Generational/ancestral/bloodline permission, to the enemy, as forewarned in Exodus 20:5 is a possibility in anyone’s life. There are ancestors in our history that could have passed a demonic spirit on to us, likely, we only know about our parents and each of their two parents. There are also generational curses that could have been passed down through our bloodlines.

Exodus 20:5 You shall not worship them nor serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous (impassioned) God [demanding what is rightfully and uniquely mine], visiting (avenging) the iniquity (sin, guilt) of the fathers on the children [that is, calling the children to account for the sins of their fathers], to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,

Numbers 14:18 ‘The Lord is slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving wickedness and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting (avenging) the wickedness and guilt of the fathers on the children, to the third and fourth generations [that is, calling the children to account for the sins of their fathers].’

Exodus 34:7 keeping mercy and lovingkindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin; but He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting (avenging) the iniquity (sin, guilt) of the fathers upon the children and the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations [that is, calling the children to account for the sins of their fathers].”

Deuteronomy 30:19I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse; therefore, you shall choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants,

Symptoms of Generational Curses

Patterns in Families: When looking for generational curses you may see patterns in the family where numerous people in the same family struggle with the same issues. The cause is not always a generational curse, but it should be explored and ruled out if there are distinct patterns present. Some patterns could include addictions, anger, violence, specific sickness, poverty, dying young, mental illness, suicide, and drawing to specific sins (same ones that several in the family are drawn to).

Sickness/Disease: Specific diagnosis or symptoms of mental and/or physical illnesses. Not all sickness is from a demon or generational curse, but if you can see specific patterns or you wonder if what you are dealing with is demonic in nature it is a good idea to explore the possibility. We see in the gospels many cases where demons caused physical and mental illness symptoms, so it is always a possibility. It is not always the cause, but it is always a possibility. This could also include being accident prone and always having weird accidents happen in your life.

Financial and/or Poverty: This would include never being able to get ahead no matter how much money you make. There is a constant struggle. You may end up in poverty and you just cannot break out of it. You may lose jobs for no reason or not be able to find work. You may start to finally get ahead, but then the bottom always falls out and you end up right back where you started or even worse off than where you started.

Bareness: This of course could be from a medial issue. However, the enemy loves to kill, steal and destroy and there are times he can use a generational curse to do that.

Broken Relationships: The relationships may break due to misunderstandings, odd circumstances, or they may just dissolve, and you really do not even know why.

Any Type of Bondage: This could include any type of addictions.

Invisible Barriers: No matter what you try you just cannot accomplish the things you set out in life to accomplish. You may even get started and see the completion, but you just cannot make it to the finish line before you are knocked down again. This happens over and over. You can look back over your life and see this distinct pattern. You may get passed over for promotions for no reason, get fired, lose friends, lose family members, your spouse leaves you, you fail out of school, and all the while you are trying your hardest in each situation, but nothing seems to ever come together for you. No matter what you try you cannot get ahead. You are always being pulled back, and you can only get so far. You cannot ever get to the place of total victory. It is almost like you have a rubber band attached to you. You work and try so hard to get to the goal, but then you are snapped right back to the starting line every single time.  

Suicide/Unnatural Death/Untimely Death: This one could include the feeling that you are going to die at a certain age or that you are going to get a specific disease. You may feel like you have a dark shadow over your life that is eventually going to do something really bad to you or that something really bad is going to happen.

Release From the Curses:

In order to have these generational curses removed we must ask God to cleanse our bloodline and remove the curse from our lives. I have cast out many demons that made entry because of sins from the bloodline. Many times, the sin involves abuse, adulty, false religion, witchcraft, idolatry, shedding of innocent blood (murder/abortion), and/or violence. We are not praying for the forgiveness of the sin for the person who committed the sin, but rather asking for the Lord to cleanse our blood line of that sin. We are repenting on behalf of our bloodline and asking for the curses that resulted from the sin to no longer be allowed to operate in our lives. When Jesus died on the cross He broke the power of sin, death, and took all curses upon Himself. However, we must ask Him to apply that freedom to our lives. In the same way we must ask for salvation, it is not given without asking, we must ask Him to break the generational curses over our bloodlines and then cast any demons out that attached to our lives because of the curse. When praying for your bloodline please ask the Holy Spirit to show you all areas of bondage that need repentance. Below is an example of how your prayer might look. It is only included for guidance and a started point but make sure to pray as the Spirit leads.

Prayer for Personal and Generational Repentance

“Lord God, I come before you now and ask that I may enter Your throne room and approach Your throne of grace. I give up all of my rebellion and all my sin, and I submit myself to You as my Lord. I confess all of my sins before You and ask for Your forgiveness, especially for any sins that exposed me to a curse. I ask that You forgive me (and my bloodline) for the sin of____________. I pray you would cleanse this sin from my bloodline and release me from the consequences of my sin and my ancestor’s sin. I also ask, Jesus, that Your blood would flow over this sin, blot it out, make it null, void, and powerless. I pray that I will be forgiven so that the enemy can no longer use this sin as a legal right in my life. I renounce all contact with anything occult or satanic. I cancel all Satan’s claims against me. Lord, Jesus, I believe that on the cross You took on Yourself every curse that could ever come upon me. So, I ask You now to release me from every curse over my life in Your name, Lord Jesus Christ. By faith I now receive my release and I thank You for it. I pray Your cross would stand between me and any curses. In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen.”

The next step would be deliverance (casting out any demons that may have come in from the generational curse).

Generational Blessings

In the same way generational curses can be passed down in families, generational blessings can be passed down.

Deuteronomy 7:9 Therefore know [without any doubt] and understand that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, who is keeping His covenant and His [steadfast] lovingkindness to a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments;

Psalm 103:17 But the lovingkindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who [reverently] fear Him, And His righteousness to children’s children,

Exodus 20:5-6 ⁵ You shall not worship them nor serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous (impassioned) God [demanding what is rightfully and uniquely mine], visiting (avenging) the iniquity (sin, guilt) of the fathers on the children [that is, calling the children to account for the sins of their fathers], to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, ⁶ but showing graciousness and steadfast lovingkindness to thousands [of generations] of those who love Me and keep My commandments.

Blessings,

Nichole Henson, Fullness of Joy Ministry