Destroying the Power of Curses
The information in this study comes mostly from a book I would recommend that you buy, entitled “Unbroken Curses – Hidden Source of Trouble in the Christian’s Life”, by Rebecca Brown, M.D. and her husband, Daniel Yoder, ISBN: 0-88368-372-5, printed by Whitaker House, in USA. Whilst I do not agree with the authors on several doctrinal points, I believe that the majority of their spiritual understanding about the subject of spiritual warfare and deliverance, including the breaking of curses, is Biblically sound and a very valuable resource material for every Christian.
Curses as an Unidentified Source of Trouble
Some people are plagued with a devastating cycle of constant trouble, illness, poverty, suicidal thoughts, unbelief, alcoholism, divorce, incest, mental illness, accidents, unexplained deaths in the family, the inability to make a lasting commitment to the Lord, and to serve Him faithfully, an inability to study the Bible and to pray, “psychic” gifts that remain, even if unused, etc, etc…
Of course such discouraging situations can come for many reasons, and the real causes need to be found out and dealt with in order to have lasting change for the better. However, one frequently overlooked cause can be curses on a person’s life and family that have never been broken. Curses can affect not only individuals and families, but also churches, property, buildings, belongings, objects, jewellery, music, games, movies, books, pictures, idols, etc.
The servants of Christ have the power to break all such curses in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. The “weapons of our warfare” (2 Cor.10:5) from the Lord are indeed mighty to pull down such satanic strongholds, but God’s weapons need to be understood and used deliberately and effectively against such curses to break their power.
What Is A Curse?
A curse is a prayer or invocation to or by a divine or supernatural power in order to teach a lesson (for the person’s good), or, as in most cases, to cause harm, evil, misfortune, affliction and destruction upon someone.
How Can God’s People Be Afflicted By Curses?
Even Christians can be cursed. There can be many reasons for this, some of which we will study here. Unfortunately, there is a stream of thought among certain Christian circles that Christians need not bother in the least about curses, demonic attacks, demonisation and demon possession, etc. They assume that God’s people cannot possibly be affected or harmed by the powers of darkness. This is a great error, warned about in many places throughout God’s Word, the Bible.
Christians are specifically commanded to “resist the devil, and he will flee from you”(Js.4:7), and to “resist him, steadfast in the faith” (1 Pet.5:9). We are told that the Christian life is a battle and a march, of daily conflict with the powers of darkness. God has given His people specific commands for aggressive warfare against the forces of darkness, as well as His promises for protection. This protection from the Lord is conditional, however; it can be thwarted, as we shall see.
“Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness” (Eph.6:11,12).
We cannot complacently assume that Satan and his demons will leave us alone. Our “adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet.5:8). Sadly, due largely to ignorance, presumption, arrogance, or deliberate sin and grieving of the Holy Spirit, all too many Christians become the enemy’s prey.
The Bible, particularly in the Old Testament, has a wealth of information about curses. If you wish to study the subject of curses from a Biblical perspective thoroughly, this can be done by looking up the words, “curse”, “curses”, and “cursed” either in a Bible Concordance or a computer program with this function, studying carefully the several hundred references given. This study of God’s Word about this subject is merely a brief overview, but it will be helpful for those who are suffering under a curse.
Three Basic Types of Curses
- Curses that come from God
- Curses from Satan and his servants – when they have a legal right to curse
- Curses from Satan and his servants – when they don’t have a legal right to curse
Let’s look at each of these in more detail, and then how to break such curses.
Curses from God
To many people it is a great surprise that God would be a source of curses, and yet the Bible teaches this plainly. In the first book of the Bible, Genesis, we learn that God’s first curse was upon the serpent, the medium which Satan used to deceive Adam and Eve (Gen.3:14).
The next curse was the result of Adam and Eve’s sin of rebellion in heeding the voice of the devil. “Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you…”(Gen.3:17). Note that the curse on the earth was for their sakes, or for their long term good. If you think deeply about the opposites in nature, there is a wealth of knowledge in symbolic form about the great controversy between Christ and Satan, of God’s infinite love and grace, and Satan’s cruelty and hatred.
Another example of a curse from God came after Cain killed his brother, Abel. God cursed Cain from the earth, to become a fugitive and a vagabond. This was clearly a direct punishment from God, understood as such even by Cain (Gen.4:13,14). There is also a curse from God against Ham, the younger son of Noah, for defiling his father (Gen.9:21-25).
Next, there is a promised blessing to Abram, the father of the Hebrew race, and a curse from God upon anyone who curses them (Gen.12:1-3). You will find God’s blessings for obedience to His commandments and counsels (Deut.28:1-14) and His curses for disobedience (Deut.28:15-68). There is a short story in the life of God’s prophet Elisha, in which a gang of teenagers mocked him and the things of God. Elisha cursed them in the name of the Lord, and soon after two bears tore forty-two of the teenagers to pieces (2 Kings 2:23,24).
Sometimes a curse from God results in injury and destruction through catastrophic weather, disease, lack of fertility, and economic collapse (e.g. Egypt). Occasionally, God has given Satan the legal right to send demons to test and injure people, and even to destroy them (e.g. Job 1:6-22; 2:1-10). At times, God has given Satan’s servants permission to conquer and to destroy, such as allowing invading armies of foreign nations to wreak havoc among God’s people due to their rebellion (e.g. study the history of Israel).
Curses from Satan & His Servants (Legal)
In Joshua 7 can be found a detailed example of how Satan can gain a legal right to curse, and thus to assault, God’s people (even when God is directly amongst them). Remember, God’s promises for His blessings and protection are conditional upon their obedience to Him and their resistance to Satan and his devices. After conquering the fortified city of Jericho through God’s miraculous intervention, God commanded them not to take any booty from the cursed city.
“But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against the children of Israel”(Josh.7:1).
Only God and the forces of darkness knew about the abominable sin that Achan had committed. Without them knowing it, they were all affected by Achan’s sin, no longer having the protection of God upon their armies. As a direct result of Achan’s sin, in the next battle against the small town of Ai, 36 dedicated soldiers of the Lord’s army were slaughtered by the men of Ai, who caused the army of 3,000 to flee. Joshua and the others were absolutely stunned and dumbfounded. God had promised them victory, yet the army of the Lord was decisively defeated. They didn’t blame themselves, but instead God! Human nature hasn’t changed, has it? God spoke directly to Joshua, explaining the reason for their defeat.
“And the LORD said unto Joshua, ‘Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face? Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put [it] even among their own stuff. Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, [but] turned [their] backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you. Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against tomorrow: for thus saith the LORD God of Israel, [There is] an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you’” (Josh.7:10-13).
There was serious sin amongst God’s people. One of them had a cursed object in his possession, which gave Satan and his servants the legal right to attack and to defeat the children of Israel. God’s protection was withdrawn; He did not interfere to protect His people in the battle because of Satan’s legal right to assault God’s people. Can you see why it is so crucial to know and to obey God’s instructions in His Word?
Ways That Satan Can Gain a Legal Right to Assault God’s People
There are quite a number of sources of curses from Satan and his servants whereby they gain a legal right to assault God’s people.
(1) Inheritance
One major way is through inheritance. Curses can be passed down from generation to generation upon descendants. The sins of ancestors, such as hatred, fighting and feuding, murder, incest, witchcraft and any involvement in the occult/New Age practices, paganism, etc. can result in future generations being cursed. Dedications by ancestors involved in Freemasonry, the Shriners, the Mormon church, American Indians, African tribes, Eastern religions, the Aboriginal people, etc. result in demons being assigned the task of ensuring that future generations remain in Satan’s service all their lives.
“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 showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My commandments”(Ex.20:5,6; see also Deut.30:19).
If your family line is characterised by particular unexplained problems, such as incest, divorce, poverty, alcoholism, uncontrolled anger, unbelief, accidents, physical and mental illness, etc., consider the possibility that a curse has been placed on your family line. Inherited curses can affect individuals, families, churches, cities, states, geographical regions, and even nations. Through rituals performed by ancestors, the family line can be dedicated to Satan.
How to Break Inherited Curses
The Lord Jesus Christ died to pay the price for the sins of the whole human race. However, their sins and the resultant curses will affect your life unless you take the necessary steps to deal with them according to God’s Word.
There are 5 steps to breaking ancestral curses and dedications to Satan. Do this out aloud, in the hearing of the powers of darkness, for they cannot hear your thoughts as God can:
- Confession – a clear admission that these were sins before our holy God. Firstly, confess all your own sins to God (not to a human priest or person) – see 1 Jn.1:9. The sins of your forefathers also need to be confessed (see Lev.26: 40-42; Neh.9:1-3; Dan.9:16,17; Ezra 9). Confess the sins of your forefathers that you know about, asking the Lord to forgive you and completely separate you and your family line from the sins of your ancestors. Also ask the Lord to forgive the sins of your forefathers that you do not know about, through the precious blood of Jesus Christ the Lord.
- Formerly Renounce Satanic Dedicationsupon your life to the service of Satan or any of his demons. Proclaim that you are now a blood bought child of God in the service of the Lord Jesus Christ, due to His sacrifice upon the cross for your sins. (If you have not deliberately surrendered your life to Christ, I strongly urge you to do so, or you cannot be set free).
- Command All Demons to Leave Youat once in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who are there as a result of any dedications and curses and the sins of your ancestors.
- Take Authority Over the Curse of Destruction– when dedications and rituals to Satan are performed by ancestors, with these come a resultant curse of destruction upon anyone in the ancestral line daring to break them. From the demonic perspective, if they can’t keep you to the ancestral dedication, they will attempt to destroy you. Take authority (Lk.10:17-20) over the curse of destruction, commanding it to be broken immediately in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
- Command All Demons to Leave You – command all demons associated with that curse of destruction and all other demons associated with dedications and curses through your ancestral line to leave you immediately in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
As you proceed through these steps, it is best to have one or more strong Christians as prayer partners with you at the time. Make sure that you know their status as Christians, as it can happen that Satan’s servants, posing as Christians, can thwart your efforts by their presence, bringing more demons against you. Have one of them anoint you on the forehead with special anointing oil, which is usually olive oil that has been prayed over to dedicate it for healing and breaking Satan’s power (Js.5:13-16; Isa.10:27). If there is any type of mark which shows you have been dedicated to Satan or one of his organisations, such as a demonic tattoo, an insert, etc. anoint this area with the anointing oil too. If there are any written dedications to Satan or any of his organisations, or associated carved images or idols in your possession, these need to be burned to destroy the dedication and resultant curses (Acts 19:19; Deut.7:5,25,26).
The main reason it is best to have one or more dedicated Christians with you at the time of breaking such curses is that you may suddenly experience one or more of the following symptoms: mental confusion, a blank mind, a choking sensation, an inability to breathe, a feeling that your tongue is twisted, too large to move, or that you cannot speak, etc. This is the demons struggling frantically to stop you from breaking the dedications and curses. It can be an intense struggle between your will, to side fully with God, and to break the power of satanic dedications and curses, and the will of the demons. They fight so hard because they have a lot to lose if they fail in keeping you under their control. They are punished severely for failure. Fear and force control those in the kingdom of darkness.
When strong Christians who understand spiritual warfare are with you, they can assist you to bind and rebuke the powers of darkness trying to thwart you. Through their example, you will also thus learn how to resist them successfully for yourself, which will be absolutely necessary to keep them away in the future. Your prayer partners can help you to repeat the words you need to say for yourself, until you can say these statements freely and without demonic hindrance. You may have to pray frequently, concentrate hard, and set your will firmly against the powers of darkness. You may be quite surprised at the strength demons have over you when you try to break their power over you through ancestral curses and dedications.
The Curse Upon the Hebrew Nation
There is a clear Biblical example of an entire race bringing a curse upon themselves and their descendants. It is found at Matt.27:24,25. After Pilate washed his hands of the responsibility for the murder of the Son of God, the Hebrew leaders and the people stated, “His blood be on us and on our children.”
The tragic history of the Hebrew people since the cross is filled with untold suffering, persecution, hatred and warfare. Anyone of Jewish descent who wishes to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as his/her Saviour needs to repent for the sins of his/her forefathers for their terrible guilt in crucifying and killing the Messiah. He/she needs to humbly pray that God will remove this generational curse from him/herself and future generations in his/her ancestral line. This curse is like a double-edged sword, in that it affects not only the Jewish race, but anyone who brings persecution and suffering upon them (remember Gen.12:3).