ENCOUNTER LESSON 6

TWELVE CAUSES OF CURSES

INTRODUCTION 2

SUMMARY OF BLESSINGS & CURSES 2

1. IDOLATRY - DONE 2

2. DISHONORING PARENTS - DONE 3

3. ILLICIT SEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS - DONE 4

4. INJUSTICE TO THE DISABLED, HANDICAPPED, AND LAME - DONE 5

5. TO TRUST OR PUT CONFIDENCE IN THE FLESH - DONE 5

6. TO STEAL WITHOUT VIOLENCE AND PERJURY, FALSE WITNESS - DONE 5

7. SPOKEN CURSES ON THE SERVANTS OF GOD 6

8. SELF-IMPOSED CURSES - DONE 7

9. SPOKEN CURSES BY PARENTS - DONE 7

10. SPOKEN CURSES BY THIRD PARTIES - DONE 8

11. THE CURSE OF OTHERS' FAULTS - DONE 8

12. SPIRITUALISM OR WITCHCRAFT - DONE 9

Seven Steps to release from a curse 9

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INTRODUCTION
 To make you aware of the origin of the curses that have entered your life or the lives of your family
members and show you how to break free of them.
 The Word says that no curse comes without a cause. It also lists specific blessings for our lives in
Deuteronomy 28:1-14. The blessings that the Lord names are contingent upon obedience. In order for these
blessings to come into our lives, we must apply three fundamental steps:

Deuteronomy 11:26-28
26 "Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse:
27 "the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God which I command
you today;
28 "and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn
aside from the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not
known.

Proverbs 26:2
2 Like a flitting sparrow, like a flying swallow, so a curse without cause shall not alight.

Deuteronomy 28:1-2
1 "Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to
observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God
will set you high above all nations of the earth.
2 "And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the
voice of the LORD your God:

Deuteronomy 28:15
15 "But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to
observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all
these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

SUMMARY OF BLESSINGS & CURSES

 Exaltation, Health, Reproductiveness, Prosperity, Victory and God’s favour
 Humiliation, Poverty, Barrenness, unfruitfulness, Defeat, Mental and physical sickness, Oppression, Family
breakdown, Oppression, Failure and God’s disfavour

1. IDOLATRY - DONE
Deuteronomy 27:15
15 'Cursed is the one who makes any carved or molded image, an abomination to
the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret.' And all the
people shall answer and say, 'Amen!'

Exodus 20:4-5
4 "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything
that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the
earth;
5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am
a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth
generations of those who hate Me,

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 An idol is anything in our lives that occupies the place that should be occupied by God alone.
 Anything that holds a controlling position in my life is an idol.
 Idolatry is a worship in which the honour due to God in Trinity and to Him only is given to some of His
creatures or to some invention of His creatures."
 This includes everything that keeps Christ from being first in our hearts
 Idolatry is usually defined as worship of any cult image, idea, or object, as opposed to the worship of a
monotheistic God.

Romans 1:20-23
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being
understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that
they are without excuse,
21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were
thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
22 Professing to be wise, they became fools,
23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like
corruptible man-- and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.

 People who have chosen to worship idols become progressively debased

 To represent God in the likeness First, they take human form, but from there they descend to birds, then to
animals and finally to reptiles
 To represent God in the likeness of any created being is to offer God a deliberate insult
 It would like taking a photo of a cockroach and putting under it the caption this is xxxxx
 In some nations, the practice of worshipping false gods, goes over hundreds even thousands of years
 A person who comes from such a background is heir to a curse that may be compared to a weed planted in
his life , linking him to satanic forces outside himself
 This weed has two kinds of roots, one long tap root going straight downward and the other less powerful
lateral roots stretching out in various directions
 The tap root represents the influence of ancestors who worshipped false gods.
 The lateral roots represent other influences to which the person has been exposed in his lifetime, either
through various sins he has committed, or through his own attachment to false gods, or in various other
ways
 Before he can enjoy true liberty and the fullness of the new creation in Christ, this weed must be completely
pulled out with all its roots
 The most important root and the hardest one to deal with, is the tap root that links him to many generations
who have worshipped false gods
 Nothing but the supernatural grace and power of God can effectively remove all these roots

Matthew 15:13
13 But He answered and said, "Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will
be uprooted.

2. DISHONORING PARENTS - DONE

Ephesians 6:1-3
1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
2 "Honor your father and mother," which is the first commandment with promise:
3 "that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth."

Deuteronomy 27:16
16 'Cursed is the one who treats his father or his mother with contempt.' And all the people
shall say, 'Amen!'

Proverbs 20:20
20 Whoever curses his father or his mother, his lamp will be put out in deep darkness.

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Exodus 21:17
17 "And he who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. (NKJ)
 This is the only commandment with promise. How sad it is to see children who verbally dishonor their
parents, mouthing off, or who actually physically mistreat them.
 They beat them, and they curse them. They treat them as if they were just useless old people. They tell them
that they are nuisances. They see them as if they were the biggest obstacle in their lives and even put them
in nursing homes.
 But ask yourself the following questions: Who brought you into this world? Who suffered the labor pains of
your birth? Who provided food for you? The answer, obviously, is your parents.
 I believe that we are planned by God and God Himself gives us the breath of life. We do not have authority
to reproach our parents. Many of them have faults, but even then, we must love them, respect them, and,
above all, forgive them.
 In order to break curses we may have incurred in dishonoring our parents, we must ask them to forgive us
and annul those words that have offended us.
 The one who honours their parents will live a long life and it will be well with them. The one who
dishonours their parents is cursed.
 Example of Ham bringing a curse on himself for dishonouring his father (Genesis 9:20-27)
 Noah got drunk, his son Ham saw and went and told his brothers. Shem and Japheth grabbed a garment
held it over their heads and walked backwards and covered Noah’s nakedness
 Ham dishonoured his father and brought a curse upon his life and descendents
 Strangely Ham’s behaviour brought severe consequences to him while Noah’s drunkenness brought none as
recorded in scripture.
 Noah would have repented of his sin and been forgiven, however Ham is never mentioned again in a
positive light. Noah is named in the hall of faith in Hebrews 11
 The moral failure of Noah became a test of honour to his three sons.
 Noah’s behaviour was not godly, but it was God’s to deal with, definitely not the son’s
 The two who understood this could continue to honour their father from their hearts, the one son who took
it upon himself to judge his father’s actions fell into dishonour and consequently became cursed
 Ham was accurate in his report, his father was drunk and naked, yet Ham was wrong in principle.
 It is possible to honour your parents without agreeing with them on al points or endorsing everything they
do.
 You may disagree strongly with them in some matters, yet maintain a respectful attitude toward them.
 To honour your parents in this way is also to honour God Himself, who gave this commandment
 Give example of your own relationship with your father
 Derek Prince has said that in all the years he has dealt with Christians, he has never met one who had a
wrong attitude toward his parents and enjoyed the blessing of God. Such a person may be zealous in many
areas of the Christian life, active in the church, energetic in ministry. Yet there is always something lacking
in his life, the blessing of God
 On the other hand, Christians have had their lives revolutionised when they acknowledged a wrong attitude
towards parents, repented of it and made the necessary changes
 One man had a lifetime of bitterness towards his father. His father was now dead, so he went to the
cemetery where his father was buried and did not rise from his knees until he knew his sin was
forgiven and he was released from its evil effects. From that point on, the whole course of his life
changed from frustration and defeat to victory and fulfillment

3. ILLICIT SEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS - DONE

Lev 18:22
22 'You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10
9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do
not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor
sodomites,

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10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will
inherit the kingdom of God.

There are several different types of sexual sin.

 Fornication: premarital sex, masturbation, sodomy, pornography, lust, and lasciviousness.
 Adultery: extramarital sexual relationships.
 Homosexuality and lesbianism: men with men and women with women.
 Men have the problem with the eyes, whereas women have the problem with the ears
 All who indulge in sexual perversion expose themselves to the curse of God

4. INJUSTICE TO THE DISABLED, HANDICAPPED, AND LAME - DONE

Deuteronomy 27:17-19
17 'Cursed is the one who moves his neighbor's landmark.' And all the people shall
say, 'Amen!'
18 'Cursed is the one who makes the blind to wander off the road.' And all the
people shall say, 'Amen!'
19 'Cursed is the one who perverts the justice due the stranger, the fatherless, and
widow.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen!'

 This means to take advantage of the poor and weak, to steal their money or possessions, or otherwise deal
with them unjustly.
 The one who gives to the poor also gives to the Lord, but on the other hand, he who takes from the poor
takes from the Lord. To drive someone to do something illicit (like inducing them to do drugs or to become
involved in prostitution) with the intent to gain money brings a curse.
 Abortion is a grievous sin because it is a homicide. It is an act perpetrated against someone who cannot
defend himself. This brings a tremendous curse to our lives.

5. TO TRUST OR PUT CONFIDENCE IN THE FLESH - DONE

Jeremiah 17:5
5 Thus says the LORD: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his
strength, whose heart departs from the LORD.

Romans 3:20
20 Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the
law is the knowledge of sin.

 Flesh does not denote the physical body, but the nature each of us received by inheritance from our
common ancestor, Adam
 The person quoted by Jeremiah is the person who has experienced God’s supernatural grace and power, but
then turns back to relying on his own natural ability
 His conduct reveals that he has more confidence in what he can do for himself, than in what God can do for
him
 We know that the law of God calls us to always live in holiness and without sin. In placing our trust in a
person other than Christ, thinking that he will bring us out of a difficult situation, brings a curse upon
ourselves. This puts man in the place where God belongs. We should always trust in Christ. He is our
principal and only Helper. We shouldn't trust in our own strength, knowing that without Christ nothing is
possible. Everything we want to do in our own desires will fail.
 It's like those people who go to church and put their trust in the pastor, in the leader, or in the members of
the church. But they don't really see the Lord. They see that someone in the church fails at something, and
they immediately fall away from the church and God as if God were to blame. Always focus your attention
on the Lord because we as humans always fail, but God never fails. He always is the perfect example.
 Now if we let ourselves be ensnared by the desires of the flesh or by our feelings, we will always fall into
sin and thus open the door to Satan. These sins include pride, anger, revenge, evil or bad thoughts, and bad
attitudes. If we put our confidence in the flesh, we can easily fall into these sins.

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6. TO STEAL WITHOUT VIOLENCE AND PERJURY, FALSE WITNESS - DONE
Zechariah 5:1-4
1 Then I turned and raised my eyes, and saw there a flying scroll.
2 And he said to me, "What do you see?" So I answered, "I see a flying scroll. Its
length is twenty cubits and its width ten cubits."
3 Then he said to me, "This is the curse that goes out over the face of the whole
earth: 'Every thief shall be expelled,' according to this side of the scroll; and, 'Every
perjurer shall be expelled,' according to that side of it."
4 "I will send out the curse," says the LORD of hosts; "It shall enter the house of
the thief and the house of the one who swears falsely by My name. It shall remain in the
midst of his house and consume it, with its timber and stones." (NKJ)

Haggai 1:4-6
4 "Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to
lie in ruins?"
5 Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: "Consider your ways!
6 "You have sown much, and bring in little; you eat, but do not have enough; you
drink, but you are not filled with drink; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and
he who earns wages, Earns wages to put into a bag with holes." (NKJ)

Malachi 3:8
8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, 'In what way have
we robbed You?' In tithes and offerings.

 The curse that Zechariah depicts enters the house of all who have committed two specific sins, theft and
swearing falsely. Having once entered, the curse remains until it has destroyed the entire house – timbers
and stones and all. It affects not merely the individual, but also his entire house
 The curse Haggai describes can be summed up in one word, insufficiency
 Stinginess towards God provokes His curse, but liberality releases His blessing
 Stealing is taking something from someone, whether it is of value or not. Before the eyes of God, this is
stealing. The item can be as trivial as a pencil. For example, at work, you may take office supplies. You
think they are surplus to the company, but really, you are starting to steal. The same is true when you are
given too much money for something and you don't give it back, but keep it. This is stealing. When you do
this, you are building on the curse of stealing, without violence or perjury.
 One of the biggest curses stems from stealing from God. He says this in His Word (Mal. 3:8-10). Tithing is
the only thing you can prove God on. If you are faithful in this commandment, the blessings will overtake
you in abundance. Giving tithes and offerings is a biblical command that we should never cease doing. Of
all the things we earn, ten percent belongs to God. This is not much, compared to what God has given us.
Let's see, what has He given us? Health, work, spiritual and emotional stability, just to name a few.
Everything that we have we owe to God, whether material or spiritual. Nothing can compare with what God
has blessed us with. If we carry out this commandment, God will bless us abundantly. If we want the work
of God to multiply, we shouldn't withhold our tithes and offerings because there are so many debts that are
covered by them.
 Now many people think that tithing and giving offerings means to give to the poor, and they think that this
is enough. But this is not so. We should give to God what is His and to "Caesar" what is "Caesar's." We can
help the poor with offerings, but we must give God what belongs to Him. Disobedience to fulfilling the
tithe goes along with financial curse.
 To take the Lord's name in vain also brings a curse. Speaking like we spoke before we knew Christ and
pretending to be Christian when we really are not also invite curses.

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7. SPOKEN CURSES ON THE SERVANTS OF GOD
Hebrews 13:17
17 Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your
souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for
that would be unprofitable for you.

 When you rebel against the servant of God and don't submit to his rightful authority, a curse can result
because of ignoring the authority that God has placed in the church. Your spiritual authorities have the
authority to bless. In a given moment, if you have received negative words through a curse, you should
break the curse.
 A biblical example is Joshua after he conquered Jericho (Josh. 6:26). We see how God backed Joshua.
What God said would happen, happened to the letter (1 Kings 16:34).
 Today, we should be more careful. Many Christians (especially new Christians) look to some person in the
church for guidance. We have seen various cases of words of curse launched by immature leaders to
brothers of the church. Don't let someone put an obligation on you, except your leader or the pastor
recognized by the church. Don't look for advice or a prophecy from just any person, no matter how spiritual
he may seem. Our Father is a God of order, and He
 clearly establishes spiritual authorities within the church. You are not with your leader by
 accident or luck. You are in the group because it is the will of God that you be formed, grow, multiply, and
be a leader, conformed by God's will in the group you are in.

8. SELF-IMPOSED CURSES - DONE

Psalm 34:13
13 Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit.

Proverbs 18:20-21
20 A man's stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth; from the produce
of his lips he shall be filled.
21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its
fruit.

 When a husband says to his wife, I am sick of the way you serve our meals, he is unwittingly bringing upon
himself a curse of indigestion that continues to afflict him for the rest of his life
 Words are like boomerangs which come flying back to strike the one who spoke them
 We need to remember that God takes our words seriously, even when we ourselves do not
 The Jews proclaiming a curse on themselves when they said his blood be upon us. They have been
persecuted ever since.
 We know that the tongue is powerful. We shouldn't be speaking curses on ourselves, saying such things as
"I am dumb," "I'm good for nothing," "I can't learn," "That job is out of my reach," "I'm not capable." Look
at all the words that we are saying that are creating curses. You should always say positive words that bring
blessing. The only thing that negative words accomplish is to give you low self-esteem.
 Take into account that all negative words, deep-down, prove a lack of faith, and without faith, it is
impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6). Because of this, if you continue to put yourself down with negative
words, displeasing God, our Father will give you what you say.
 Delete negative phrases from your vocabulary. ("Nobody can fix this country," "I'm an unlucky person." "I
believe I'm going to be sick.") Remember that we are left in debt by the words of our mouths, and whatever
hateful words we say, we have to settle the debts with God.

9. SPOKEN CURSES BY PARENTS - DONE

Genesis 9:24-25
24 So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him.
25 Then he said: "Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants he shall be to his
brethren."

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 Give example of Dave & Heath and Anthony’s fiancé
 Just as a father’s blessing has measureless potential for good, so a father’s curse has a corresponding
potential for evil
 A father sees in his son aspects of his own character which he does not like, but has never been willing
to deal with in his own life. He finds it less painful to condemn in his son than in himself. As a result,
the son never has a sense of his father’s approval. The father says that he will never make good, not
realising that he is pronouncing an evil destiny which may easily follow his son through the rest of his
life
 There was a family whose surname was fail. When they had a son, they named him John Will True
story
 We see in biblical times how Noah cursed his son, Ham. He said to him, "Curse Canaan, slave of the slaves;
you will be your brother's slave," Really, this is a tremendous curse; This curse had it complement (or
corresponding reference). Ham and his descendants served the towns of his brothers, showing how the
parents have authority over their children in what they say and how they mold the destinies of their children
for the good or the bad. .
 Spoken words by people who have authority over us, such as parents, have tremendous impact. God has
delegated this authority to them as our parents. Likewise, in dealing with our children, we must be careful
in those moments of anger. This is when we will be most likely to convey a curse (getting things off our
chest). We see that Satan uses these moments to bind people with a curse.
 In moments of anger, how many times did our parents say words that have marked our lives and made us
feel like worthless people, run over and mistreated (physically, verbally), leaving us with broken hearts?
How many times have we, in turn, done this with our children? We speak harshly to them in moments of
anger, rendering curses that leave our children marked. ("You're a brute." "You're not worth anything."
"You're always going to be poor." "Everything you do is wrong.") Many times, we even compare them to
family or friends, leaving them feeling bad about themselves. Or, we compare them to people with bad
reputations.
 Perhaps we behave towards our children in the same way we were treated by our parents, reflecting the
curse that we have by family inheritance. That is why in moments of anger with our children; we use the
same inherited words that we were told as children. That is why perhaps many of you or your children -
even though you try to do things the best you possibly can-are not able to achieve what you desire because
you or your children keep carrying this curse that was pronounced by your parents or that you pronounced
on your children,
 For all these reasons, you should endeavor to break this curse. To break it, you have to first forgive your
parents. If you are the one who has cursed your children, ask for forgiveness in prayer (Prov. 18:20-21).
Then, ask forgiveness from your parents or your children.
 Words can mark the destinies of entire families. That is why some families may exhibit certain series of
events, generation after generation. For example:
 Your grandmother never married, but had children without a formal marriage. Your mother followed in her
footsteps, and so did you. This curse of illegitimacy can be passed to your children and grandchildren if you
don't break the curse.
 The same happens when, for example, your grandfather had children by different women in various homes,
and the same is true of your father, your brothers, and so on.
 In some families, there is a trend of one continuous divorce after another.
 There are also curses of hereditary illnesses. For example, perhaps the grandmother died of leukemia, the
mother died of leukemia, and other family members also died from the same illness. Many other diseases
and conditions can follow the same pattern.

10. SPOKEN CURSES BY THIRD PARTIES - DONE

 Some people such as teachers, brothers, or your enemies can curse you or demean you with words that have
a tremendous effect over your life. Do not accept sayings, or phrases, like these: "You're good for nothing."
“Mosquito brain." "You can't!" "You're a dummy; you're an imbecile." "You're not well-trained." Renounce
all such words and take them to the cross of Calvary (Col. 2:14-15).
 There are teachers who unintentionally speak curses to their students, saying such things as "You're good
for nothing." "You don't have the capacity to be a better student." This is the type of teacher who mistreats
the students and embarrasses them by making them wear a dunce hat. This is where the road to low self-
esteem begins. Also a spirit of shyness, or timidity, begins to enter.

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 Furthermore, we have to break spoken curses by people that we are financially indebted to and some that
we are bound to financially. Spoken curses by doctors must also be broken.

11. THE CURSE OF OTHERS' FAULTS - DONE

Genesis 27:13
13 But his mother said to him, "Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my
voice, and go, get them for me."

 We cannot carry the faults, the sins, and the load of anyone else's curse. The only one who can is the Lord,
and He did that on the cross 2000 years ago. If we have ever said, "Lord, punish me" or "Lord, I'll take the
blame," or like Rebecca has said "Let your curse be mine," we should annul and renounce the effect of
those words and those prayers. Otherwise, they can become arguments against us. In the name of Jesus,
start to pray for these people to have an encounter with the Lord and to be set free. We cannot take loads
that are later converted into curses on our lives.

12. SPIRITUALISM OR WITCHCRAFT - DONE

Deuteronomy 18:10-14
10 "There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter
pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who
interprets omens, or a sorcerer,
11 "or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the
dead.
12 "For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of
these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you.
13 "You shall be blameless before the LORD your God.
14 "For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners;
but as for you, the LORD your God has not appointed such for you.

 When you have engaged in any of these practices by curiosity, this brings a curse. The words, prayers, and
practices that are done in these places have strong demonic power or influence over your life. But the Word
of God says that He is more powerful. Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.
 If you have consulted witches or psychics, or if you have gone to a palm reader or consulted your horoscope
(astrology), know that no one can predict the future except God.
 If you have consulted people who call themselves psychics, such as Walter Mercado and Mauricio Puertas,
know that in reality these people are witches. They disguise themselves, saying that God inspires them.
God, however, is never associated with evil. If you have visited San Gregorio, you should also break this
curse because the practice of consulting the dead is spiritualism. Be very careful with this. Don't let yourself
be misled by Satan because he uses many mediums to involve you in occult things. Everything that is
metaphysical works with the mind, and Satan can work with the mind easily.

Seven Steps to release from a curse

1. Confess your faith in Christ and in His sacrifice on your behalf
2. Repent of all your rebellion and your sins
3. Claim forgiveness of all sins
4. Forgive all other people who have ever harmed you or wronged you
5. Renounce all contact with anything occult or satanic
6. You are now ready to pray the prayer for release from any curse
7. Bow believe that you have received and go on in God’s blessing