12 – Idol Worship and False gods

Bible Verses

Exodus 20:3 – “You shall have no other gods before me.” (NIV)

Exodus 23:24 – “You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their works; but you shall utterly overthrow them and completely break down their sacred pillars.” (NKJV)

Psalms 115:8 – “And those who make idols are just like them, as are all who trust in them.” (NLT)

Isaiah 42:8 – “I am the LORD; that is My name! I will not yield My glory to another or My praise to idols.” (NIV)

Matthew 6:24 – “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” (NKJV)

Discussion

Idols are lifeless objects created by human hands, often carved from wood or stone or forged from metal. They often represent demons, false gods, or goddesses. They do not speak or hear, love or save, but many people sacrifice or offer sacrifices of money, food, animals, human beings, and even babies. They worship these statues and believe that they give them good fortune, protection, power, or enlightenment.

In the Bible (Judges 6:25-32), Gideon was instructed by the Lord to tear down his father’s altar to Baal, and the Asherah pole next to it, which represented Canaanite deities. In Exodus 32, the Israelites created a golden idol in the shape of a calf and started sacrificing and bowing down to it and claiming it was the god that brought them out of Egypt. Idol worship isn’t only about false gods or statues or objects representing them. Idol worship is anything that a person exalts above God. A few examples are all religious figures, money, possessions, career, social media, celebrities or politicians.

Prayer

Father God, I ask for your forgiveness for anything or anyone I have put before You. I repent and renounce and break every generational curse of idol worship or worshiping of false gods. All sun and moon gods, fertility gods, gods of war, gods of fortune, gods of the elements, of the snake or serpent, Egyptian, Hindu, Greek, Aztec, Nordic, or any other gods or goddesses from any origin; all spirit animals, totem spirits, ancestral spirits, all worship of the dead, of any false religion, figures or cult leaders; all charms, statues, or any objects that represented these gods or goddesses or anything else that I went to for healing, protection, or any other benefits. I break every connection with any of these things. I ask You, God, to forgive me and help me to keep my eyes fixed on You.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.