My Dad is 80 years old today. He's the first male in his direct line in 3 generations to hit this milestone. His dad died at age 56 of heart failure. His grandfather died at 37 of complications from an appendectomy. And skipping a generation for the moment, my dad's great, great grandfather died at age 29 from injuries he sustained in an accident. In between the great, great grandfather who died at 29 and the grandfather who died at 37, there was a great grandfather who lived to be 89 but with a curious event in his generation.
Premature death in the family line was a pattern, as you can see, and a line of premature deaths like this sometimes denotes a spiritual curse of some kind that needs to be addressed. In the one generation where the pattern was broken and the ancestor lived to age 89, the event I mentioned involved a reportedly premeditated murder that was committed by my dad's great grandfather. It is possible that the murder re-empowered the curse for future generations.
It seems my dad's great grandfather may have taken justice into his own hands as he killed a man who presumably violated the great grandfather's handicapped daughter. Whatever the exact circumstances, the records show that my dad's great grandfather was found guilty of murder, served only a portion of his sentence, was later pardoned by the governor of Texas and released from jail.
I learned this bit of family history in 1999 about the time I was filling out my paperwork in preparation to receive Restoring the Foundations (RTF) ministry. Since dealing with generational sin is one of the categories for RTF, I was grateful to know ahead of time that I should check off the lines that read, "hatred, murder, feuding, anger, etc." as I prepared to pray to break the generational curses affecting my parents' lives, my life and eventually the lives of my children and descendants.
I'd been afraid for my dad's life and health since I was pretty young. Smoking was an issue for him when I was a child and then when I was a junior in high school, my dad had his first heart operation - a quadruple bypass - when he was only 46 years old. I remember helping my Mom "be Santa" (putting out my brother's and sister's Christmas presents in the living room late on Christmas Eve after they were asleep) because my dad was in the hospital.
That was the year my prayer life began in earnest for my dad's longevity. And...there has been much to pray about through the years: another quadruple bypass, numerous heart procedures, an injury to his dominant wrist with a chain saw, a ruptured appendix, a ruptured gall bladder and complications that subsequently caused him to be kept in a medically induced sleep for over 25 days, carotid artery surgery where the surgeon said, "it took about 1000 stitches" to close him up, and other issues that don't so immediately come to mind. But, you get the picture!
Every time there was a bad report, there was prayer and every time when the news was at its worst, we would say, "But God...!" Through the years when there wasn't an emergency to pray about, I stayed focused on the generational aspect of how our family line might have been affected by the sins of those who had gone before us especially the sin of my great, great grandfather's decision to take justice into his own hands. Scripture is clear that justice belongs to the Lord alone. No other person is afforded this right. Scripture is also clear that the Law is set up to perpetuate the justice of the Lord and hold evil in constraint. Also in His mercy, God allows release from the Law through the blood of Jesus when we actually take the time and effort to appropriate it to the specific areas of our lives.
It isn't necessarily automatic at salvation that we will receive the full benefits of the covenant provided by the blood of Jesus beyond just going to heaven when we die. But, it is possible for us to break the power of the curse in our lives through prayer that specifically applies the blood of Jesus to every detail of our lives and histories, when God prompts us to do so. And that is exactly what I have done, prayed to apply the blood of Jesus to specific areas of generational sin, when God has prompted me through the years. I've reminded Him that we wanted the blood of Jesus to break the curse of premature death in our family line.
Somewhere along the way as I was abiding in the Vine around this topic, He began to lead me to pray for the spirit of Caleb on my dad's life. So, I began to pray that my dad would "walk in the spirit of Caleb, taking the land of his inheritance at age 80 and beyond." You'll remember Caleb said to Joshua when it was time for the Israelites to enter the Promised Land, "Give me this mountain!" And that is how I see my dad contending for his spiritual, physical and emotional inheritance in this season of his life. I see him like Caleb saying, "Give me this mountain! I am still able to fight the battle"
Somewhere along the way, I also felt the Lord dropped the number "92" into my spirit and said, "He'll have to age 92 and beyond and that's what you should pray. Don't just shoot for 80." So, I added that to my prayer as well. I prayed that "dad would walk in the spirit of Caleb, taking the land of his inheritance to age 92 and beyond."
Now the apostle Paul says that we "see through a glass darkly" in this life so I don't know for sure if he'll live to be "92 and beyond" but that is what I expect because that is what I heard the Lord say. And, by the way, Daddy and I have talked about it. I told him if he got tired before "92 and beyond" and he was ready to go, he could let me know and I'd change my prayers. But, as long as he wants to be here, it's "Lord, let him walk in the spirit of Caleb, taking the mountain of his inheritance to 92 and beyond."
I am grateful to the Lord for breaking the curse of premature death over the men in my dad's direct line. I am grateful for the Lord's abiding Presence in his life. And I'd like to finish by saying, "Happy Birthday, Daddy. I'm glad you made it this far and I look forward to all that is ahead for you! Today and for many days in the future I will continue to pray for you, "Lord, give him his mountain!"
