Bits and Pieces
Miscellaneous Teachings & Testimonies
On Subjects Relevant To Intercessors

Curses That Blind People To The Gospel

There is a real spiritual power that is released when a person speaks either blessings or curses. That is because when God created mankind and put them in the garden of Eden, He gave them authority over creation. We have lost a large measure of that authority when we fell into sin, but we still retain some portion of it. The Bible tells us that man, after the fall, is a little lower than the angels and that God has given man dominion over the things God created (Ps 8:5-6). In other words, even in our fallen state, we have retained some portion of our original authority, and that is why there is some power in our spoken blessings and cursing.

We have power to bless and we also have power to curse. But there are times when our words get empowered by either God or the devil, so that our words carry greater authority and release greater spiritual power. I.e., God often empowers our spoken blessings, particularly when we bless in His name. And the devil can (and does) empower our spoken curses. This can effect a person's health, their sense of well being or even their receptivity to the gospel.

Let me give an example from one of the most common Western curses. When someone does something to offend or anger or annoy us, many Westerners respond with the "traditional" curse of "God damn you!" Most people don't think about what that means when they say it, they just respond in anger. But the meaning behind those words is, "May you be blinded to the gospel so that you don't receive Christ and be saved and go to Heaven. Instead, I want you to spend all eternity separated from God and suffering terribly as a result of that." (That is a pretty terrible curse, isn't it?)

As it turns out, the enemy loves to empower that type of curse. We know that it is God's will that none should perish and that all should be saved. Likewise it is the devil's will that all should perish and none should be saved. So when a person releases the curse "God damn you" on someone, the devil is very happy to empower that because it lines up with his wishes. He releases spiritual energy to blind an unsaved recipient of that curse to the gospel. The more the unsaved person is cursed in that manner, that gives the devil greater power to blind that person to the gospel -- it makes it harder for that unsaved person to become saved.

Intercessors, if you are praying for an unsaved person, you may want to break any curses that have been spoken against them to hinder that person's salvation. If the person is particularly resistant to the gospel, there might be a curse operating to blind them to the gospel. In other words, they hear the "good news" but they are unable to comprehend it and therefore they are unable to receive it.

Counter this in prayer by breaking off any spiritual empowerment that may have come when someone said to them, "God Damn you!" Treat it as a curse. Use the authority of Jesus to break the curse. Then cancel any assignment of any demon who has been blinding that person to the gospel. Finally, bless the person with the ability to comprehend the good news of what Jesus has done for them.

Sins Of The Fathers Effect Their Descendants

Genesis chapters 16 to 21 have something very interesting in them. It has to do with the "sins" of the Fathers effecting their descendants. Let me share it with you.

In Genesis 15:13-16, God appears to Abraham and told him, "13 Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. 14And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. 16But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete."

Then jump down to Chapter 16, verses 1 and 2: "1 Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. And she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar. 2So Sarai said to Abram, 'See now, the LORD has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.' And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai."

In Genesis 15, God told Abraham that his descendents will serve the Egyptians for 400 years. Immediately afterwards, we see that Abraham had an Egyptian servant (Hagar) who was mistreated by Sarah and Abraham. First she is forced to have sex with her master and bare him a child. Then in 16:5-6, Sarah became abusive to Hagar to the point where she ran away. God sent an angel to speak to Hagar and to send her back to Abraham and Sarah. And she had the child, Ishmael, when Abraham was 86. Thirteen years later, God appeared to Abraham and made a covenant with him, telling him that Sarah is going to give him a son, and that son (not Ishmael) will be his descendent who will receive God's promises (Gen 17:15 to 21).

We know from Chapter 16 that there was a long running tension between Sarah and Hagar. Abraham had given Sarah permission to be harsh with Hagar, and there is no reason to assume this changed over the next thirteen years. These thirteen years must have been a very oppressive time for this Egyptian servant. Is it surprising that the Egyptians later have "permission" to oppress the Israelites for 400 years?

About a year later, Sarah bore a son for Abraham, who she named Isaac (Gen 21:5). Then there was yet another tension between Sarah and Hagar over their sons, recorded in Genesis 21:9-11: "9And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, scoffing. 10Therefore she said to Abraham, 'Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac.' 11And the matter was very displeasing in Abraham's sight because of his son."

So Abraham sent Hagar away into the wilderness. Gen 21:14 tells us, "14So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin Hagar, and sent her away. Then she departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba."

Hagar and her son almost died in the wilderness, in fact they would have died after the water ran out if it were not for angelic intervention. (Gen 21:15-21).

Do you see the pattern here? In chapter 15, God prophesied to Abraham how his descendents would be slaves and in bondage and oppression for 400 years. Immediately afterwards, Abraham permitted his Egyptian slave to be oppressed and mistreated. Near the end of the period the Egyptians try to kill baby Israelite boys just as Hagar's son was almost killed. Finally Abraham's descendants leave Egypt and wander in the wilderness for a long time, just as Hagar is sent out to the wilderness. It is as if the Children of Israel (Abraham's descendants) have to live out for generations the abuses that Hagar (the Egyptian slave) suffered at Abraham and Sarah's hand.

I believe that this is a case where the "sins of the fathers" gave Satan a legal right to torment the descendants in a similar manner for 400 years (or 10 generations). If God allowed this spiritual principle to operate in His chosen people, He will probably allow it to operate in our lives as well. The God news is that God mobilized Himself mighty on their behalf to deliver them from the oppression caused by the sins of their fathers. Likewise God will mobilize Himself mightily in our own families. So if any of our families seem to be under undue oppression, we might want to look back and see if there are some sins of the Fathers somewhere over the last ten generations that could be giving the enemy a legal right to oppress our families.

As intercessors, we can stand in the gap and plead for forgiveness for the wrongs that previous generations did. Generational sin is something that we must treat very seriously and we must deal with it if it exists. There is a strong spiritual principle that the descendents can suffer fallout for the "sins of their fathers." Gal 6:7 tells us, "As you sow, so shall you reap." And when God appeared to Moses, He declared this about Himself in Exodus 34:6-7: "6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, 'The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.'"

God seems to take generational sin very seriously, to the point where people born three and four generations after the offense is committed can be punished for it. E.g., if there is ancestral sin in a person's family line, this can give the demonic a right of access to torment and harm a person.

It is a very strong pattern that the "children" can be punished for the sins of previous generations. But we also know that God forgives sin through the shed blood of Jesus on Calvary. So one prayer strategy for generational sin is to confess the sin and then to plead the blood of Jesus over the original offense. Then use the authority that Jesus has given you to cancel any right of access the devil (or a demon) has to an individual because of generational sin.