SID: You know, there seems to be so much division in society. How can we have a culture where children honor parents? Craig, what has happened to that type of culture?
CRAIG: Well I think, Sid, what we have is actually a cycle of cursing in dishonor that goes from one generation to the next, to the next., and unfortunately, it intensifies in each generation. So then, what happens is parents that have been wounded as children grow up and marry each other. They carry that wounding from their childhood into their marriage. And then you have husbands that wound wives, and wives who wound husbands because of cursing. And then when you have father and mother who are wounding each other in their marriage relationship, they will inadvertently and unintentionally repeat the same type of wounding in the lives of those children. And their children then, because they’ve been hurt and wounded, maybe treated with injustice or yelled at, screamed at, disciplined too severely, children in their hearts will dishonor their own parents. And that’s a very dangerous thing, because we find a scriptural principle in Deuteronomy, Chapter 5, Verse 16, it says, “Honor your father and mother for two reasons. That you may live long and it will go well with you in the land which the Lord your God gives you.” And when children make a choice to dishonor their parents, to judge their parents, not forgive their parents, they actually just shorten their life and ensure that it won’t go well with them in their own adult life in many areas, sometimes around finances with their children, in their own marriage, in their own career, in their own physical health. Many of these areas it does not go well with them and you can trace it right back to a decision they made in their own childhood to judge their parents, and dishonor their father and mother in their hearts.
SID: Give me an example of a rebellious child.
CRAIG: Well I remember one man shared this story with me that he had so much trouble in his own adult life with his own children. He had a 17-year old son and a 15-year old daughter, and he said, “You know, they are nothing but disrespectful to me and to my wife. They’re disobedient. They never do what we ask them to do. They use terrible language toward us.” And he said, “We don’t know what to do. We’ve tried to discipline them. We’ve tried to chide them.” And this man came to a particular meeting that we had where he learned this principle of blessing. And he realized, “When I was growing up, I was never blessed by parents, and my response was, in my own heart I judge my parents, I dishonored them, and I was very rebellious toward my own dad.” And so he repented before God in that meeting and said, “God, forgive me for my own rebellious attitude.” The next day he went to see his dad, who was still living, and repented before his dad and said, “Dad, please forgive me for the rebellious attitude I had in teenage years and for never asking you to forgive me and never making that right. I judged you. I let bitterness get into my heart toward you. Will you please forgive me.” He didn’t tell his wife or his family what he had done. He said, “The most amazing thing happened.” He said, “I changed something in the spirit when I repented and asked my dad to forgive me. Because,” he said, “when I returned home the attitude of own son and daughter had completely changed and they began to treat me and my wife with respect and with honor.” And he said, “I didn’t even confront them. I didn’t even tell them what I had done. Something changed supernaturally in the spirit and it changed my relationship with my children.” You know, many people have made vows in their heart were they’ve said, I’ll never be like my dad. I’ll never be like my mom or I’ll never marry a man like my dad. And guess what happens?
SID: They do it.
CRAIG: They’ve actually released a dynamic in the spirit that opens the door for them to repeat those patterns. And those can be broken. As a matter of fact, I believe there’s someone listening right now, you’ve done that very thing. You made a vow in your heart. You said, I’ll never be like my dad or my mom, and you look at your life and see qualities that have repeated. You know you can break that right now. Would you just pray this prayer with me and we’re going to break that right now. Just say this: Father God.
SID: Father God.
CRAIG: I recognize today.
SID: I recognize today.
CRAIG: I judged my dad.
SID: I judged my dad.
CRAIG: I didn’t forgive him
SID: I didn’t forgive him.
CRAIG: I dishonored him in my heart.
SID: I dishonored him in my heart.
CRAIG: And I cut him off.
SID: And I cut him off.
CRAIG: God, today I repent.
SID: God, today I repent.
CRAIG: I ask you to forgive me.
SID: I ask you to forgive me.
CRAIG: Today I forgive my dad.
SID: Today I forgive my dad.
CRAIG: For the way he wounded me.
SID: For the way he wounded me.
CRAIG: He can’t pay for that.
SID: He can’t pay for that.
CRAIG: Jesus did pay for that.
SID: Jesus did pay for that.
CRAIG: And I declare today.
SID: And I declare today.
CRAIG: The blood of Jesus is enough.
SID: The blood of Jesus is enough.
CRAIG: To pay for every sin of my father against me.
SID: To pay for every sin of my father against me.
CRAIG: And so today, I forgive my father.
SID: Today I forgive my father.
CRAIG: And God I ask you to forgive me.
SID: And God I ask you to forgive me.
CRAIG: For dishonoring my father.
SID: For dishonoring my father.
CRAIG: And today I choose to honor him in my heart.
SID: And today I choose to honor him in my heart.
CRAIG: In Jesus’ name.
SID: In Jesus’ name.
CRAIG: Amen.
SID: Amen. Now when someone prays prayers such as you teach, they close doors.
CRAIG: That’s right.
SID: And when they close these doors, tell me a list of things that happen to people.
CRAIG: I’ve seen people physically healed. I’ve seen marriages restored. I’ve seen a relationship
between parents and children like I just shared completely restored. We’ve seen incredible things happen in people’s marriages, in relationships, in work relationships. We’ve seen people that have not prospered in business and finance have that completely reversed, where people that have just failed and failed, and failed over in business, all of a sudden have complete reversal and they begin to prosper in their business.
SID: Give me an example. Actually, pray a prayer that a Jewish father might pray over his family. Give us an idea. Because let’s face it, Jewish people are so blessed and Christians know the Jewish Messiah and many Christians are not as blessed as many Jewish people that aren’t even under the better covenant. Give me an idea of that prayer.
CRAIG: That’s exactly right. An amazing tradition that Jewish people have, Sid, is of course every Friday night they gather their family. They have a meal together and that father blesses his children. And he might say something like this: Son, you’re not an ordinary man. You’re not an ordinary boy. You’re my son. I love you. I’m proud of you. You’re a delight to me. You’re a pleasure to me. And son, our connected by covenant by the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Don’t you ever forget that. And because of that, you can expect to prosper in everything you do. You can expect to be at the top of your class in school. You can expect that you’ll prosper in your career, in your future. You can expect God will give you a wonderful wife and you’ll have many children. And your children will be blessed. They will be healthy. They will be intelligent. They will prosper.
SID: Listen, I am getting blessed right now. How would you like your father to pray like that? How would you have liked your father to pray like that? I’m going to tell you something. We’re going to tell you some amazing keys that are going to open doors and light bulbs are going to go on when we come back.
Tags: its supernatural, Sid Roth
Tags: its supernatural, Sid Roth