Fasting and Victory Over Ancestral Spirits

And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the LORD: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD. And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.

2 Chronicles 20:3, 4, 13

In 2 Chronicles 20, the King of Judah, Jehoshaphat, proclaimed a fast throughout the land. During the fast, the people gathered to pray, seeking God’s help from the Moabites, Ammonites, and Edomites. The Moabites and Ammonites are descendants of Lot. The Edomites are descendants of Esau. These nations with ancestral ties to Judah (formerly a part of Israel) gathered to destroy Judah. Ancestral powers came together to destroy Judah, but they failed because the people of Judah held a fast and received intel for victory–they positioned themselves to hear from God–they got on God’s frequency and received specific instructions required for victory. God told them when, where, and how to respond to their adversaries.

I urge you to read the following scriptures with spiritual sensitivity:

Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. And he said, “Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the Lord to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow go down against them. They will surely come up by the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the brook before the Wilderness of Jeruel. You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you.” And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem bowed before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. Then the Levites of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of the Korahites stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with voices loud and high. So they rose early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.” And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the Lord, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying: “Praise the Lord,
For His mercy endures forever.”

Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated. For the people of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to utterly kill and destroy them. And when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another.

2 Chronicles 20:14-23 (NKJV)

I love that the same Holy Spirit that came upon Zechariah’s son is freely available to us (Luke 11:13). Alleluia! We have many weapons in our spiritual arsenal, and fasting enables us to know the specific weapons to use for enforcing victory as we face the battles of life.

King Jehoshaphat was a spiritually intelligent king. He understood that God’s ways are higher than our ways and we must come up higher, get on God’s frequency through the help of the Holy Spirit if we want to experience supernatural victories.

It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.

Proverbs 25:2 (NKJV)

2 Chronicles 20 reveals the importance of fasting, what to do when we fast, and the power of praise. Take the time to explore them. Ask the Holy Spirit, the greatest teacher, to open your eyes and increase your understanding.

It is important to point out a few things the people of Judah did during the fast against ancestral powers: they prayed, praised God, and God’s Word was on their lips. Fasting is ineffective without praying, meditating on the Word, and worshipping.

Let’s learn from King Jehoshaphat. We are kings and priests and our homes are also territories.

and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Revelations 1:5-6 (NKJV)

Want to know more about overcoming ancestral spirits? Sign up for mentorship. Additionally, fasting is one of the spiritual practices we empower women to embrace in the Christian Mommas Mentorship-Discipleship Program. Application for January 2023/Winter Cohort is now closed. However, you can learn more about the program by joining us this Saturday.