Mark 3:23-27

…Who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger—someone who could tie him up and then plunder his house…

Today we’re going to continue talking about spiritual “strongmen” in our lives that prevent us from being everything God has made us to be. These strongmen hinder us from walking in complete freedom and victory in Jesus through the battlefield of our minds. The strongmen are spirits/attitudes/behaviors that we partner with under the influence of the enemy. We walk around carrying these strongmen on our backs like heavy weights. It’s time to be free! We can walk the path to freedom through the knowledge of God’s Word and renewing our minds to His principles and Truth.

Before you decide that this is not for you, thinking you are not affected by this spirit, I urge you to stay and continue reading. The spirit of harlotry/whoredom is probably not what you think it is!

As we can all agree, the issue with the sin of harlotry/whoredom is that it breaks the covenant of marriage. It is a covenant-breaking stronghold that can creep into our lives. Where can we find this type of spirit in the Word?

“They do not direct their deeds toward turning to their God, For the spirit of harlotry is in their midst, And they do not know the LORD.” Hosea 5:4

Let’s look at the back story to this verse…

If you start reading Hosea, chapter, you will see that the Lord spoke to Hosea and said,” I want you to take a wife of harlotry, a wife of whoredom and I want you to have children of whoredom.” So, Hosea married Gomer. Now, Gomer was not a harlot when Hosea married her, for she was pure when he got her. God is speaking towards her character and what she will prove to be in time. In time, Gomer will prove to be a wife that is plagued with immorality and possessing the spirit of whoredom. Taking her husband’s love for granted, she invites strangers into her marriage bed, breaking and defiling her covenant that she made with her husband. God used this as a picture of what Israel was doing in their covenant relationship with Him. I encourage you to study more of this story. 

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated problem that only plagues Gomer and the children of Israel. When you are born into the family of God you enter into a covenantal relationship with God and there are certain expectations that will hold this covenant together. You and I have entered into covenant with God and that covenant is a solemn promise. For many reasons and in many ways, the enemy will take advantage of us in different situations or seasons of life and we will be tempted to turn our hearts away from our First Love. This is the spirit of harlotry/whoredom.

How does this spirit show up in our lives and cause us to break covenant with the Lord? When being influenced, controlled or affected by this spirit, there will be a tendency to be super critical, constantly putting others down. Extreme ambition in the workplace that drives one to place career, prestige, money or fame ahead of relationship with God, family or the Body of Christ is another. Love of money and possessions can turn into idolatry. Another is self-worship: being obsessed with cosmetics, cosmetic surgery, with appearance. This spirit causes constant comparison to others and never be satisfied with what one already has. An unhealthy “self-love’ that competes with the love of God can be caused by this spirit.

Maybe you’ve been unknowingly in agreement with the spirit of harlotry/whoredom for a very long time, so much so that you don’t know what it feels like to live without it. You most likely did not even understand this was happening. It’s time to repent of partnering with this demonic influence over your life. Jesus came to set you free!

Pray and ask Holy Spirit to shine His light on your soul. Have you opened a door in your life by partnering with the vile spirit of harlotry/whoredom, thus allowing the enemy to gain a stronghold in your soul? It only seeks to kill, steal and destroy you. This spirit must be called out into the open and be exposed!

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 says, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,”

Steps to Break the Influence of Harlotry/Whoredom:

1. Admit that you have partnered with this spirit and opened a door into your soul.
2. Confess and forsake low self-esteem, obsession with your appearance, comparison, ambition, a critical spirit…whatever you’re dealing with.
3. Ask God to help you forgive anyone involved in a situation that opened this door to you and forgive yourself for allowing heaviness to come in and stay.
4. Renounce the spirit out of your heart. “I renounce the spirit of harlotry/whoredom in the name of Jesus.” Tell it to go.
5. Ask God to fill that place in you with His love and Holy Spirit, and show you your place in the work of the Kingdom.
6. Speak the promises of God’s Word over yourself. Search the Scriptures for all the ways that God loves you and how He sees you. Ask Him to show you how He sees you. Be filled with His acceptance for you and His everlasting love.

Remember, freedom is sometimes a journey…a daily walk with the Lord through His Word and the renewing of our minds. Even after the initial prayer of deliverance, we must continue to stand on the Word and maintain our freedom…just like mowing our grass or washing the dishes. It has to be done consistently and on a regular basis! We must also allow Holy Spirit to continue to show us the layers of gunk we have and allow Him to work it out of us in His time. We are continual works in progress and I’m so thankful He never leaves us where we are, but continually calls us to come up higher with Him!

*** If you have been following along with our study on “Spirit, Soul & Body,” you will already have an understanding of where these spiritual strongmen or strongholds hide in our lives…in our souls. If you have not, I encourage you to watch the video series I made. ***