

In the Kingdom of Corrupted Light, there is only rejection, disillusionment, destruction, deceit, division, and despair.

We know that before man inhabited the earth Lucifer was expelled from heaven to the earth. On earth Satan continued his rebellion against God by tempting man to disobey God. Man sinned and became alienated from his Creator. Man then became vulnerable to Satan and the supernatural beings under Satan’s control, known as fallen angels, demons or evil spirits. Satan has a plan for your life, which is to steal, to kill, and to destroy. (John 10:10)

He first wants to keep us from believing in God and Jesus, if he fails in this, then he wants to keep us from knowing Jesus Christ personally, and if that fails, he wants to keep us from serving Jesus Christ effectively.

The Kingdom of God and the kingdom of corrupted light are engaged in a fierce conflict one against the other for the souls, spirits and bodies of men and women on earth. But God, not willing to allow His creation to come under the influence of darkness, prepared a way of escape (salvation) for mankind and sent His own Son, Jesus to earth to show us the way. It is through the message of Jesus and His works on the cross giving us power over the darkness that we are redeemed and set free.

Authority Given Us by God

You must be totally convinced of the absolute victory of the completed work of Jesus, of His absolute victory over darkness. (Rom 8:38-39). God gave Adam a measure of authority over the earth (Gen 1:26) Eve, through deception and Adam, through rebellion gave Satan their authority and subjected all mankind to demonic control (Luke 4:6, Romans 5:12-14, Eph 2:1,2, 2 Cor 4:3,4,1 John 5:19).

Satan offered his authority to Jesus in exchange for worship of Satan. Jesus declined (Luke 4:7) When Jesus die, rose and ascended, He totally and completely stripped Satan’s authority over any child of God (Col 2:13-15, Heb 2:14, 1 John 3:8).

The Scriptures tell us that Jesus has absolute authority in heaven and in earth.

And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. (Matt 28:18)

Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come, and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church”. (Eph 1:21-22)

And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it”. (Col 2:15)

Jesus gave this power and authority to the 12 apostles, (Matt 10:1) then to the 70 (Luke 10:9,19) and finally to us. (Mark 16:17-18) Those who belong to Jesus come out from under Satan’s authority, influence and control and move into God’s domain and are given the authority over Satan and his demons. (Rom 8:37-39, Col 1:13, 1 John 4:4, 5:18) The only authority the darkness has is what you or someone else gives them. Whatever you come into agreement with, you empower.

We are one In Christ. He is with us and in us. This principle of unification with Christ took place when you received salvation (asked Jesus to be the Lord of your life). You and Christ are one. (see Rom 6, 8, Eph 2, 4, Gal 2:20). We need to be assured of who we are, and who’s we are In Christ, and that we have absolute authority over darkness given us by Jesus Christ.

Remember that demons aren’t being made anymore. There’s the same number wandering around the planet today as there were in Jesus’ day, yet the population of people has increased into the billions. On top of that we all know from Scripture that there are two angels for every demon.

And since Jesus has ALL authority, (Matt 28:18) that leaves none for the devil. The “All” has been handed over to us. The devil only has the power and authority we give him.

Some authors have observed that not all believers can cast out demons (Mark 16:17); therefore, they make the case that while all believers have authority from Jesus Christ to do so, most believers do not yet have the power to do so.

The example given is the policemen standing at the corner under a speed limit sign. The policemen’s authority comes from the governmental jurisdiction, but the “power” comes from the court system. We know he has authority, but we probably would not slow down unless we knew he also had the “power” from the courts to uphold the law. Spiritual power comes from a closeness to Jesus, an anointing by the Holy Spirit, faith, education and experience.

Prayer For Authority

So let us take our places in the heavens, repeat this prayer with me….

I am a child of the King, I am a co-heir with Jesus the Christ. All that Jesus bought and paid for is my inheritance.

I am united with Jesus; I have been crucified with Christ. I died with Him, I am buried with Him, I was raised with Him, I am seated with Him in the heavenlies far above all rule, all power, all authority, and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. Therefore, I carry the authority of Christ.

I have authority over sickness, over sin, over demons, and over the world. I am the salt of the earth. I am the light of the world. I will displace the darkness. I have the full armor of God. I put on the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of truth, the helmet of salvation, the sandals of peace, I take up the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit, for the weapons of my warfare are not carnal.

They are divinely powerful to tear down the strongholds of darkness. I can do all things through Christ, because greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world. (credit to Rodney Hogue) Amen

How Darkness Gets In

Adam and Eve listened to Satan’s lies and allowed sin to enter God’s beautiful world, thus causing all mankind to inherit the effects of sin, including sickness and death. Because God knew we would be born into a world whose prince (Satan) is evil, He created a spiritual “hedge” (as illustrated in Job 1:10) around us to shield us from the influences of the evil one (Job 1:10 and 2:4-6).

Even so, God provides spiritual armor for our protection (Eph. 6:13-18). Also,

God’s angels camp round about us to preserve and to protect us (Ps. 34:7 and 91:10-12).

All of us are born with a spiritual hedge like Job’s, but because of the original sin of Adam and Eve (and subsequent sins), we have doors or gates open in our hedge that allow Satan to inflict us, as Satan inflicted Job. Eccl: 10:8 says “. . . .whoso breaketh a hedge, a serpent shall bite him.

These open doors have many causes; here are the most common causes:

      • Our own sins (lying, stealing, cheating, pride, etc.)
      • Unforgiveness (bitterness)
      • Participation in or exposure to the occult,
      • Sexual sins (adultery)
      • Abortion (deliberate termination of a human)
      • Divorce (separate or dissociate (something) from something else.)
      • Curses (utter offensive words in anger or annoyance)
      • Inherited or Generational Sin: See Exodus 20:5 regarding the iniquities of the fathers being passed on to the children of the third and fourth generations.
      • Objects & Places
      • Secret societies (Free Mansions, Bones & Skulls)
      • Involuntary exposure to darkness
      • Trauma (Car Accidents, near death experiences)
      • Words, Lies
      • Vows and death wishes (dedicate to someone or something, especially a deity-desire for someone’s death / especially an unconscious desire for one’s own death)
      • Hurts, Emotions and Memories, Wounds and hurts deep within our spirit
      • Sins of others against us (physical, verbal, or sexual abuse, rejection, etc.)
      • Verbal Abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse
      • Rejection (the dismissing or refusing of a proposal, idea, etc)
      • Our Image of God (God is punishing God)

How It All Works

Sin opens doors or gates in our spiritual hedge of protection, thus allowing spiritual pollution to enter, which causes spiritual as well as physical problems. Sin can actually make us sick—spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically. There is no “safe dabbling” or “demon free zone” when it comes to associations with the powers of darkness.

The Good News is that God loves us and wants to restore us to His Kingdom, so much so that he sent His Son Jesus to earth that we may be forgiven, saved, healed, and delivered (Is. 53:5 and 61:1-3) from the works of darkness. The Good News is that God wants to restore us to Himself that we might walk in the peace and protection of His will.

Sins, wounds, and hurts are always barriers which separate us from approaching God or from feeling connected to Him. These dark influences in our lives (at times resulting in bondage) hinder or prevent us from being restored to our rightful relationship with the Lord, from hearing His voice and knowing His will for our lives.

Dark influences severely restrict our ministry; they keep us in bondage and prevent God’s healing power from working in us. Nonetheless, know that God wants whatever is separating us from Him to be healed. He wants to close the open gates in our spiritual hedge and to set us free from the influences of darkness.

He wants to remove all the chains (or ropes) binding people in the different areas of their lives. The Good News is that God’s love can heal us, can rebuild our hedge and restore our spirit, our emotions and our body to wholeness, and can transform us to allow us to experience and live the abundant life promised through Christ. Again, God wants us to be restored to Him in the purity and innocence that Adam first had in the beginning.

But most Christians don’t believe they can have these open gates and dark or binding influences—because they have experienced baptism. Even though baptism provides forgiveness for our sins if we repent, it does not necessarily take away the consequences of our sins or of those of our ancestors. These consequences (passed on through the generations as spoken of in Exodus 20:5, as well as in other scriptures) are called “iniquities.” Plainly stated, sin is the cause and iniquity is the result, consequences, or effect of the sin.

For example, if you are driving drunk, hit a pedestrian and put him in the hospital, and this person then has a permanent disability; will the Lord forgive your sin? Yes, if you repent.

Yes He provided for our forgiveness on the Cross; but will He immediately remove the consequences of that sin? No. The sin (the cause) is on the head of the driver but the result or consequences (iniquities) of that sin is borne by the pedestrian.

Christians can be totally repentant and still unknowingly be under the influence of darkness in parts of their spirit as a result of the consequences of previous sin. The problem is one of awareness. Again, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6). “Where there is no counsel, the people fall” (Prov 11:14). “My people are gone into captivity because they have no knowledge” (Isa 5:13-14).

A person who is sick and doesn’t know they are sick will never go to a doctor. A Christian who is crippled on the inside, but who thinks his life is normal, will never ask God for healing; and “we have not because we ask not” (Jas. 4:2).

Many Christians struggle with major issues in their lives but are ignorant of the fact that the victory Jesus won for them on the cross not only assures them of eternal salvation but also provides the keys to healing (Is. 53:5, Mal. 4:2). Unfortunately many Christians believe that because they have been saved and born again they are protected from darkness. Satan loves such spiritual blindness and false beliefs. To think that salvation and baptism shields us from darkness is one of Satan’s biggest deceptions.

As an example, look at the Apostle Peter. Peter was obedient, he followed Jesus (Matt 4:19), he had power to cast out demons and heal the sick (Matt 10:1), he had faith to walk on water (Matt 14:29), he was a part of the miracles of feeding the 5000 (Matt 14:21), and the 4000 (Matt 15:38), and he was prophetic when he knew who Jesus was (Matt 16:16).

But when he was rebuking Jesus about going to Jerusalem, Jesus said unto Peter, “Get thee behind me, Satan” (Matt 16:23). Many believe Peter had a demon; else Jesus would have spoken to Peter, not Satan.

Look at the struggle Apostle Paul had. In Romans chapter 6 & 7 Paul talks about his fight against sin, “I do what I hate” (Rom 7:15), “evil is present in me” (Rom 7:21) and says “Oh wretched Man I Am” (Rom 7:24-25). He mentions the word “I” over 40 times. But in chapter 8 he admits he can do nothing and needs the Holy Spirit. He mentions the Holy Spirit 16 times.

Healing of the Spirit involves the applications of the cross, the blood of our Lord Jesus, and the resurrection life and light of Jesus—to whatever is in the person’s spirit that has not yet been redeemed.

            With the help of the Holy Spirit, the Lord is asked to walk through our spiritual house, to cleanse it of all defilements and of every deposit of evil and sin. Many times physical healing comes, as well as inner spirit healings. God’s promises of healing, and the inherited rights of the believer given to us by Jesus’ death on the cross, are for those who have accepted Jesus into their hearts, have been baptized, and have a desire to follow Him. Before we address a number of the more common open gates in our spirits, and how to close them, we need to review four types of healing, and the scriptures relating to them.

Scriptures Concerning Healing

Let’s read Luke 4:18-19 to review the six aspects for which Jesus was anointed: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me (you), because he hath anointed me (you) to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me (you). So let’s brake it down:

      1. to heal the brokenhearted,
      2. to proclaim liberty to the captives,
      3. and recovery of sight to the blind,
      4. to set at liberty them that are bruised,
      5. to proclaim the acceptable year of Lord

Healing Journey

Close your eyes and see yourself going into the cross. On the other side of the cross see yourself on an ancient path. As you begin going down this path, see yourself walking with Jesus…. invite Jesus to go with you into your spiritual house. Ask Jesus to cleanse your house of all defilements, of every deposit of evil and sin. Ask Him to cleanse and close every gate and door which has been opened to the world and the enemy. Ask Him to help you remove any obstacles which are prohibiting the Father from entering through your first love gate………

Dealing With Repentance and Forgiveness

In Isaiah 61:1-2: we see 6 things which a born-again Christian can do while In Christ.

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed and qualified me (you) to preach the Gospel of good tidings to the meek, the poor, and afflicted; He has sent me (you) to bind up and heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the [physical and spiritual] captives and the opening of the prison and of the eyes to those who are bound,To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord [the year of His favor] and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,

      1. preach the gospel to the poor” [in spirit]) (Also see Matt 5:3 It is the first Beatitude)

Healing, forgiveness, and repentance are interconnected.

      • Mat. 9:2                                         
      • Mark 2:5
      • Luke 5:20 and 7:47                 
      • Jas. 5:15
      1. Forgiveness and repentance are required to complete the healing process.
        • Mat. 3:2 and 4:17
        • Mat. 6:15,12                  
        • Mat. 18:35
        • Mark 11:26
        • Luke 13:3, 5
        • Jas. 5:9

Healing the Wounded Spirit

      1. heal the brokenhearted” – Deals with inner healing of emotions, wounds, and hurts.
        • Prov. 20:27
        • Is. 61:1-3                          
        • John 13:21
        • Ps. 30:5, 11 and 45:7 
        • Ezek. 11:19 and 18:31 
        • 1 Cor. 6:20
        • Ps. 51:10 and 92:10   
        • Ezek. 36:26-27
        • 2 Cor. 4:16
        • Ps. 35:18 and 41:4     
        • Mat. 6:22-23

Healing from the Powers of Darkness

 

      1. to proclaim liberty to the captives – Dealing with release from bondages)

Matthew                                                       Mark                                       Luke                            Acts

8:16                                                              1:23-26                                   4:33-35                        5:16

8:28-33                                                         1:32, 34                                  4:41                             8:7

10:1, 8                                                           3:10-12                                   6:18                            16:16-18

12:22                                                             3:14-15                                    7:21                           19:12

12:27-28                                                       3:22                                         8:2                              19:13-16

15:22, 28                                                      3:30                                         8:27-37

17:15                                                             5:1-14                                      9:1

                                                                        6:13                                         9:28-42

                                                                        7:25                                         13:11-13

                                                                        9:17-26

 

Healing of the Body:

      4. recovering of sight to the blind

Matthew                                                     Mark                                       Luke                            Acts

4:23                                                              1:31-32, 41-42                    4:39-40                         3:1-7

8:13, 15-16                                                   2:5-9                                    5:12-13, 17-18             5:16

9:6, 28-29, 36                                                5:23, 29, 41-42                  6:8, 19                          9:33-34, 40

10:1                                                              6:5, 13, 56                             7:14-15                       14:10

11:5                                                              7:34, 37                                  8:47, 55                     19:12

12:11                                                            8:25                                         9:1                             28:8

14:14                                                           10:46-52                                  14:4

15:28                                                                                                             18:42-43

20:34                                                                                                             22:51

John                                                              1 Pet. 2:24

4:50                                                              Is. 53:5

5:5-8

9:6-7

    1. set at liberty them that are bruised”)
    2. only then did he proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord

It is interesting that most people who come for prayer come for # the 4 healing of their bodies. This is their # 1 priority. However, God’s highest priority is healing of the spirit (thru repentance). We the church seem to have the priorities backwards.

Peter Wagner and others have classified “spiritual warfare” into three separate levels:

    1. Ground or Personal Level:

This is where the casting out of demons from an individual (commonly called deliverance) is practiced. This procedure is more thoroughly covered in a separate section entitled “Healing from Influences of Darkness.”

    1. Occult Level:

This deals with demonic activity occurring in objects, such as is practiced in Satanism, witchcraft, shamanism, curandero, and freemasonry (as discussed in several other sections within this material).

    1. Territorial Level:

This level deals with powerful principalities and powers over houses, neighborhoods, city, territories, regions, and nations (and is likewise discussed in the section on “Setting Your Church Free”).

 What Unclean Spirits Do

There are countless demons, one that corresponds to every sin. In the book entitled “Pigs in The Parlor” it lists over 250 demons. Characteristics of unclean spirits mentioned in the scriptures include:

    1. Continues to tempt people to sin (Gen. 3:1-6)
    2. Afflicts and destroys (Job 2:3-6)
    3. Opposes God’s angels (Zech. 3:1)
    4. Speaks, cries out (Mat. 8:29-31, Luke 4:41)
    5. Indwells humans and animals (Mat. 8:28-32)
    6. Steals truth from our minds (Mat. 13:19)
    7. Tries to express their nature (Mat. 17:15)
    8. Throws people (Luke 4:35)
    9. Torments people (Luke 6:18)
    10. Steals the Word of God from the hearts of the people (Luke 8:12)
    11. Breaks chains (Luke 8:29)
    12. Drives people into the wilderness (Luke 8:29)
    13. Recognized Jesus and Paul (Luke 9:38)
    14. Causes people to foam at the mouth (Luke 9:39)
    15. Bruises people (Luke 9:39)
    16. Binds physically (Luke 13:16)
    17. Opposes, harasses, and hinders the work of God’s servants (Luke 22:31, 2 Cor. 12:7)
    18. Tempts God’s people to sin (Luke 22:31)
    19. Steals, kills & destroys (John 10:10)
    20. Places wicked thoughts and plans into the minds of people (John 13:2, Acts 5:3)
    21. Enters and controls a person—as when Satan entered Judas (John 13:27)
    22. Lies (Acts 5:3)
    23. Counterfeits the genuine (Acts 8:9-11)
    24. Causes sickness and suffering (Luke 13:11)
    25. Attacks physically (Acts 19:16)
    26. Tempts believers to engage in immorality (1 Cor. 7:5)
    27. Blinds people’s minds to the truth of the gospel (2 Cor. 4:4)
    28. Transforms himself into an angle of light (2 Cor 10:4)
    29. Takes advantage of weaknesses (2 Cor. 2:11)
    30. Orchestrates the work of demons (Eph. 6:11-12)
    31. Hinders the spread of the gospel (2 Thes. 2:1-10)
    32. Sets traps and snares to cause believers to fall into sin (1 Tim. 3:7)
    33. Encourages false religions and spirituality by doctrines of demons (1 Tim. 4:1-3)
    34. Attacks viciously (1 Pet. 5:8)
    35. Incites persecution against believers (Rev. 2:10)
    36. Deceives all men (Rev. 12:9)
    37. Accuses and slanders believers (Rev. 12:10)

Symptoms of the Possible Demonic Habitation

Note: A true believer can only be influenced by a demon, but not possessed. Why, because it is the Holy Spirit resides within the true believer. Through the revelation concerning the Court of Mercy, we know deal with these demons in the Courts of Mercy

Here they are in Ascending Order according to the Degree of Influence

      1. Restlessness exhibited during worship services
      2. Tried everything else
      3. Sleep disturbances
      4. Feels compulsions for little or no reason
      5. Extreme behavior
      6. Commands to do something unrealistic
      7. Chronic fear, anxiety, or hatred—for no apparent reason
      8. Heaviness in the chest
      9. Feels conditional forgiveness
      10. Unrealistic suggestions
      11. Dislike revealed for anything associated with religion and/or Christianity
      12. Not reading the Scriptures or praying (at all)
      13. Not going to church
      14. Can’t read the Scriptures for any length of time
      15. Withdraws from church people
      16. Can’t pray
      17. Can’t say the name of Jesus
      18. Feels something is inside of them, controlling their actions and/or their speech
      19. Hearing voices in their mind speaking to them
      20. Exhibiting counterfeit spiritual gifts
      21. Having suicidal thoughts
      22. Attempting suicide
      23. Cutting themselves
      24. Having glazed eyes or a vacant stare
      25. When their speech is not their own; there’s evidence of a change of voice (or multiple voices or animal sounds
      26. Sudden appearance of marks on the body
      27. Having conversation with unseen beings
      28. Unusual behavior: animal-like movements, the inability to sit still, unusual postures or gestures, including nearly-impossible contortions of the body 
      29. Their eyes becoming white, unearthly, and vile; a stench or bad odor exists
      30. Object begin to come out of the nose or mouth
      31. An unseen force throws the person
      32. Uncontrollable fits and foaming at the mouth

Definitions

Much has been written about words to define or classify the degree to which a person is influenced by demons, such as demonized, influenced, oppressed, or possessed. Jesus did not use any of these words. Nor does the Bible define them, and uses “possessed” or “had” most often.

Because there is no agreement on the definitions of these terms, and because we believe that rather than levels of influence it is a matter of degree of influence, a continuum, from being mildly to severely influenced, with no distinct categories, we will not use these terms here. Some may feel the words describing demonic activity such as oppressed, demonized, possessed, devils, evil spirits are important, we don’t.

Even the different versions of the Bible don’t agree. It truly does a disservice to the seeker to describe them either within their hearing, or elsewhere using one or more of these inconsistent terms.

Why do we have to use definitions at all?

In this series, we have chosen to use terms such as “Healing of the Spirit”, and “influenced by darkness”, which are much more kind to seekers, and much more acceptable in many congregations. When some hear the word “deliverance”, or “demonized”, they think of “The Exorcist” movie. They become anxious and fearful. It is possible to provide ministry to those influenced by darkness without using any of the more common terms. We need to put the seeker first in our considerations.