Spiritual Warfare for the Wounded

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Ephesians 6:12

The first necessary step in our recovery, as abused, victimized and hurt souls, is to separate ourselves from the lies we have come to believe as a result of our victimization. Those false truths were the very things that made it possible for spiritual oppression to overtake us. Thus, prayer is an essential part of the healing process.

• 1John 3:8, “He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning”, In other words, the enemy uses men and women like us. Satan uses the sin of our parents and their unintentional mistakes that come from their wounded spirits. He uses circumstances, our youth, our friends-whatever means are at his disposal.
• This spiritual damage involves and inability to think properly or to feel anything that bears witness to what is hidden in our hearts. Numbing strategies and the lies we have been taught make it impossible to cry out our real pain to God.

Neil Anderson, author of The Bondage Breaker, says that we must avoid accepting commonly held yet basically false notions about satan’s hold on us. These falsehoods result from believing that a particular kind of power is required of us to gain our spiritual freedom. It is truth that sets us free from the devil’s influence over us. Anderson says, “The power of the Christian is in the truth, the power of satan is in the lie…The truth is what makes an encounter with satan effective.” The truth is what is essential to our warfare.

Here’s the truth:

• Many families have spirits that have been ‘passed down’ from generation to generation.
• Satan capitalizes on unconfessed sin. When that unconfessed sin involves idolatry, rebelliousness, sexual perversion, etc. , Satan has a legal right to harass our families unto the third and fourth generation. As the forces of darkness continue to harass our children, they fall prey to the same sins that gave Satan his ‘rights’ within our bloodline in the first place.
• Satan uses any means at his disposal to convince us that we should maintain our silence. He knows that a secret shame provides fertile ground where all kinds of lies can take root. That’s why we are told to… “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” (James 5:16)
• If we keep hiding the shame that stems from the trauma we suffered [as children], we are left living in darkness. Hidden shame keeps us from entering into God’s light and prevents us from gaining experiential knowledge that “there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Roman 8:1). Fear keeps us in bondage and torments us. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment” (1John 4:18).

A Practical Exercise

1. If you believe that generational sin exists within your family, asks God to reveal it to you. Ask God to give you a divinely inspired impression of what sins your ancestors may have committed that need to be confessed.
2. Once you have that information, confess those sins on behalf of your family and ask for forgiveness, claiming the blood of Jesus. Confess any sin of your own that remains unconfessed also. Then separate yourself and future generations-naming those descendants whose names you know-from the sins of your ancestors in the authority of Jesus Christ name.

Here’s an example of the prayer:

Lord, I confess the sins of idolatry, witchcraft, and sexual perversion that my ancestors practiced [substitute or add whatever other sins God might have revealed to you]. I forsake and separate myself, my children, their children, and all future generations from those sins. In the authority of Jesus Christ’s name, I cover those sins with the blood of Jesus and I declare that all curses resulting from them are null and void.

3.    Once you have prayed, it would be wise to command aloud any familial spirits to depart from you and from your household in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.