Are You Bound by the Past?

I remember dealing with a young man when I first came into this ministry. He was in a Pentecostal church in Seattle. He came to me, he was about 22 years old, newly saved and baptized in the Spirit.

Now, this could make you smile, but on the other hand, it's serious. He was earnestly seeking to serve the Lord and walk with God. He was in love with a young woman who was a Pentecostal girl, a good Christian girl. They were planning to get married, but at times, he would become so insanely angry with her that he would actually be on the verge of throttling her.

Well, as I say, you can smile at that, but when I sat with him in the pastor's office and began to talk to him, he began to use the word fixation. So I said, on the basis of that, I said, “Now tell me, you've been to a psychiatrist, haven't you?” And he said, “Yes.”

Well, I said, “I want to tell you I operate on a different basis. I'm not criticizing the psychiatrist, I respect what he does.” But I said, “He operates on a psychological basis, I operate on a spiritual basis.” Now, I said, “You can have your choice.” But I said, “I'm probably cheaper.”

So, he said, “I'll choose you.”

Well then, I felt the Lord prompting me. I don't know, I sometimes have a word of knowledge, but mostly it comes with me in the way that I'm led to ask the right question. And sometimes I know for sure I'm getting question by question, exactly laying bare the roots.

So I said, “Did you have an unhappy home background?” He said, “Yes.” I said, “Was your home divided?” He said, “Yes.” I said, “Your father was against your mother?” He said, “Yes.” And I said, “Whose side were you on?” And he said, “My mother's.”

And I said, “Was your father sometimes unkind and brutal towards you?” And he said, “Yes.”

And I said, “Have you ever forgiven your father?” And he said, “Well, he's dead.” I said, “That doesn't make any difference. Because it's not for your father's sake you forgive him, it's for yours. As long as you have unforgiveness in your heart towards your father, you're bound to him. You can never be free.”

So, it was getting late, it was about midnight, and after talking for him for a while, I said, “I want to lead you in a prayer.” And I led him in a prayer of confession of faith in Jesus Christ, renunciation of sin, and a claim for deliverance. Now, in my prayer, I wanted to say—I intended to say—“and I forgive my father,” put those words in his mouth, but I forgot. My mind was getting a little tired.

So when he came to the end of the prayer, he himself spontaneously said, “And I forgive my father as I would have God forgive me.” And when I put my hand on him and prayed for him, two fixations left him.

So, you understand, the two persons you are most closely related to in life are your father and mother. Now, everybody here has a father and a mother. Some people here don't have a wife, don't have a husband, don't have a brother, don't have a sister, maybe don't have a friend. But there's not one person here that didn't have a father or a mother. And you were physically the product of them. And there's a relationship between you and them which is real, acknowledged by scripture, and it's a vital part of your life.

First and foremost, if you are in bitterness, resentment, rebellion against your parents, no matter whether you're 20 years old or 50 years old, you'll never have it well with you. So, if you want it well with you, you better decide to change this afternoon.

You say, “Well, it was my parents’ fault.” I say, “I can believe that. It always is.” There are no juvenile delinquents, there are only adult delinquents. They produce juvenile delinquents. Always it's the parents’ fault. What can the little unborn or newly born baby have to say about things?

But it may be that in the background of your family, there are dark forces which you do not understand. It may be that your mother or your grandmother was a fortune teller, clairvoyant, spiritist, Christian Science practitioner. Now, those things are what are meant in Exodus 20 by having other gods. They're other sources of spiritual help to which people go.

“You shall have no other gods before Me.”

The source to which you go for spiritual help is your god. If you go to drugs for spiritual help, then drugs become your god.