Lent 2025 – Prayers of Repentance – Freedom from Ancestral Curses – Purity 1611
Purity 1611 03/20/2025 Purity 1611 Audio Podcast
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Good morning,
Today’s photo of two metal railings and a set of steps running through the fauna of a Pacific island forest comes to us from Natasha Voisey who captured this moment while hiking up the “Stairway to Heaven” also known as the Haiku Stairs, which was a popular but illegal hike on Oahu, Hawaii, consisting of 3,922 steps leading to a radio tower on the Koolau mountain range back on July 31st 2021. Natasha made this illegal hike none too soon because the trail has been “closed to the public” since 1987 and the city council voted in 2021 to remove the stairway due to safety concerns.
Well, it’s Thursday, and I am sharing this “illegal” pathway photo as a visual encouragement to not hesitate to do the things you would like to do in life. Besides the possibility of someone deeming your dream to be illegal, the world is in a constant state of change and just because something is here today it doesn’t mean it will be here tomorrow. I also share this pathway photo as is my habit on Thursdays to encourage you to not hesitate in deciding to get on, or to stay on, the path of Christian discipleship where positive changes, freedom, and victory are found on the way to heaven.
Last night, I hosted another meeting of the Celebrate Freedom support group at Starpoint Church and I was pleasantly surprised by some newcomers to the group and was excited to share with them a bit of my story and the introduction to our group – the A B C’s of Celebrate Freedom – those core habits and skill sets that help us to build emotional resilience, experience peace and joy, and, with God’s help, find the strength to overcome. For those who would like a run-through of the ABC’s of Celebrate Freedom – you could watch my video presentation of them here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1v77GQ02MZg
I love sharing the good news about how we can find freedom, peace, and joy when we decide to surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ because so many Christians don’t know who they are in Christ and aren’t living the abundant life that is available to them when they decide to believe the truth of God’s word and apply it to their lives. Beyond encouraging the group participants, I was encouraged because several of the group members shared testimonies last night of how the skills they learned at Celebrate Freedom are helping them to overcome their hurts, habits, and hang-ups and how they are no longer in bondage to the ways of their past and are finding hope, freedom, and peace in increasing measure. No longer are they defined by who they used to be. Now they are living the new life that God intended for them to live.
I introduced these practices, which are based on material in Warner & Hinman’s “Building Bounce”, because I know how difficult it can be to do “one day at a time” and I realize that being free from habits that may have been a part of our lives since early childhood or adolescence isn’t easy and is going to require the Lord’s help and some simple practices that can keep us focused on Him, His blessings, and who He made us to be. We can carry a lot of baggage from the past with us into recovery and we need ways to help us to give those heavy weights to God.
Speaking of releasing heavy weights to God, I have been sharing Dr. Neil Anderson’s Steps to Freedom in Christ here on the blog to help us in the season of Lent to “repent and believe the gospel” through this powerful prayerful repentance process.
The next and final step is Step 7: Curses vs. Blessings and I am sharing it on the blog with hope that these prayers can help others to remove the spiritual baggage that they may have inherited from their ancestors. Ancestral curses are mentioned in the Bible but we don’t have to be subject to them. When we are in Christ, we have the authority to claim our freedom by going to the Lord in prayer. Dr. Neil Anderson writes:
Curses vs. Blessings
The next step to freedom is to renounce the sins of your ancestors as well as any satanic assignments directed toward you or your ministry. In the Ten Commandments, God said:
You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing loving kindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments (Exodus 20:4–6).
The iniquities of one generation can adversely affect future generations unless the sins of the ancestors are confessed and renounced, and your spiritual heritage in Christ is claimed. You are not guilty for the sin of your ancestors, but because of their sin, you may be predisposed to certain strengths or weaknesses and influenced by the physical and spiritual atmosphere in which you were raised. These conditions can contribute to causing someone to struggle with a particular sin. Ask the Lord to show you specifically what sins are characteristic of your family by praying the following prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father,
I ask You to reveal to my mind now all the sins of my ancestors that are being passed down through family lines. I want to be free from those influences and walk in my new identity as a child of God. In Jesus’ name, amen.
As the Lord brings those areas of family sin to your mind, list them below. You will be specifically renouncing them later in this step.
In order to walk free from the sins of your ancestors and any assignments targeted against you, read the following declaration and pray the following prayer aloud. Remember, you have all the authority and protection you need in Christ to take your stand against such activity.
Declaration
I here and now reject and disown all the sins of my ancestors. I specifically renounce the sins of (name the areas of family sin the Lord revealed to you). As one who has now been delivered from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of God’s Son, I choose to believe that all the sins and iniquities of my ancestors have been confessed and I now stand forgiven and cleansed in Christ. As one who has been crucified and raised with Jesus Christ and who sits with Him in heavenly places, I renounce all satanic assignments that are directed toward me and my ministry. I choose to believe that Jesus has broken every curse that Satan and his workers have put on me. I announce to Satan and all his forces that Christ became a curse for me when He died for my sins on the Cross. I reject any and every way in which Satan may claim ownership of me. I belong to the Lord Jesus Christ who purchased me with His own blood. I reject all blood sacrifices whereby Satan may claim ownership of me. I declare myself to be fully and eternally signed over and committed to the Lord Jesus Christ. By the authority I have in Christ, I now command every enemy of the Lord Jesus to leave my presence. I commit myself to my Heavenly Father to do His will from this day forward. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father,
I come to You as Your child, bought out of slavery to sin by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. You are the Lord of the universe and the Lord of my life. I submit my body to You as an instrument of righteousness, a living and holy sacrifice that I may glorify You in my body. I now ask You to fill me to overflowing with Your Holy Spirit today and everyday. I commit myself to the renewing of my mind in order to prove that Your will is good, acceptable and perfect for me. All this I pray in the name and authority of the risen Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.[1]
You can download these prayers as a free PDF download here: Curses vs. Blessings
Amen. This prayerful repentance process is a form of listening prayer and with this step, you may have a lot to say or possibly not much at all when it comes to ancestral curses but listen to the Lord and renounce the things that do come to mind because He wants you to be free and He will be faithful to show you the things that need to be renounced today and He may show more in the future. Our freedom is often progressive and that is why we point to the path of Christian Discipleship and a continuous seeking of the Lord and His wisdom and ways to find increasing freedom, peace, and joy.
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For those who want more evidence for Christianity than my simple encouragements provide, I offer apologist, Frank Turek’s website, https://crossexamined.org/.
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Today’s Bible verse comes to us from “The Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling” By John G. Kruis.
(While Bible verses on various topics of Counseling can be found with a quick Google search, we encourage you to purchase this resource to support the late author’s work. (The Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling By John G. Kruis on Amazon )
This morning’s meditation verse comes from the section on Loving and Serving Others.
Matthew 10:39 (ESV) Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Today’s verse falls under the nineteenth point of our counseling reference guide resource’s section on Loving and Serving Others.
19. You can find your life by doing good.
Today’s Bible verse are the words of Jesus where He tells his disciples of the paradox of discipleship the exchanging of our lives for the life that Christ has for us. We can find our life by following Jesus’ example of doing what is right and doing good for others or we can find our life through our own selfish ambitions and schemes but the results of the path we choose are vastly different, and Jesus indicates that if we choose to go our own way, we are going to our deaths.
Jesus is God and He calls us to find our life in Him. So choose Him as your Lord and Savior and follow Him into the new life of purpose that He has for you.
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As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.com where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.
Today we continue sharing from “Day by Day Along the Way” By Jay E. Adams.
As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage you all to purchase Adams’ books for your own private study and to support the late author’s work. This resource is available online for less than $20 at many sites.
Day 110
… encourage one another and continue to build each other up … – 1 Thessalonians 5:11
The rest of the verse reads, “as indeed you have been doing.” The significant thing to notice is that Paul urges people who are doing well to continue to do so. This may have been because there were potentially discouraging factors in the congregation that might have occasioned some to slack up. Those who were doing well must continue on the same course that they have been taking. On the other hand, some may have been attempting to rest on their laurels. God will have none of that! He expects those who do well to continue—indeed, to do even better. Have you ever been tempted to let up? Have you lost your early enthusiasm for encouraging and edifying (building up) others who need your help? It’s easy to do so, especially when what you do is criticized or goes unappreciated. Yet, isn’t that the very point? If there are others who fail to exhibit the traits of a faithful and fruitful servant of Christ, isn’t encouragement and edification exactly what they need from you? You may be the very one who can assist in correcting the situation. Think and pray about your relationship to them.[2]
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Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship
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[1] Neil T. Anderson, The Steps to Freedom in Christ, ed. Pam Weston and Patti Pennington Virtue, Revised (Gospel Light, 2001), 34–35.
[2] Jay E. Adams, Day by Day along the Way (Cordova, TN: Institute for Nouthetic Studies, 2020), 118.
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