# Praying over a house to bless it



## alwaysreforming (Apr 13, 2004)

What do you all think of the practice of someone calling his Christian friends and saying, 

&quot;Hey everybody, John is moving into a new house this weekend and we're trying to get several people to go over there on Friday to pray over the house. We're going to go in each room and ask God to bless it and remove any evil presence that might be there, and pray that the house will be used to glorify God. Can you make it?&quot;


What would be your response, and why/why not?


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## luvroftheWord (Apr 14, 2004)

I say go for it. Why not? Do we not believe there is power in prayer?


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## tcalbrecht (Apr 14, 2004)

[quote:60a1e49f81][i:60a1e49f81]Originally posted by alwaysreforming[/i:60a1e49f81]
What do you all think of the practice of someone calling his Christian friends and saying, 

&quot;Hey everybody, John is moving into a new house this weekend and we're trying to get several people to go over there on Friday to pray over the house. We're going to go in each room and ask God to bless it and remove any evil presence that might be there, and pray that the house will be used to glorify God. Can you make it?&quot;


What would be your response, and why/why not?  [/quote:60a1e49f81]

I have no problem with it. 

My wife and I belong to a motorcycle ministry and we regularly hold &quot;bike blessings&quot;. We get both believers and non-believers out to have their bikes blessed. Actually we don't bless the bikes, but rather pray for and witness to the riders, asking for safety and God's presence on the road.


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## KayJay (Apr 14, 2004)

Not to be difficult - but I wouldn't go. Sounds like they want to do an excorcism of the house or something...and then annoint it - as if God does that to things instead of people.

I think the house is inanimate (SP?) and why would &quot;evil spirits&quot; be possessing that house? I think it sounds like a charismatic superstitious exercise. Pray for the family yes - pray for each member of the family yes - but each room? C'mon...

Is this real or hypothetical?


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## wsw201 (Apr 14, 2004)

[quote:ce943be882][i:ce943be882]Originally posted by alwaysreforming[/i:ce943be882]
What do you all think of the practice of someone calling his Christian friends and saying, 

&quot;Hey everybody, John is moving into a new house this weekend and we're trying to get several people to go over there on Friday to pray over the house. We're going to go in each room and ask God to bless it and remove any evil presence that might be there, and pray that the house will be used to glorify God. Can you make it?&quot;


What would be your response, and why/why not?  [/quote:ce943be882]

I would agree with KayJay. My response would be &quot;pray for the people in the house not the house itself&quot;.


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## Saiph (Apr 14, 2004)

[quote:64932b5ac0]
I think the house is inanimate (SP?) and why would &quot;evil spirits&quot; be possessing that house? [/quote:64932b5ac0]

Any abode can become a &quot;haunt of demons&quot;.

Rev 18:2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great has fallen, has fallen! And it has become the dwelling-place of demons, and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a cage of every unclean bird which has been hated . . . 


Isa 13:21-22 But the wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of howling creatures; and ostriches shall dwell there, and he-goats shall dance there. And hyenas shall cry along with his widows, and jackals in palaces of delight. Yea, her time is coming near, and her days shall not be prolonged. (demonic activity, not animals)

As old Babylon was of satyrs, Isa_13:21 demons, which appeared in a hairy form, like goats, and the word is rendered devils in Lev. 17:7 

&quot;And they shall no more offer their sacrifices to goats(demons), after whom they have gone whoring. This shall be a statute forever to them throughout their generations. &quot;


So all the armor is neccessary:

Eph 6:10-13 
Finally, my brothers, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 
Put on the whole armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the world's rulers, of the darkness of this age, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Therefore take to yourselves the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 

RESIST THE DAEMON AND HE WILL FLEE FROM YOU.

Pray for protection against demonic oppression and the ability to glorify God when faced with it.

[Edited on 4-14-2004 by Wintermute]


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## BobVigneault (Apr 14, 2004)

But what if demons, as the Bible seems to indicate are territorial? They are set up in cities, towns, villages, locales.

Have you ever heard of houses that have certain quirks that some would call ghosts but we don't believe in ghosts.

I have seen, heard and experienced so many things that I have tried so hard to fit into my worldview which has been molded by scripture alone.

I'm not sure if we are to be a part of so called &quot;deliverance ministries&quot; and try to engage the demonic directly but I do know there are entities (demons?) that attach themselves to regions, houses and people.

One example would be Lancaster, PA where the Amish have their&quot;medicine men&quot;, it also has an enormous amount of demonic activity.

The demonic has schemes that have been perfected over thousands of years. There are patterns that are recognizable. I would tell of my experiences but as we know we can't build doctrine out of anecdotal evidence. My experiences tell me that houses can be demonized. My experience tells me that praying even over specific rooms has a definite effect.

I say pray as Paul says, 'with all kinds of prayers' for protection - deliver us from the evil one.


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## KayJay (Apr 14, 2004)

I get what you guys are saying Wintermute and Maxdetail...I just think it odd that we even pay much mind to the &quot;demonic&quot; when the real concern should be our own hearts and the depravity of the people in our world.

We give far too much credit, in my opinion, to &quot;evil spirits&quot; etc....not that I disbelieve in them...I just think they are certainly nothing to worry us as believers. 

I could go on forever about it - but I'm sure you understand where I'm coming from and I'm sure it has been said somewhere on this board before b/c most people in reformed denominations probably share my sentiments on this...

I'm sure I grew up in a knee-jerk reaction to charismatic churches kind of church - but on a practical level it has done me well I think. I've never come across anything I would call &quot;demonic&quot; just &quot;sinful&quot;...


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## BobVigneault (Apr 15, 2004)

My intellect agrees with you totally KayJay but my experiences demand a scriptural explanation that I am still searching for. 

I've lived in two houses that others described as &quot;haunted&quot; or &quot;spook central&quot;. We've encountered what seems in every way to be phenomena with &quot;personality&quot;. I've watched a bath tub bleed, I've heard voices and the things my poor young daughters have endured have nearly crushed my spirit. 

I do believe that some 'ministers' in trying to rid a house of 'evil spirits' can actually inflict the house but again, based on my experiences houses can be hang outs for the demonic.


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## dswatts (Apr 15, 2004)

Amen Wintermute and Maxdetail...

Kayjay...agreed that lost, depraved man is a primary concern. I know that when I look in the mirror in the morning, I am facing my biggest spiritual enemy...not 'demons' in the cabbage patch dolls! (or wherever they are supposed to hide these days! )

And yet, we cannot discount what Winter &amp; Max speak of. We, to use Matt. 10:16, are to &quot;be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves&quot;. We are not to be ignorant of Satan's devices. Admittedly, the charasmatics, 'deliverance' ministries, etc...have overblown spiritual warfare into the be all and end all of Christianity, like some liturgical believers do the Eucharist, but that should not cause us to neglect important Scriptural truth. For balance and Scriptural insight, no better book than Brooks [u:096112bc0e]Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices[/u:096112bc0e].

Grace,
Dwayne

[Edited on 4-15-2004 by dswatts]


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## BobVigneault (Apr 15, 2004)

Thank you so much Dwayne, I'll look that one up.
Blessings!


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## George Bailey (Apr 15, 2004)

*How about just praying prayers of Thanksgiving for the house*

for God's graciousness, mercy, and provision! That's what I'd do, is focus on that. 

Shouldn't be any controversy on that:sumo:


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## BC (Apr 15, 2004)

When my parents built our new house in 1993, we got the church elders (Eastern reformed) and our families and friends together and had a 'house initiation' prayer. The priest drew crosses on top of all the doors of all the rooms and prayed and sprinkled water in each of the rooms. 

I believe it works, for we called upon the name of the Lord to indwell our house and our prayers haven't gone in vain.

I was quite interested to read about Maxdetail's experience and that prompted me to respond.

Prayer to God for your house works - stick with it. Keep Satan out by all means necessary. Don't give him a chance!

Love,
Bibin


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## alwaysreforming (Apr 16, 2004)

*Polarized Views*

Wow! We have some definitely polar opinions here, and after posting this topic, I'm finding MYSELF swayed against my former view, which was to &quot;not go.&quot;

I wholeheartedly echo Brian's comment about praying for thanksgiving, mercy, and provision.

But after reading some of the other &quot;experiences&quot; perhaps praying against demonic activity isn't such a bad idea. This just doesn't seem to fit within my little &quot;theology box&quot; though.

By the way, this scenario above is from actual practice at my former nondenom church. It would be suggested fairly frequently, and it seemed the only people interested in doing so were those that had absolutely no concern for doctrine, and were the most &quot;in love&quot; with the false teachers of our day. ...another reason why I thought it was a bad idea.

Perhaps some more input and/or comments... Anyone?


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## BobVigneault (Apr 16, 2004)

I agree Josh and that has been my leaning for some time. We met so many people who believed they had the corner on spiritual warfare using terms and expressions alien to the Bible. One person wanted to pray a 'blood line', one pastor brought oil to annoint all the door casings. We met quite a few so called Christians who actually used devination to 'fight' the demons. That's why I said earlier that many times the methods used actually empower (?) the things your trying to be rid of.

We were so ignorant and so desparate that we were willing to give these folks a try. It's a subject which too little AND too much has been written about.

My grandmother and my dad and all his siblings were 'healers'. Some healed burns, others stopped bleeding. Every lumber camp in that part of Canada in the last century had someone who could stop bleeding through a prayer or a touch. They were'nt always devout Catholics but most were.

My dad could stop burns over the phone. He taught me the prayer not long after I was saved. I would have nothing to do with it because it didn't seem right. That is a good example of someone who thinks they are serving the Lord but are actually giving Satan a foothold.


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## KayJay (Apr 16, 2004)

Bob,

I think you raised an interesting thought - the idea that a lot of what may go on is actually divination. Especially things like deliverance ministries and exorcisms etc, maybe even those people who believe they are giving prophecy in the same sense as the OT prophets.


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## C. Matthew McMahon (Apr 16, 2004)

There is a very interesting record in Mather's works &quot;The Great Works of Christ in America&quot; that talk about early colonial days and strange occurences of demonic oppression and possession. It is VERY interesting reading. Don't read it at night alone, you will get creeped out. :blackbat:

[Edited on 4-16-2004 by webmaster]


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## Cacklewack (Apr 16, 2004)

[quote:bc89595175][i:bc89595175]Originally posted by tcalbrecht[/i:bc89595175]
[quote:bc89595175][i:bc89595175]Originally posted by alwaysreforming[/i:bc89595175]
What do you all think of the practice of someone calling his Christian friends and saying, 

&quot;Hey everybody, John is moving into a new house this weekend and we're trying to get several people to go over there on Friday to pray over the house. We're going to go in each room and ask God to bless it and remove any evil presence that might be there, and pray that the house will be used to glorify God. Can you make it?&quot;


What would be your response, and why/why not?  [/quote:bc89595175]

Not to get off topic, but what do you ride? 

In Him,
Matt
I have no problem with it. 

My wife and I belong to a motorcycle ministry and we regularly hold &quot;bike blessings&quot;. We get both believers and non-believers out to have their bikes blessed. Actually we don't bless the bikes, but rather pray for and witness to the riders, asking for safety and God's presence on the road. [/quote:bc89595175]


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## mjbee (Apr 17, 2004)

:fight: Resist the devil and he will flee from you. My preferred technique is to ignore him. I know he's lurking about, but my God is stronger than any devil, so who should I focus on?

I live next door to a state historic site where Native American mound-builders....built mounds, I guess. These are some BIG mounds. Doubtless they were for idol-worshipping, and possibly sacrificing innocents. (The tribe went extinct. What does that tell you?) I'm not concerned. The Spirit of Christ is in me, and He is greater than any devil who lives next door. I think it's great to ask God to bless a house, but not so great to exorcise demons from it, as if they already live there. Demons don't cohabit with the Holy Spirit. Do they?

Melissa


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