"They confessed their own sins and the sins of their ancestors." (Neh. 9:2)
Reading: Nehemiah Chapter 9.
Prayer Points:
Start with worship to the Father as the people did in their prayer.
Invite the Lord into your family line. Both your ancestors and your children if you have any.
If you have not done this before, spend some time now and throughout the day to thoroughly confess your own sins and the known sins of your parents, Grandparents, etc. For example, there may be divorce in your family line or addictions.
Use the authority you have in Christ and command any spirits that gained access to you through your generational line, to go, in the name of Jesus.
Finish by thanking Jesus for setting you free by the power of the cross.
Reflection on Nehemiah.
Chapter nine contains one of the longest confessionals in the Bible. It takes the form of a narrative prayer. A short history of the people of God from the call of Abram until their present day. Throughout it, they magnify the Lord and declare His faithfulness to the covenant and longsuffering of Israel that was continuously unfaithful.
There are a number of striking contrasts between their narrative style of confession and the type we are used to.
They understood who they were in connection to their people both past and present. Our sense of belonging generally extends back as far as living memory and a few shared stories.
They have long collective memories. We have short memories.
They confessed the sins of their forebears and their personal sins. We confess just our own.
Through a connection to the story of their people, they understood why they were in the predicament they were in. We on the other hand, seldom make the connection between sin and consequences. Our tendency is to think that we make or break our own destiny.
Whether we know our family story or not, we all have one. The consequences of generational sins have a greater bearing on our lives today than we would like to admit.
I first became aware of generational sin when I asked an Elder of my Church for prayer. He led me in a simple prayer over my generational line, " I forgive the sexual sins of my forebears." As I opened my mouth to repeat the prayer, nothing came out. I wanted to say the prayer but it was as if an invisible hand had gripped my throat and was stopping me from saying the words. I was later delivered from that demon who was controlling my life. Until that point, I had no idea I was under that kind of spiritual bondage.
A thorough confession of your sin and those of your generational line is like restoring an old vehicle that has seen better days. You are inviting God to pull out the dents created by previous owners and fixing up the damage you have done. In the end, you have a beautiful vehicle that runs like new. Dealing with the sins of the past frees you to live in the blessings of your heritage.