Generational Demon Attacks: Sickness in the Bloodline

A consequence is not a curse. There is a difference between a generational curse and a generational consequence.

I have no doubt that demons strategize generationally. The attacks that worked on the parents will likely work on the children. Upbringing, genetics, tendencies, and family dynamics can all be used by the enemy to cultivate a persistent problem in a family line. These attacks and strategies lead to generational dysfunction. Even psychology and science have caught up to biblical truth to affirm that this is a reality.

Generational dysfunction is real. One generation can affect the next generation. Take, for example, the original sin of Adam and Eve. Their rebellion would become a part of the human experience for all generations to come. We now live in a fallen world:

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned (Romans 5:12 NIV).

This, however, does not work as many today are led to believe. It’s important that we stick with Scripture on this. For some believers, the term generational curse brings to their minds thoughts of hexes, magic spells, and demons waiting in delivery rooms, exercising their “legal right” to jump into a child born to a sinful mother and father. Some might even be given to the strange notion that God cannot or will not set someone free until they repent of the sins of their ancestors—or break an agreement or close a demon’s legal loophole.

Notice that Romans 5:12 tells us why death came to all people: “because all sinned.” Yes, creation is in a fallen state due to the sin of Adam and Eve. This doesn’t mean that we as individuals aren’t each deserving of punishment. All of us have disobeyed God and are, therefore, deserving of the disorder that comes about as the result of disobedience.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23, NIV).

So even though we can be negatively affected by previous generations, personal accountability is God’s standard.

How It Actually Works

There are two key ideas you should note: conditions and consequences. Though the line between these two isn’t always bold, understanding them in a basic sense is important.

For example, if a husband commits adultery and his wife leaves him, that’s a consequence of his actions. The broken home in which his children will grow is the new condition created. The condition of that broken home will possibly affect the children in such a way that they end up repeating their father’s mistake. The consequences of our actions amount to the conditions of our future generations. Do the children need to repent for their father’s adultery? No. Anyone who teaches that is pushing a dangerously cruel and unbiblical notion. Are the children responsible for his wrongdoing? No. But do they live with the results of his poor choice? Absolutely. This, however, doesn’t mean they are bound or cursed to repeat it. They still have their own choices to make.

As another example, if a mother and a father foolishly run up their credit cards because they can’t distinguish between needs and wants or want to impress others, and if they refuse to work, the consequence of their actions will inevitably be poverty. Thus, poverty becomes the condition in which the next generation is born. Does this make it more difficult for the children to become financially fruitful? Of course. But are the children now struggling with poverty because of some demonic hex or magic spell? Is there a special prayer they need to recite? A specific kind of demon they need to rebuke? The Bible indicates no such thing. Sure, the children may even mimic the behavior patterns of their parents, because that’s what was modeled for them. And, yes, the enemy may strategize against them and try to influence them to likewise make foolish financial decisions. But what is the way out for them? Better choices, and lots of them—a consistent and steadfast series of good choices that persist despite discouragement, distraction, or the disadvantages of their inherited conditions.

A person who comes from a line of addicts is very likely to develop at least some kind of destructive behavior pattern, if not their own addiction. The tendencies they gained from genetics, the behavior that was modeled for them, and the abuse they were likely to have endured are all factored into the enemy’s generational strategy to be used against them. Yet all of this loses power if the individual chooses to forsake their family’s patterns and to walk in the Holy Spirit as a born-again believer. They may inherit similar temptations, trials, and tendencies, which the enemy will most certainly aim to exploit. Yet they will only repeat the patterns if they choose to repeat the practices. They will only give leverage to the same demons if they make the same decisions. They will only experience the same consequences if they make similar choices.

You can’t choose what tempts you, but you can choose to resist it. You can’t choose the tactic the enemy works against you and your family, but you can choose to walk in victory. You can’t choose your inherited weaknesses, but you can choose to overcome those weaknesses. You can’t choose the family or conditions in which you were born, but you can choose a future submitted to God.

To put it succinctly, demons do strategize against you with similar tactics they used on your family tree. Those attacks only work if you choose disobedience. Those attacks cannot work if you choose submission to God. As a born-again believer, you can’t come under the power of a curse, but you certainly can be born into disadvantaged conditions and also reap the consequences of your choices.

Sickness in the Bloodline

Here, I thought it helpful to briefly address and put into biblical perspective hereditary disease. Sickness doesn’t always come about as a direct consequence of your choices. Sometimes sickness comes about as a result of demonic attack (see Luke 13:10-17). Sometimes sickness comes about through the natural means of existing in a fallen world (see Romans 5:12; 8:19-23). Sometimes sick- ness comes about through hereditary genetic disorder. Sometimes, it’s some kind of combination of those three.

Sometimes, sickness does not come by way of sin.

As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him” (John 9:1-3 NIV).

Sometimes, the confession of sin is necessary in order to be healed.

Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective (James 5:14-16 NIV).

Notice, however, that the Scripture says, “Therefore confess your sins,” not, “Therefore confess your ancestor’s sins.” Just because someone is sick doesn’t mean they are in sin, but people who sin can open the door to sickness.

So what should you do if there’s a genetically inherited disease in your body? You should do the same thing you would do for any other kind of sickness—obey the Scripture. What does the Scripture instruct? Evaluate your life, repent of any sin, pray in faith for healing, rebuke demonic attack, have others pray for you, and then trust God to do as He will.

The burden that often gets unnecessarily laid upon the believer is the search to solve some demonic riddle or pray some specific kind of prayer that undoes the sinful harm of former generations. Believers who come under this religious legalistic bondage spend their lives in guilt, shame, and fear—wondering why they just can’t “break the curse.” They go decades thinking that they just haven’t found the secret key to their healing. This is an especially cruel burden to place upon the sick. Are you really to believe that anyone who is sick is no longer blessed by God? Does this mean every faithful believer who has pain or a disorder or a deformity should be considered hexed, cursed, or rejected by God? Scripture teaches no such thing.

Should we be persistent in our prayers? Absolutely (see Matthew 7:7). Should we fast to break the power of a demonic attack of sickness? Most certainly (see Mat- thew 17:21). Should we confess our sins to God? That’s a given. But don’t spend years of your life tortured by the idea that your healing is being withheld from you because you didn’t pray the right prayer or name the right demon or correct something unknown to you in your family lineage. Do the possible and trust God to do the impossible. Trust in His goodness even as you wait on your timing. Don’t fall into the despair that comes from a superstitious approach. Ask. Believe. Then trust God’s timing and will. Even if sickness is hereditary, the basic biblical approach to healing is still in order. Beware the yeast of the pharisees!

Still, one might insist, “But I was healed when I broke the curse!” To which I would reply, “It was Jesus who healed you because of your faith.” You weren’t healed because of a belief in a curse but despite a belief in a curse. In my book Holy Spirit: The Bondage Breaker, I cover the demonic attack of sickness in greater detail—showing you the causes of sickness, why sickness is not the same as demonization, biblical ways to breaking the power of sickness, and why we can trust God’s sovereignty when healing doesn’t happen in our timing.