Why anoint your home?

The home is the center of our family life. I love how Brad Scott would describe Scripture as being all about a man, a woman, a house, and a piece of land. The tagline of Torah Family Living is ‘helping you make Torah the heart of your home.’ The home is so pivotal in the spiritual health of your family. The place where you spend most of your time needs to be dedicated and set apart to Yah. We also need to raise up barriers where we make it clear that the evil one is not welcome here.

I have read very helpful articles describing how moms do a prayer walk through their home, praying for the family members who live there and posting Scripture as they go. I think this is a very powerful exercise, as the woman is instrumental in the spiritual well-being of her family. However, I want to propose that you anoint your home together as a family. I did not realize the importance of this until we did it. In talking with my children beforehand, we discovered that they didn’t really know the depth of our faith. Was it because we aren’t growing spiritually or seeking Yah daily? No, it was because we weren’t openly communicating it. Hearing us pray out loud shows them our faith in a way that simply talking about Scripture or obedience or faith does not. Don’t underestimate this.

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.“
(Deu 6:4-9)

Preparation

The first step in preparing to set your home apart in service to Yah, and putting up spiritual barriers against demonic presence, is repentance. You can pray verses over your home all day, but if your heart is harboring sin, it will be to no avail.

“Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” James 5:16

Before we walked through our home to pray over the doorposts and rooms, we each as individuals took time to search our hearts and repent of what Yah showed us. When we began praying over our home, we began with repentance as a family, as well as inviting Yah to show us any items that we need to remove because they are drawing us away from Him.

Secondly, before beginning to pray over your home, take some time together to write some Scripture on index cards to post around your home as you move through the rooms. If you scroll down a bit in this post, I have listed several verses that we used, many of which are specific to certain rooms. If you each write 2-3 cards, you can be ready in no time. Arm one of your family members with a roll of blue tape, and you are ready to go.

Anointing with oil

There is nothing magical about oil. We are washed through the blood of the Messiah and his death, burial and resurrection. We made this clear to everyone as we began to walk around our home. However, oil is used throughout Scripture for anointing and sacrifice. Praying over our home is showing that we are dedicating and setting apart (anointing) our home and we are sacrificing our will for our home to Yah’s will.

In seeking to follow the Torah instructions for set apart items, we purchased a special bottle of oil for this purpose. We prayed over it, that it would be a physical symbol of our spiritual desire to set apart and pray over our home. This oil will not be used for any other purpose.

Could we pray over our home without oil?

Technically, yes.

But please keep in mind that Scripture is full of physical lessons for spiritual truths. As my husband anointed each room and location in our home with oil, he left a visible mark. He anointed my desk where I do all my work, and there is still an oil mark right there for me to see as a reminder that I am seeking to please Yah in all that I do. The doorposts and lentils of our entryway and each room have an oily line to remind us of what we did.

How we anointed our home

When we anointed our home, we began with individual repentance. We each took time on our own to search our hearts and confess, much like what we do on Yom Kippur. We also asked Yah to show us items in our home that don’t belong.

We then copied the verses listed below onto index cards. If they were specific to a room, we labeled them as such. One of my children was put in charge of a roll of blue tape. We prayed over our bottle of olive oil, setting it apart as a physical symbol of our desire to set our home apart for Yah. I took that opportunity to remind all of us that we trust in Yeshua’s saving blood and death, burial, and resurrection for our salvation. The oil is just a picture of us sacrificing our will for our home and dedicating it to Yah. Doug took the bottle of oil and anointed each space as we walked through.

We prayed out loud in each room. When we pray silently, the Father hears our prayers. But, when we pray out loud, the enemy hears our prayers as well, and is put on notice that he is no longer welcome here.

“Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” I John 4:4

When we got to bedrooms, we had the people who sleep in those rooms stand inside the door. Then we prayed over them individually as well as the room. When we got to the master bedroom, Doug and I stepped inside, and our two oldest daughters prayed over us, that we would have a strong marriage and wisdom as parents. They also prayed that they would be supportive children who uplift their parents with their obedience, attitude, and prayers.

As you can well imagine, we spent a lot of time crying throughout this walk, not sad tears, but we were so touched by this experience. We have not been in the habit of praying together as a family, because Doug and I are very private people. We underestimated the power of praying out loud together. Don’t make the same mistake.

This walk through our home took at least an hour. We walked through our entire home, including our pantry. We dedicated our campers. We prayed over Gramma’s apartment upstairs. We still need to pray over our fence line, animals and outside gateposts.

We were advised by our local fellowship leader to do this 2-3 times a year. We bring new things in. We don’t realize that we have slipped into bad habits. You may want to schedule this before the spring and fall feasts as a very physical rededication to Yah as a family.

Verses to post and pray

General verses (could be copied on cards or meditated on beforehand)

• Isaiah 32:18
• Joshua 24:15
• Matthew 25:34-40
• Proverbs 3:33
• Proverbs 14:1
• Proverbs 24:3-4
• James 4:8-10
• I Peter 5:6
• Psalm 34:14
• Psalm 91:9-10
• James 5:14-15

Bedrooms (make enough cards to post one at each bedroom in your home)

• Psalm 4:8
• Proverbs 3:24
• John 14:27

Kitchen

• Philippians 4:13
• Psalm 118:1
• Proverbs 3:23

Doorways and entryways

• Psalm 121:8
• Psalm 34:14
• Psalm 91:9-10

Bathrooms

• Proverbs 3:3
• Zephaniah 3:17
• Matthew 10:29-31

Media Room (TVs, computers, bookcases, etc.)

• Proverbs 4:23
• Matthew 6:13
• Philippians 4:8

Living Room

• Psalm 27:1
• Exodus 33:14
• Colossians 3:15

Now it’s your turn.

Schedule a day to anoint your home together. This can be a great to spend a Sabbath.

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