It’s in the Breeding!

We recently looked after our son’s dog, Rocco, while they were away. He is a Large Munsterlander, tall and handsome, with beautiful markings. He has been well trained and is impeccably behaved – most of the time! However, because he comes from a breed that was developed for hunting, he is interested in every bird or animal that he sees or smells, and sometimes the temptation to give chase becomes overwhelming for him. On those occasions he seems unable to resist and he gallops off, seemingly deaf to his master’s voice.

Our dog, on the other hand, is not interested in chasing birds or deer. She is a Labrador and her particular weakness is food! If on a walk we pass people having a picnic, she cannot resist going to investigate and seeing what she can scavenge. For her it is the smell of food that causes her to become deaf to our voice of command.

For both these dogs there is a particular area in which they are prone to disobedience and it is a result of their breeding. Why am I writing about dogs in a Seed of the Kingdom? Because we can be very similar! We can have a predisposition towards a particular sin that has been passed down our family line. This is generational iniquity, warned of in today’s verse.

In prayer ministry, understanding how we can be affected by the sins of the fathers is one of the most significant keys to setting people free from bondages. For instance, people can inherit a tendency to ungodly anger from their parents or grandparents and can be consumed with guilt at their constant failure to control their temper unless they understand how Jesus can release them from the ungodly inheritance they have received. It can be addiction that is passed down, attraction to the occult, pride, a tendency towards sexual sin, and so on. We can also inherit rejection, fear, and negative emotions from our forebears.

The good news is that when we confess the sins of our forefathers, in the same way as Nehemiah did when he prayed, ‘I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s house, have committed against you’ (Nehemiah 1:6), and we repent of the ways in which we have repeated their sin, God can set us free from the bondage we have been in. We sometimes need deliverance ministry to release us completely.

What area of temptation do you struggle with most? It is quite likely that this had its roots in your family line.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I forgive my forbears for the consequences of their sins that have been visited on me. I take responsibility for the ways in which I have repeated their sin. I repent of this and ask Your forgiveness. Please cut me off from this generational iniquity and set me free from its bondage, in Jesus’ name, Amen.