I run a prayer website that receives hundreds of prayer requests a month. It gives me some real insight into what people just like me are going through on a daily basis, and how they perceive these situations. Not surprising is how many believers view their situations to be the result of demonic activity, satanic attack, generational curses, God's wrath, and so many other superstitious things backed by an entirely unscriptural and psychologically detached perspective. The more I see these requests come in, the more I realize that the very superstition that they are clinging to is what keeps them trapped in the cycles of their own additions, delusions, and failures.

Now, I know that was a mouthful, but understand that I am not being heartless or condemning here. I am simply trying to illustrate a point that you just don't hear from the pulpit in most commercial churches. It's much easier to create an addiction to so-called "deliverance" services and sensational meetings like the popular "Encounters" that are run throughout the world. But, when you break it down, the teachings are more dangerous than the actual sin that people are running from. It imprisons them into believing that their entire life is about fighting demons, curses, and "secular" thought. We become the kind of cowardly, stereotypical Christians we hate to see in the movies - the kind that killed dozens of people in Salem's infamous witch trials.

Generational Curses

One of the most popular contemporary teachings is that of generational curses. This teaching, based on several Old Testament verses, claims that many people suffer from curses passed down through their family line. For an example of the kind of trash believers are being taught, let me quote an entertaining page, found at http://www.sw-mins.org/gen_curses.html:

"Generational curses are judgments that are passed on to individuals because of sins perpetuated in a family in a number of generations. Generational curses are similar to original sin curses because they can be passed down on a generational basis. They differ in that generational curses do not impose eternal judgment. They bring judgment or bondage during an individual's life, reducing the quality of life, until that individual addresses the sin issues that put the curses into place."

"At this point, I know that many Christians will reason, "I thought that all the past is under the blood when I received Jesus as my Savior!" As far as your salvation and eternal destiny is concerned, that is true. But our enemy loves to cause us grief when there are sins connected to our lives (personal or generational) that have not been addressed through repentance and confession. Do you remember that time when you received Jesus into your life? You acknowledged your sin in a general way and asked Him to be your Savior and forgive you and cleanse you. The Lord was very gracious with your general confession, but later on the Holy Spirit began to convict you of sins in your past. You were led to repent of them and confess them specifically to the Lord. Why did the Spirit do that? He wanted you to be free of any legal claims of the enemy upon your life. It had nothing to do with your salvation, but the quality and freedom of your new life in Christ. Why does God permit the enemy to do be such a hindrance? Because the Lord, in His sovereignty, can use even the enemy's activities to accomplish something good in our lives. Some of the effects include chastisement, testing of faith, a guard against complacency, humility, and the motivation to pursue a sanctified life."

Don Rogers is authoritatively teaching something that has no scriptural basis. Citing verses like Exodus 34:6-7, Deuteronomy 11:26-28, and Leviticus 26:39-42 to remind us how God judged the generations, he creates the illusion that followers of Christ are still under God's judgment for the sins of their fathers. Essentially, the belief claims that you are not a new creature, as referenced in the scriptures, but the same old "son of a sinner", worthy only of being condemned for his family name.

Yet.

Ezekiel 18:1-4 (NIV) The word of the Lord came to me: "What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel: 'The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge'? As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel. For every living soul belongs to me, the father as well as the son--both alike belong to me. The soul who sins is the one who will die."

Ezekiel 18:14-16,18-20 (NIV) "But suppose this son has a son who sees all the sins his father commits, and though he sees them, he does not do such things: He does not eat at the mountain shrines or look to the idols of the house of Israel... He does not oppress anyone... He does not commit robbery, but gives his food to the hungry and provides clothing for the naked... He will not die for his father's sin; he will surely live. But his father will die for his own sin, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother and did what was wrong among his people. Yet you ask, 'Why does the son not share the guilt of his father?' Since the son has done what is just and right and has been careful to keep all my decrees, he will surely live. The soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against him."

Jeremiah 31:29-32 (NIV) In those days people will no longer say, 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.' Instead, everyone will die for his own sin; whoever eats sour grapes--his own teeth will be set on edge. "The time is coming," declares the Lord, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers..."

So, out of superstition, we have people who are imprisoned and deceived into believing that their own God is judging them for the sins of their parents, even though they have given their lives to Him and chose to follow him. Imagine the despair and hopelessness this leaves people with. I see it ever day at my prayer site.

That Lying Red Devil and His Evil Midget Minion

Another common request we get is for prayer against demonic attacks that are creating bondage to sin, financial problems, and relationship breakdown. Basically, these poor people have gremlins in their air vents and they need prayer to drive them out. That is the way they have been taught to view life's complex issues by kooks at the church with self-proclaims prophetic and teaching abilities. Yet, nowhere in the Bible is such activity attributed to Satan or demonic activity.

There are a few primary forms of the words we use for Satan and demons. Here they are:

1. Satan (saw-tawn): Old Testament character (Strong's H7854)
   
2. Satanas: New Testament character (Strong's G4567)
   
3. The Diabolos: New Testament character (Strong's G1228)
   
4. Daimonion: Daimonic beings, disembodied spirit's (Strong's G1139, G1140, G1141, G1142)

Let's address 'daimonions', or demons. The only activity attributed to these spirits in scripture is habitation of the physical body for the purposes of possessing it and assuming control. These spirits apparently need bodies to manifest themselves. They are not Satan, nor do they serve the same purpose. There is also no Biblical evidence that anything bad that happens in life (other than being possessed or physically hurt by someone possessed) can be attributed to them. They can also easily be driven out of a person by a believer and kept out by an indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Essentially, these spirits need a house to live in. When the Holy Spirit sets up shop, they cannot live there any longer.

Now, let's address the man in the red suit. Did you know that the Book of Job is the only place where Satan was given permission to physically play with the life of a human being? In every other scripture in the Bible, His only superpower was the power of deception. Satan's entire existence is one of a deceiver. He cannot touch your finances, family, health, or physical property. He is a being that represents spiritual, mental, and emotional blindness. His entire purpose is to fool humans into either a frenzy of fear or a false sense of security. Those are the only "wiles" and "fiery darts" the Bible attributes to Him.

However, in the case of Job, it was actually GOD who did those things to Job, not Satan. People often teach that God protected the life of Job while Satan went around destroying everything he owned. But, read this closely:

Job 1:6-12 And a day came when the sons of God came to present themselves before Jehovah. And Satan also came among them. And Jehovah said to Satan, From where do you come? Then Satan answered Jehovah and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And Jehovah said to Satan, Have you set your heart against My servant Job, because there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil? And Satan answered Jehovah and said, Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge around him, and around his house, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his livestock have increased in the land. But put forth Your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse You to Your face. And Jehovah said to Satan, Behold, all that he has is in your power. Only do not lay your hand upon him. And Satan went forth from the presence of Jehovah.

Job 2:2-4 And Jehovah said to Satan, From where do you come? And Satan answered Jehovah and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And Jehovah said unto Satan, Have you set your heart on My servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil? And still he is keeping hold of his integrity, although you moved Me against him to destroy him without cause. And Satan answered Jehovah and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man has he will give for his life.

Satan's argument was that if GOD put his hand on what Job had, he would curse him to his face. God responded by EMPLOWERING Satan with a sort of Power of Attorney for all that Job, the richest man alive, was stewarding. Satan was not on his own mission, but a mission from God himself! Did Job look for a "deliverance" ministry or exorcism for help? Would it have worked? I think that God's answer, starting in chapter 38, settles the debate:

Job 38:2-4 Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now gird up your loins like a man; for I will ask of you, and you teach Me. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell if you have understanding!

Job 40:7-8 Now gird up your loins like a man. I will question you, and you teach Me. Will you also set aside My judgment? Will you condemn Me so that you may be justified?

Job 42:1-6 And Job answered Jehovah and said, I know that You can do all, and not any purpose is withheld from You. Who is he who hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore I have spoken what I did not understand; things too wonderful for me; yea, I did not know. Hear, I beseech You, and I will speak; I will ask You, and You will cause me to know. I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye has seen You. Therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.

The theme of Job is that God is God, period! It's not about generational curses, or the authority of Satan, or how to respond to demonic activity. It is a simple lesson in understand that God is God, and we are not in any way qualified to question him. He can choose to protect our lives or give Satan himself power over us. How then can you pray against that?

Control Is the Enemy of Faith