Prayer for the Breaking of Rituals and Rites Practiced – Chinese, Korean, and Japanese Ethnicity

In the Name of God, my Heavenly Father, Jesus of Nazareth, and through the power of the Holy Spirit I pray and declare:

In light of accepting and understanding my position as a son/daughter of God, I am grateful, and I now understand that there have been generations of family rituals that are rooted in my cultural lineage as well as ingrained, hidden rituals that are carried over into my life that need to be broken.

Before I was even a thought in my parents’ minds, You, God, already knew who and what I am to be. You wanted me and I am not a mistake.

It may be hard for some to think that the ideal of a peaceful, harmonious life free of chaos is not what one will experience. That life isn’t one of entitlement can come as a rude awakening.

As one of Chinese ethnicity, I have been lulled into thinking, “Don’t make waves,  don’t be disrespectful, etc.,” but in not addressing the wrongs around me, evil flourished. Filial piety has some good points, such addressing elder care and preventing elder abuse; but not asking for help when I am incapable to handle a situation creates much trauma. This may include a sense of fear, anxiety, shame of showing weakness, failure to provide parental care when needed, the of abandoning family, fear of being ostracized, and not meeting up to an unattainable standard of perfection.

I ask forgiveness for trying to handle life through my own efforts instead of leaning on Your understanding, Your plan and especially Your timing.

In my family rituals and superstitions have held my generations and myself in bondage year after year, for thousands of years.

Confucianism and Buddhist Practices in My Chinese Family Line

Lord, on behalf of myself and my generational line back to before the beginning of time, I renounce and repent for:

• Rituals of offering incense to ancestors at the temple or family altar out of fear of being haunted by the dead who are angry
• Rituals at funerals, including Shou Ling, Zuogi, An Ling (home altar) or Ji Ling (temple altar), which required offering paper monies and paper structures to be burnt so the deceased can live comfortably in the netherworld, a practice linked to Egyptian belief system.
• The yearly Ching Ming or, I Ching, or Qing Ming to honor the ancestors at the grave site in hopes of purification and appeasing the spirits. I understand that we live once and are judged according to our faith in the living Christ. I have His assurance that my name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
• Rituals to control the interaction of light and dark forces, which are the principalities beyond human abilities. I now understand that it is not by power nor might, but can only be done by the Holy Spirit. I rescind my control and leave that in God’s hands.
• Rituals to exorcise evil ghosts and spirits by manipulating of the fate of others by what I do; which is through eating or abstaining of certain habits, foods, thoughts, and avoidance of events. I understand I cannot take away others’ freedoms nor can I control them through my limited human understanding. I ask forgiveness for assuming the position of God, whom I am not. You, oh God, stand alone for there are no other gods beside You.
• Going to the temple or to others seeking what the future will be, using fortunetellers or other methods in order to try to control what may or may not happen. Lord, You hold my world in Your hands, while I am only here for a time and then, as mist, gone.
• Ancestral worship at a home or temple altar, especially during the summer
• Believing and practicing folk lore such as:
  • Pregnant mothers cannot attend funerals, believing that the deceased will seek to reincarnate by searching for an unborn child. If she must attendl, she shallt place a mirror in front of her to reflect this spirit away.
  • Prevention of a cleft palate, epilepsy or creating a naughty child by abstaining from consumption various muttons or crabs
  • Eating the popular Jai or monk’s food, pig’s feet and chicken feet with ginger to cleanse the mother’s body after birthing.
  • Offerings at 3 months to Guan Yin or Jin Hua to ensure good luck and fortune, prosperity and happiness; and having the child do the grabbing test, which is similar to Erabitori or Japanese ritual as an indicator of the path or career a child.
  • Celebrating with red-colored bao buns, red-colored hard boiled eggs and the eating of sweet and sour pigs’ feet and ginger chicken feet soups, which are ingredients offered at the temple altars.

I declare in Jesus’ name that rituals over the four areas of life – Guan (birth), Hun (wedding), Sang (funeral) and Ji (ancestral rites) – must fall and become null and void in the contracts, oaths, blood covenants that have been made under the false perception that one can control every aspect of life.

I declare that using the Lion or Dragon dance to herald an opening of a business or the New Year with fireworks is not beneficial and is linked to idolatry. I will follow now only after the Lion of Judah, who is Jesus.

Buddhist Japanese Practices in Family Line

Lord, on behalf of myself and my generational line back to before the beginning of time, I renounce and repent for:

• Beginning at conception and the second trimester, wearing a labor sash, known as Anzan Hara Obi, up to the time of birth to guarantee an easy and safe birth. This time period was not honoring You but was called the Day of the Dog, Inu no hi. I break the fear that any child conceived may be a mistake instead of cherished.
• On the preparation of a child’s room and crib, ofuda and other elements were given by a Buddhist priest to ward off evil, which instead opened a door for evil to enter in a triangle NE, SE and over the crib. In the name of Jesus, please clean off the evil and close these portals, sealing them so they no longer may be an access to my life or any child born henceforth.
• Written contracts about children: a birth scroll (Tanjioki), Baby Naming Ceremony and Certificate (Oshichiya and Meimeisho). Make them null and void, torn and destroyed, as my name is written the Lamb’s Book of Life upon my declaration to follow and believe who You are as the Triune God.
• Blood contracts made by keeping the umbilical cord in a box or Kotobuki Bako, adorned to look like an image of a spirit guide; the first hairs from a first hair cut, kept as a brush or Aki Chan Fude as a talisman or charm to guarantee blessing of health, mental sharpness, eternal love and good fortune.

I declare:

• These substituted the agape love You always had for me. No charms or talisman can guarantee what life brings.
• I know that as a follower of Jesus I will face trials and tribulations because what I have accepted goes against what I was taught to believe.
• Life will have its challenges, but I will learn to live by faith through the grace that is a gift only You, God, can provide.
• I break and call these legal contracts of blood and hair to be null and void, with no legal hold on my life or anyone else in my family line.
• Any other rituals and ceremonies carried out in the 3^rd, 5^th, and 7^th years of life will become null and void. These are empty acts, for my future is in the Lord God and not in ofuda charms made of paper, cloth, wood or metal.
• My family and I are no longer obligated to the yearly purchase of any ofudas offered. These do not stand up against Your promise for a hope and a future that will benefit me in my walk with You. I know I can test You to prove Yourself if I am faithful to offer my tithe and offerings with by choice and with a joyful heart and not an obligation.
• My future is in Your hands and not in the ceremony Enabitori of the first birthday. I am not bound by a childish choosing of a career at this early age.
• Any other family rituals, such as O-Bon summer dancing with ancestral dead no longer make sense because Buddhism is centered on self-achievements with the hope of transcending to a higher level of existence. I know that all live once then are judged according to our faith followed by actions

I recognize and repent for participating in the following festivals and for eating of items offered to idols:

• New Year or Losar – 1^st full moon in January held 3 days after full of April, which involves house cleansing and temple or home altar decorating. Kadomatsu of pine, 3 levels of upright bamboo, 3 tiered mochi with tangerine, and tying of ofuda to car or important items to bring in longevity and good to enter the new year (bamboo).
• Magha Puja, Sangha Day Uposatha Observance Day or Fourfold Assembly Day, marching by a congregation of monks and people at same temple at the same time
• Buddha’s Birthday, Buddha Day or Vesak aka Saga or Saka Dawe – 1^st full moon April to May
• O Bon and Zhongyuan aka Hungry Ghost Day – summer festival and throughout year to appease unhappy dead with food and paper monies, as seen at gravesites and including dancing with dead ancestors.
• Lantern Floating Ceremony – small floatillas are made, the loved one’s name(s) are written on the paper panels with blessings to appease their spirit, and an interior is lit. These are set on gentle waters and are said to be taken into the spiritual portal to the love one whose name is on the lantern.
• Dharma, Asalha Puja or Chokhor Duchen – 1^st full on of July commemorating Buddha’s 1^st sermon and the turning of the dharma or prayer wheel.
• Pavarama or Kachini Celebration – end of Vassa aka Buddhist Lent Oct and Nov to connect lay with monastic
• Abhidhamma Day – commemorates Buddha’s descent from heaven in Oct
• Bodhi Day – when Buddha attained his enlightenment in month of Dec

In cases when a miscarriage or early death of a child who would have been my older sibling, please remove and disconnect any parts from my sibling as well as  any fears that affected my development in the womb.

I renounce the lie that unborn children battle for existence to win favor of Buddha, who is believed to sit in a palace located in the wombs of the women in my generational lineage. This is a myth that is not true. The call and plan of individuals are Yours, Lord.

Please dissolve and make null and void any attempt to reconnect a dead child through a ritual, Mizuko kuyo. Destroy the image of the Jizo doll that was to represent this child in hope to reincarnate into the next child. Separate parts of my DNA and RNA from my dead sibling and return to each the respective parts of our inner being.

For All Asian Ethnicities in My Family Line

Lord, I understand that any attempt to manipulate the future and destiny of an unborn child or avoid what may happen isn’t according to Your pattern and plan. Please break the consequences of any of these practices, as they are false and unfounded ways to prevent or direct what happens to an unborn or newborn. If my family or I have performed any of these rituals or eaten anything offered to idols unknowingly, I ask forgiveness, for such acts that are disrespectful since You are Lord and Savior of my soul.

I have been hiding behind being nice in order to be harmonious and kind, and to not cause instability socially and at work, with friends and associates, and with family; while in my heart I had just the opposite thoughts. Proverbs 23:7 states that as one thinks in one’s heart, so is he, and his heart is not with You, God. Matthew 5:28 simply states to just look at another person with lust, has already committed sin in one’s heart. I repent for thinking of others in a hateful manner, for the meditation of my heart has not become a delight in Your sight. Worse, when I have slandered these people, I have  broken the very essence of my heritage.

I don’t believe in karma, but know whatever evil I sow in words or harbor in my heart will bring consequences. How can I sow the seeds that could bring someone to You when my own doing will cause the word or seed to die before it had a chance to sprout? Forgive me and help me  to sow righteous spiritual seeds.

All of my prosperity is in You and not though my  own efforts. Out of fear, I gave sparingly to the storehouse and invested in my own interests. Forgive my mindset that I can control whether or not I will live a life to the full.

I humbly ask forgiveness for choosing to follow along with these traditions so as to not create dissension within the family; fearing abandonment, alienation, being cut off, disowned, denied any communication with family members and/or business or community associations. I embrace the truth that to die to self is to be alive and thriving in the true Creator and Lover of my soul. For what will I profit to gain the whole fortune and fame of the world and lose my soul? You loved me while I was lost, before I knew You. Thank you.

I repent and ask forgiveness for judging my parents and past generations for falling prey to the schemes of the enemy, disguised as a false ideal identity. So as for me and my house, we will now serve the Lord with a new name written on a white stone.

I dedicate myself to You; and Your agenda now takes precedence over what my family wants, what I may think I want, or what any other relative or priest may want. You have given me free will, and I choose to lean on You for direction by faith and not by sight.

I accept the path God has predestined for me.[1] Even if it will be a battle, I will remain truly in love with the one and only God.

Thank you, Father, for being forgiving. Thank you, Jesus, for Your obedience to the cross and allowing the power of the Holy Spirit to raise You physically from the grave. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for being my wisdom, comfort, teacher and more.

Buddha and Confucius are dead; neither could find their way, which could only have come through Christ Jesus. His is the only name that will release me and my descendants from the years of enslavement at an early age.

Jesus, There is more that I don’t yet understand, and I trust You that more will be revealed throughout my journey with You. I declare that I will follow You. Teach me Your ways; bring any other revelations of my ethnic practices that do not align with You.

Thank You for lovingly opening my eyes to see how the false lifestyle, mindset and hold on my life by which the enemy of my soul has tricked my family and me for many years.

[1] Ephesians 2:10