generational sin

I am attending a spiritual warfare class at a church nearby on Sunday afternoons for the next 8 weeks. I just began yesterday. The class is taught by some acquaintances of mine ... and I am looking forward to see how things are done. So far the whole thing seems very fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants but that also seems to be the way they are used to doing things - so far it doesn't bother me. The leaders are a husband and wife team who lead missions trips for adults, 6 months of the year, with YWAM. So they definitely fall into the charismatic side of Christianity - of which I do not come from, but am anxious to learn more about. Before they head out for their mission - they do a lot of training with their teams - they do deliverance and healing ministry with them. It sounds exciting.

So far on my first day we got a basic overview and started looking into generational sin. As I was reading the verses about generational sin - the Lord immediately brought my mind to my father and his family and their relationship to food ... and my addiction to food/aka - the sin of gluttony. My father is overweight for sure, but the rest of his family is even more overweight than he is. All type 2 diabetics, all obese, all do not know when to say when.

So when the next part of the session came to us  - praying for some sin to be revealed so we could practice with it and confess - I knew what the Lord wanted me to confess!

So I walked through the steps with a friend that came with me and then she with me. First you pray for God to reveal to you anything that may have been passed down to you from your family... and write down what the Lord reveals and from whom it came to you by.

Then you confess this sin (and any of its accompanying sins that go along with it) - even for something you had no control over! Repent of your ancestors sin as well as your own. Also, ask forgiveness if you have ever been angry at God for allowing this to be passed to you - I struggle with blaming God so I definitely added that part in.

Third, forgive and release your ancestors for passing this on and any curses that may have come with it.

Then ask for God's forgiveness - especially that you receive and believe His forgiveness.

Finally, you recognize the authority that has been placed in you - as one you who is united in Christ - and you place the cross between you and the ancestor's sin and command all it's curses to be halted in the name of Jesus.

This is something like what I have done in Neil Anderson's book the Bondage Breaker... but the Lord had never revealed this generational tie to food before. And it is not at all a coincidence that I just recognized my need to confess any unbelief as sin to the Lord earlier in the week! The Lord was preparing me to receive this very message from Him.

The leaders of the group told us to expect God to work in this area of our lives this week.... So I am excited to see what He may do in me. I prayed for big things. That he would heal me of my addiction to food, change my metabolism and make it even the tiniest bit faster, change my taste buds - and all my senses to relate more wisely with food, and for my stomach and mind to know when I am hungry and full. Yay - let's see what He does!