God of the Impossible: Day Six, Week Six

Breaking Generational Cycles aka Generational Strongholds

This week’s prayer may be controversial for some. If that is the case, I hope that you will search out the scriptures, ask questions and keep an open mind on what I am hoping to convey in this short email.

This week, our prayer is about asking God to break abuse cycles that run in our families. I imagine none of you reading this email are actively participating in abuse, but there is a high probability, according to research, that you have been a victim of abuse by a parent or loved one. While this week’s prayer is specific to abuse, there may be other cycles operating in your life that you’d like to release to God. The word “cycle” is a secular term used in psychology to address patterns of behavior. The Biblical equivalent is the word stronghold.

We find in the book of Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, even Ezekiel, the concept of generational curses and generational blessings. “Although the Old Covenant (Old Testament) has been replaced with the New Covenant (New Testament), when studying the scripture, we must study it as a whole. The entire Bible is the inspired word of God. The New Testament confirms the Old Testament; everything in the Bible fits perfectly together.

Up until 2017, generational curses was not something I had ever thought about. I knew it was part of the Old Testament, but when reading my Bible, I didn’t give it a second thought. I just filed it away somewhere in my mind.

Then one fateful day in 2017, I attended the California Association of Marriage & Family Therapists Conference in San Francisco. It was my first conference, and I was excited to be there. Even though I am in the field of psychology, I am a Christian-Based Psychotherapist and have seen time and again how Psychology proves the Bible. Without knowing it, I was about to discover that generational curses in the Bible was being taught in the field of psychology.

The class I took that day was on Intergenerational Trauma, otherwise known as epigenetics. The speaker was a medical doctor, who had previously held a Ph.D in Psychology before her mental break. As the speaker began to describe her history of psychosis, auditory and visual hallucinations with no apparent medical reason, all I could think was she was being spiritually attacked and able to see and hear in the spirit realm, according to the experiences she described. 

However, because science gives no credence to the invisible world, where God exists, she was unable to find answers to what was ailing her. This led her on a journey of more school and research, ultimately discovering the science of epigenetics.

Epigenetics says that cells have memory, and that generational trauma can be passed down through the bloodline and affect the next generation. The speaker believed her brain malady was a result of generational trauma--epigenetics. I was in awe: once again, science was proving the Bible.

The phrase “generational curse” offends many people. None of us would raise our hand and say a curse has impacted our lives. Yet, if we think about it, most of us have been affected by a generational curse in some form or fashion. Let me explain.

Science has determined that sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, addiction, suicide, homosexuality, incest, criminal conduct, gambling, poverty, wealth, mental health issues, diseases, critical natures, anger, and so on, are generational in nature. Using sexual and physical abuse as an example, that is almost always generational. In the family unit, abuse has occurred in the parents and grandparents and that has been pasted down generationally. The same is true for addiction, criminality and all the other manifestations of things I mentioned above. These things are passed down and become strongholds to us and for the enemy to work in our lives.

Whether generational strongholds come through nature or nurture, it is needful to recognize them for what they are, so that we can break them with the power of prayer, a renewed mind, and the application of the blood of Jesus.

Many people believe that once someone gets filled with the Holy Ghost/Holy Spirit, that all those things are washed away, and we are a new creation in Christ. Yes! That is absolutely true and absolutely biblical, however we are not void of struggle and temptation as long as we live in the world. Much of the struggles we go through come from within and are of our own making. Could those be due to generational strongholds? Generational ways of thinking? Generational traditions? Generational ways to doing life that brings about weights and sin in our lives, post the salvation experience?

I believe that is why Paul said in 1 Cor. 15:31, “I die daily,” this was an act of his free-will choosing to die to his fleshly impulses, needs and desires; walking in the spirit vs walking in the flesh. Paul then said in 2 Corinthians 10:4 “for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God for the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” This scripture is so powerful when you couple it with Proverbs 23:7 “as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Paul knew that thoughts produce emotion, and emotion produces behavior; So, Paul gives this instruction to the church in Corinth, who had already been followers of Jesus. 

There is much more to be said on the subject and this short email cannot sufficiently convey my heart on this matter. What I am saying is this, people struggle with things in their lives, after they have been saved, that can be identified throughout the family, in parents and grandparents. This prayer is for us to give God permission to the parts of our heart and mind that may be hidden from us, but not hidden from Him.

People often say “that is what I have always done,” or “I have been this way my whole life.”  God may want to remove some things from our lives if they are bringing about negative outcomes.  While we pray this prayer asking God to break abuse cycles, let us add to the prayer, and ask Him to break any cycle that is negatively affecting us. Sometimes the cycles affecting our lives is not always about sin. Sometimes it is a weight.

So today, join me in praying this prayer and pray it over anyone you know that might be struggling with generational strongholds.

Until next week, occupy until He comes,

Kathy Chastain