“My people enquire of a piece of wood, and their walking staff gives them oracles. For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray, and they have left their God to play the whore.” – Hosea 4:12
How the demon entered
Both before and after I came to Christ, I always thought prostitution was far from me. Indeed, even when I was still an unbeliever, as a shy and timid girl, well-disciplined outwardly by private school education––and, of course, by the mercy of God––I kept my body from having any sexual contact with men. Well, except for one thing, which I thought would be my secret forever. My father raped me and exposed me to pornography when I was 5, and at that time, I did not know it would have such a deep and destructive impact on my life.
I remember when I was little, I would walk on the streets and fantasize about having relations with every male passerby. And when I grew older, I started to feel shameful about it, as something in me knew it was wrong, yet the yearning didn’t stop. At a very early age, perhaps 5 or 6, I learned about how to masturbate, as my father taught me. My heart became so wicked, as men in my eyes were mostly a means for carnal satisfaction. I chased them, hunted them down in my fantasies, and as I grew older, I started to frame these fantasies in a romantic setting. Yet it was still all about lust. The moral education I received and God’s mercy in me formed some boundaries to the sin of lust. For example, perversions like incest (the very abuse I suffered), homosexuality or bestiality disgusted me, and most of the time, I kept them out of my fantasies. But still, I was never pure. I was never innocent.
Recognizing the demon
I came to Christ when I was 20, and experienced a long and painful healing process in that area of my life. The most difficult part was that my thoughts seemed to be frequently out of my control. I could be saying I love God with all my heart in the previous second (sincerely!) and then started to seek comfort in thinking about men in the next. I tried hard to crucify my flesh and take every thought captive to obey Christ, and it did help to an extent. Yet it still seemed more natural for me to lust than not to. My thoughts went in that direction; my feelings went in that direction. I pleaded with God to cleanse my heart and mind so many times till I loathed myself. The daydreaming or the fantasy kept coming back. They could appear quite innocent at the beginning, just a smile or the voice from a certain man popping up in my mind (we were friends and that was all), but if I was just a little careless, it would soon turn into something sexual. I tried hard to cut these fantasies off before they developed, but it was endless and very torturous.
I sincerely loved God. I made the commitment to give my life to Christ, and I did my best to live in that way. Before the spirit of whoredom was exposed, I was delivered from several other demons concerning sexual immorality, and so I thought that was all. I didn’t know the spirit of whoredom was hiding in me, until God led me to read Hosea and brought the scripture about the demon to my attention. “There is a spirit of whoredom,” I thought to myself, “what an awful name!” But to my dismay, I saw myself in Gomer, Hosea’s adulterous wife, and Israel. I was faithless, even though I was betrothed to Christ as a pure virgin (2 Cor. 11:2). I was spreading my legs in my heart to men, which became idols to me, even when I hated myself every time I did it. And I was grieving God’s heart by doing that, and the aches were as real as a husband (like Hosea) would suffer from an unfaithful wife. Something in me was touched deeply, and I realized how God had been pursuing me hardly, and it brought me to tears, mourning over my sins. And it dawned to me: I have a spirit of whoredom, which is leading me to lust and idolatry. And it has to go from me!
Casting out the demon
I did a prayer to renew my commitment to God, affirming that I was betrothed to Him, and that I was determined to worship Him and serve Him only. By that time, my heart was a little hardened by this repeated sin and also the sorrow it brought. Yet when God touched me by His grace, the prayer of repentance and commitment just came out immediately, and I was overjoyed. And then I commanded the spirit of whoredom to come out in the name of Jesus.
“Come out!” I said.
“No! This is my home!” it replied in my mind.
“No, you’re coming out, for my body is now the holy temple of God, and you have to come out in the name of Jesus.” I insisted.
“No, who do you think you are?” it even mocked me.
“I confront you in the name of Jesus, the name above every name, to which every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that ‘Jesus is Lord.’ You have to bow before the name of Jesus, and you have to obey!” I proclaimed.
After some battling, I felt it come out, but I wasn’t sure. I asked God to give me confirmation, and then He did. I was sure it was gone forever. And then I lifted my hands to praise God.
It was indeed life-changing. For the first time in my life, I was able to stay faithful to God continually. I became focused on God. Before, I was almost tempted to think I could only choose between God or men, and nearly tried to cut off friendships with men (I’m saying godly ones) completely. I thought I was destined to be alone if I wanted to serve God. Yet it was not so at all! Hallelujah! I’m free at last! The demon has no more place in my life to cause confusion! I still need to crucify my flesh from time to time, taking up my cross daily to follow Christ, as it is the commandment of God, yet the struggle and inner tension disappear. It is now natural for me to be faithful to God, for I’m walking fully in the light as a new creation now. Before, even though I was born again in the Spirit and became a new man, there were still parts of me that were demonized, and thus I was not fully in the light. But praise the Lord that He has set me free from the spirit of whoredom!
Final suggestions
If you resonate with something in this article, and want a solution to your problem, let me give you some suggestions:
- Repentance: be sure to repent from the heart and turn from any sins that God has revealed to you. Let your heart be wholly true to the Lord. Crucify your flesh daily and take every thought captive to obey Christ. Do it diligently.
- Casting out demons: you have full control over your will to make decisions. Once you make up your mind to walk in God’s way, know that those voices or thoughts that speak the opposite are not from you. They may be pretending to be you, but they are actually demons! Cast them out in the name of Jesus. You can search for Derek Prince’s sermons on the subject; that was how I learned it.
- Patience in healing: if you have sexual brokenness, bear in mind it takes time to heal. Give God and yourself all the time needed to be healed spiritually and emotionally. Repentance and casting out demons are definitely crucial, but they cannot substitute the healing process.
- Abide in God: read your Bible and pray diligently. You will not survive in this battle if you don’t do this.
Finally, let me remind you that the spirit of whoredom is very hideous. Its main purpose is to destroy your relationship with God and with your (future) spouse. Thus, you can be very sure it will be totally useless to try to cast it out unless you make an absolute commitment to God, to give your life to Him. It will not be disarmed until you have lifted up to God your heart and soul. And indeed, only on the basis of a firmly established relationship with God will your relationship with your (future) spouse be firmly established and fully blessed. So, if you want a life free from this demon and a blessed marriage, make up your mind to dedicate your life to Christ. He is worthy!