The Power of Scripture in Healing Sexual Addiction

Let's start by reading this story from the Coptic church tradition

It happened once that Abba Serapion was passing through an Egyptian village, and he saw an adulterous woman (a prostitute) standing at the door of the brothel. So the elder said to her, “Wait for me this evening, for I want to come spend this night with you.” 

“Very well, monk, very well.” She replied. Then she went and prepared the bed.

At nighttime, he went to her and said, “Have you prepared the bed?”

“Yes, monk.” She replied; then she went to close the door. 

Upon closing the door the elder said to her, “Wait just a moment for we have a particular tradition I must complete first.” Then he began to sing the psalms from the psalter. At the end of each psalm he would add, “Lord have mercy on this sinful woman. Turn her to repentance so she could be saved.” 

So the Lord answered his prayer and humbled her heart. At first she was standing next to him trembling. Then, out of panic, she fell to the ground. 

Once the elder completed the full psalter, he raised her up. She understood that he came here for her salvation. Upon understanding this she said, “Father, please do me this kindness. Find me a place to stay that I may please my God; and guide me towards salvation.” 

So the elder took her to a convent, delivered her to the abbess, and said, “Receive this sister and set aside a place for her to think and meditate as she desires.” So the abbess accepted her.

After passing some easy days, the woman said, “I am a woman who has behaved wrongly. Therefore I should only eat once every two days.” 

After a few more days, she said, “I have done many sins. Therefore I should only eat once every four days.”

Then, a few days later, she said, “My sins are too many. Therefore I should only eat once per week.

Afterwards she made a request of the abbess. It was granted to her that she would remain in a small, locked cell. Her companions would deliver her food and her handiwork through a small opening. This is how she lived and pleased God for the rest of her days.

This story is sourced from "Paradise of church fathers" Saint Makkar Monestary story 251.

Commentary on the story 

In reading  this story we first have to avoid the naive interpretation–not everyone that would visit a prostitute and pray the psalms on her would lead to her repentance. In the book of Acts 19:11-16 we read: 

“Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them. Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.” 

In explaining this passage St. John Chrysostom says “Look, they had no intention to believe but wished to cast out demons by the name. . . . Therefore in secret they did this, but their weakness was then paraded in public. . . . So the name has no power unless it is spoken by faith. . . . Look how they turned their weapons against themselves.”[1] An important factor in this story is the spiritual stature of Abba Serapion who had a strong faith that scares demons. Abba Serapion here wasn’t scared of the sexuality demons but bravely faced them to rescue the soul of this prostitute. His prayer was genuine, not merely reciting words. That’s why it worked. 

Similarly, the prostitute had her heart ready to accept God’s work. She could have simply rejected Abba Serapion prayers. However, we read in the text of this story that “God heard his prayers and humbled her heart.” This happened because she was ready to accept an opportunity for change. Compare this woman’s heart to someone else’s from Scripture, “And Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the Lord had said.  So the Lord said to Moses: “Pharaoh’s heart is hard; he refuses to let the people go.” Exodus 7:13-14. Notice the stark contrast here. Given all that Pharaoh saw from miracles and plagues, he still hardened his heart and refused to comply with God. There are people who are so arrogant that they will waste every opportunity to repent; but true saints will seize every opportunity for repentance. This prostitute is a true saint who accepted this opportunity for repentance. As the story said, she understood that Abba Serapion came for her salvation; she accepted the heavenly gift and acted upon it because she asked him to take her out of the brothel right away. Same with the prodigal son who said “I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you” Luke 15:18. Truly the verse says “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” Hebrews 3:15.

A beautiful fact we see in this story is that God works everywhere even inside a brothel. God talks to his people everywhere, even inside a brothel. No matter how deep in sin you are, there is hope and God will reach out to you personally to save you. There is always a way out. Truly the holy scripture says “Can a woman forget her nursing child, And not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, Yet I will not forget you.”Isaiah 49:15. 

Additionally, we learn from this story the power of scripture that Abba Serapion used to beat the demons of sexual sins that were controlling this prostitute. “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” Hebrews 4:12. The word of God is a two edged sword differentiating right from wrong and removing sin from our lives. This two edged sword pierces deep into the soul as the verse explains. The best way to keep ourselves clean from sin is to bathe daily in scripture. It is also highly recommended as well as Godly commandment to memorize scripture. “Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.” Deuteronomy 11:18. We also read in the book of Psalms 119:11 “Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.”. Very important to keep a daily routine of scripture in our lives, to protect us from sin, inspire us to do good and comfort us in trials and tribulations.  

We notice also in this story the concept of abandonment of sin or quitting the sinful lifestyle. This prostitute refused to stay in the brothel any more and left the sinful lifestyle right away. More importantly, this reflected in the way she behaved as she started fasting. Fasting is the best way to exercise self control and it’s a very effective tool in fighting fornication demons. As Jesus said “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting” Mark 9:29. In explaining this verse Saint Jerome said “The Lord himself consecrated his baptism by a forty days’ fast, and taught us that the more violent devils cannot be overcome except by prayer and fasting.”[2] True repentance from sexual sins lies in exercising self control through prayer and fasting. 

References 

1-Martin, Francis; Oden, Thomas C.. Acts: Volume 5 (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture) (p. 237). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

2- Oden, Thomas C.; Hall, Christopher A.. Mark: Volume 2 (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture) (p. 118). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.