2018/02/11

Freedom from Generational Iniquity & Curses 4 of 5


Speaker: Mike Connell

Notice there that Jesus took our transgressions - that’s breaking the law of God. He was bruised for our iniquities - that’s the core twist in our nature against God. So when Jesus died at the cross, He took all our iniquities, so that the power of iniquity could be broken completely. He took our transgressions and our sins. Colossians 2:14-15 – he removed them out of the way. Broke the power of curses, and positioned us to be blessed.

So therefore, what is required of us? How do we get a person free of these cursings? When you are working with someone, we need to ask the Holy Spirit to show us what the real problem is, and what its root is. We need to ask the Holy Spirit to help us. It’s always challenging to find the problem and its root. The problem may be obvious, or not obvious; but the root is what is empowering this thing. So we need to find: what is the root; and remove it, so that the person gets free from the power.

How would we get to the root of the problem? You have to ask the Holy Spirit to help you. You have to ask questions. So ask the Holy Spirit to help you, and of course, listen to what He has to say. He might just drop a thought in your mind to enquire about something.



Do you remember I’ve told you about the young man who was angry - and the Lord just dropped a thought in my mind. Obviously I asked the first question – “When did it start?”; “Are you the elder son? Were you conceived out of wedlock?” He said: “Where did you get these questions from?” “I just felt them inside - I was just listening to the Holy Spirit, and immediately nailed the problem”. From there we could work out a solution.

So the first thing is to ask the Holy Spirit to help you, and learn to listen to what He shows you. It may be that you just get a thought that comes to mind, a picture comes to mind, or you just feel the need to ask something. Stay sensitive to the Holy Spirit.

So when we’re looking at the person’s problem, you can ask these questions. What is the problem? When did it start? The question ‘when did it start?’ tends to open up whether this is a generational problem or not.

Did any member in your family have this problem? So you could draw a simple family tree, and you begin to look and see where these things have come from. When I’m working, I always have a piece of paper with me, and I ask questions about the person, then about their father, about their mother. I begin to look and see if there’re any issues coming down from either side of the family. Asking questions can help establish where this thing had begun; or the Holy Spirit will show you.
So you get it by listening - listen to the Holy Spirit; listen to the person. So listening is very important in trying to diagnose. Don’t jump to conclusions quickly. Listen and ask and follow what God is saying to your heart. The first steps of getting a person free are what you call ‘diagnose’. I would sit with a piece of paper, and I write down the things which are apparently the problems.

Now, how do we deal with a generational curse, and generational iniquity? Let me give you just a couple scriptures on that. In Leviticus 26:40, there’s a clue to how the person can get set free. Notice what God says in His word in verse 39 – 40: “They’re in their fathers’ iniquities, and are wasting away; but if they confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, and their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, and walked contrary to Me.”

So you notice: confession of iniquity is important. There are a number of examples of people confessing iniquity. For example, Nehemiah 1:6 - he confessed his own iniquities, and the iniquities of his fathers. Nehemiah 9:37 – Nehemiah confessed the iniquities of himself, and his fathers. Daniel 9:3 – who also confessed his iniquities. So, there has to be acknowledgment of the sin. The sin, the iniquity, must be brought to the cross.

So, what is the generational iniquity; and have you been doing this yourself? You have to find that out. For example, if the issue was idolatry - the parents were involved in idolatry; but did you do this as well? Your own sins you need to acknowledge, and the sins of your parents that opened the door for the sin.

1) We diagnose the problem - by asking the Holy Spirit; and asking the person questions.
2) We talk to the person and we show them how to get free. We explain to them what Christ has done for them. They are redeemed from the curse. God desires to position them for blessing. Galatians 3:13-14. But for this to happen, they need to do some things. So we explain to them what they must do.
These are quite logical steps: the diagnosis of what the problem is; help them understand what Christ has done; help them understand what they need to do; then we tell them what we will do to help them. I will lead you in a prayer, and this is what you will need to do in the prayer.

1) You will need to acknowledge Christ, because it is by identifying with Christ that we are free.

2) You will need to acknowledge the iniquity - for family iniquity, and your own iniquity.

3) You will need to renounce the generational curse. To renounce means to cancel its power. You need to speak words, to break the power of this iniquity and cursing. You need to ask Jesus to forgive you, to cleanse you from this iniquity. You’ll need to release forgiveness – to forgive family members who opened the door for this iniquity; and you’ll need to make a stand of faith, calling on the Lord to deliver you, and holding on to His words.

We’ll go through that again, so we’ve got the pattern of what must happen. It begins with diagnosis – asking the questions and listening to the person and the Holy Spirit. Identifying where this came from, father or mother - through which line? So we’ve done the diagnosis.

Then we need to explain to them what Jesus has done, because it’s faith in Christ that brings freedom. Galatians 3:13-14 are very good verses for this - very clear. So help them understand, that it is by faith in Christ that the remedy comes. Then we explain to them their part in the process; and what our part will be. We will lead them through a prayer to acknowledge Christ. We will lead them through a prayer to acknowledge the generational iniquity, and their own iniquity. To renounce and cancel the cursing, ask forgiveness and cleansing; release forgiveness to family members who open the door; to resist this curse, and reach out to Jesus in faith. So that’s the process.

Then of course, the last thing I found which is helpful, is to teach them to hold the cross of Christ between them and the family line. You are a new person in Christ.

What would the prayer look like? What would a prayer for generational idolatry look like? I’ll go through now, and I’ll put words to what I’ve just said. I’ll go slowly, because you may decide you’d like to write it down. Here’s the thing: don’t be preoccupied trying to get exact wording. Some people get fussed over getting the wording right - which is just the externals. I’d rather get the heart right, and stay in the flow of the Spirit, than be worried about getting every detail right.
Let me just break the prayer down for you, following exactly the steps we said.

1) The confession of faith. It would sound something like this. “Father I come to You in Jesus’ name. I confess Jesus Christ as my Saviour and Lord. I am redeemed by the blood of Jesus. From every curse, every evil spirit, all iniquity, all sin, I am redeemed. I belong to Jesus.” That’s just a confession of faith. It is extremely powerful. It’s really good for you to lead the person in that. You notice it’s just confessing my connection with Christ, and belief in what he’s done - this is the basis of freedom. What sets you free is faith in the blood, not faith in the prayer. What sets a person free is faith in Christ, not faith in the person praying - so you’re directing them towards Christ. Now we’ll go to the next part.

2) “Lord I stand as a representative of my family, and acknowledge our iniquity. I bring our family generational iniquity of idolatry to the cross. I confess I have also been involved in idolatry, so I bring my iniquity to the cross.”

You notice quite clearly that we brought family iniquity or sin to the cross; we brought personal sin to the cross. It may well be that the person has not actually been involved in that iniquity themselves, but most likely they have. You can see that it is important to confess the sin. “I ask you Lord to forgive me, and cleanse me of this iniquity and from all iniquity and sin”. So sin is confessed.

3.) Now speak words to renounce. “In Jesus’ name, I renounce, I cancel, all generational curses, all agreements with evil spirits. I renounce them, and cancel them. I renounce all iniquity in our family line, in Jesus’ name.

Lord I forgive my family; I forgive my parents; and those in my family who opened the door for this iniquity, who opened the door for this curse - I forgive them and bless them.”

It may be helpful at that point to renounce any judgements - “I renounce all judgements I made against my father and mother. I cancel them now.”

Now can you see that just by words - we’re dismantling things. If you can remember just the key things that are involved, it’s quite easy to remember how to pray a prayer to dismantle it - “I renounce all agreements my family members have entered into with evil spirits. I renounce all generational curses - I renounce and cancel their power. I renounce all agreements with evil spirits. I renounce this iniquity in my family line, and I cancel its power.”

Now, here’s where you would put in the cross - “Father I forgive my family, forgive my father and mother; renounce all judgements I’ve made against them. I hold the cross of Christ between me and my family line, and declare this iniquity and curse broken.” You see that the person, by confession, is dismantling this problem. “Now Lord I ask You to set me free”.
I tried to break that down into its elements. Now, what would you do at that point? At that point, you need to minister to them; so, this is what you would do. You need to speak into two things” 1) into the iniquity and curses, to break them; and 2) to the demonic spirits that are in the person. So one: you need to confront and break bondages, break the generational curses and iniquity, and two: you need to command the spirits to come out of them. Let the Holy Spirit to guide and direct.
You would do it something like this. Remember when you’re speaking now into the spirit realm - speak differently to when you are leading them in a prayer. Rise up in your spirit – “In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I break the generational curses. I break all agreements made with evil spirits. I break them in Jesus’ name. I break all generational iniquity. I break it in Jesus’ name. I cut off this hold from your life.”

It’s like you’re speaking, as God’s representative, to cancel things. “In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I command the spirits of idolatry - I command you to go”. Of course, the spirits you will command depend on the nature of the thing you’ve been dealing with - the unclean spirits. As the Holy Spirit leads you, you’ll command different spirits.

There’s one more part. This is what the person must fulfil. Let’s go back to Galatians 3:14-15. Here’s the last thing the person needs to do: they need to meditate, and renew in the word of God, and renew their thinking. They need to meditate in the word of God; and renew their thinking - this would lead to a change in how they behave or respond. There should be a shift in thinking, and a shift in behaving - both are needed. That will need to be specific, depending on what the person has been involved in.

In Galatians 3:14-15 – “He has redeemed us from the curse of the law”. So that is actually broken, but it’s important I don’t live anymore like a man under law. It’s important I live as a blessed person. That the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles through faith in Christ, and I receive the promise of the Spirit.

So what I need to do is to take the word of God, and begin to meditate in it. To meditate in God’s word, and relate it to the specific area I’ve been defeated in. I need to begin to picture this word as real in my life. I’m not earning blessing - Jesus earned the blessing. What I need to do, is believe that I am blessed; and think like I am blessed; and hold on to ‘I am blessed’; and then begin to live it out. So I need to renew how I think. This is where a lot of people get into difficulties - they’ve gone through ministry, but in their thinking, they still think like a cursed person; rather than think like a blessed person.

For example, suppose the issue was repeated cycles of financial failure. So when a person fails financially, they tend to believe in their heart: I’m no good with money; I’m a failure; there’s always a lack; something will always go wrong. They begin to think: failure; their heart becomes set on failure, expecting failure. They live and behave in ways that produce failure.

The person has come into a place now where they are free from that - they can change their believing. That means to meditate – Today I am blessed as I come in, I am blessed as I go out. God’s favour is on all that I do. Thank you that my finances are blessed. I now need to shift the way I behave, to live that out.

Before when I was cursed, living under bondage, I was afraid and fearful to give; or if I did give, it’s giving out of fear. You do this and you’ll be blessed; don’t do this and you’ll be cursed. I’m going to shift my thinking now - I am living in blessing. I have all I need. God supplies everything. I have no lack. Now, externally, I may not have changed, but internally I have to change. I’ve got to start to align with what God says is true. If I align internally, with faith, in what God says - eventually, externally everything will change as well.

In other words, I need to begin to meditate on God being an abundant God, and agree that I’ve got no lack. I need to be established in what God’s word says is true. I don’t want to go back into some old thing, where I’m thinking: if I tithe I’m blessed; if I don’t tithe, I’m cursed - then I’m living under the law again. A lot of Christians go back to the law. I need to stay in this place: I am blessed; and a blessed person is a generous person - who gives. I give because I’m blessed. I’m not giving because if I don’t, I’m afraid I’ll be cursed! I need to adjust my thinking to live how a blessed person lives.

What I have noticed with people is that they want you to come fix their problems with a prayer; but they often don’t want to follow on to know the Lord in the area of blessing, because this requires work and effort and responsibility. It requires that I begin to meditate in the word, and begin to align my life to agree with the word of God.

In other words, I need to follow on to know the Lord - I need to become a disciple of Christ. So there is no neutral ground: I’m either dropping back into the old way of living; or I’m turning to the new way of living - I need to hold that constantly.

So what do I do when I still feel the pressure on me leading me back to the old way? I need to declare strongly: the blood of Jesus has broken iniquity, I refuse to yield to it - I am blessed. I need to identify: I am a new person now.

So I begin to picture what that looks like. Thank you Lord I’m blessed in all that I do. Begin to see it, imagine it, and allow truth to be established. Then look at my life - am I living it out like a blessed person. What would that look like? You notice that it’s not passive. It’s not – I have these problems, please pray for me. No, I am a new creation in Christ - I am a blessed person. I have the Spirit of God, and I live in blessing as I set my mind on the Spirit, and not on the old ways of the flesh.

So the life of blessing is something given to me freely; but I need to believe and walk out of my life. That is where a lot of people don’t move on. They don’t realise that I have to tear down old thinking patterns as they come back into my mind. If any thoughts of poverty come, I have to pull them down quick; or I’ll start to feel lack, and I’ll start to respond in fear, and go back to how I used to live. Living in blessing, means living in faith - confident in what God says is true. It may take time to educate my heart to believe, that I have really changed.

So what happens in something like this: I’m living in this path of iniquity and cursing and bondage; then I come to Christ, and He says: now you are a blessed person. So I cut off all of those things; but I still at times keep thinking like the old way used to think. It’s like this pull towards the old way, all the time.

I need to speak: iniquity is broken, I am a blessed person. I’ve got to speak to this thing: that it’s broken by the blood of Jesus, and I live as a blessed person; and you meditate on that blessed life – God is with me, my needs are met, I have abundance, the Lord is my Sheppard and I shall not want. People know ‘the Lord is my Sheppard and I shall not want’; but what they don’t know in their heart is that: God Almighty is my friend, and there’s no area that I lack. It’s a heart place of confidence in God. So I’ve been shifted into blessing by Christ. Now I have to think and live like a blessed person.

When maybe there’s some pressure that comes financially - old thinking starts to return. I’ve got to constantly push against it, and redirect my attention: I have abundance in Christ - I am blessed. I look out, and it doesn’t look like I’m blessed; but don’t go back to old thinking, stay in the new. It’s an internal shift from iniquity, crookedness, demonic power, cursing Me and resisting Me; to now: confident in God, and living like a blessed person.

So if I live like a blessed person, then a blessed person is generous, confident. So the battle is now not a battle to make God bless me; it’s a battle to believe I’m blessed, and to be at rest - it’s an internal battle, and that’s the battle all believers have to face. When your heart becomes at rest, actually, God is blessing you. Each time your heart comes to rest, you’ve won the fight. This is an ongoing thing all your life.

People all love to just get ministry to get free; and there’s a place in the power that release can come; but they have to then change and live like a free person. Very soon they go back, and instead of living from the spirit and heart, they live out of the mind, and all its old opinions and thinking.

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