Claiming authority in Christ’s name ...
When I bought my first home, the very first thing we did before we brought in a single box was bless the house. We annointed every door and window. As we did so, we claimed Christ’s authority over the house and protection upon all who would enter it or reside there. Then we asked for Christ’s blessing upon the house.
The only action one can take against a demonic presence is to cast it out in the name of Christ. But I would encourage anyone engaging in spritiual warfare to spend much time in the Word and prayer before taking any such action. I’ve seen people who are not solid in their faith attempt to do such things in Christ’s name only to make things worse. If one doesn’t have a close personal relationship with Christ, claiming His authority over a demonic presence can embolden that presence because it knows your faith is weak. So it will “attack” you to demonstrate that its power is greater than your faith.
When we bought our houses one of the first things we did after changing the locks and before moving in was to pray over the house and acknowledge that it was His house as He had provided it to us and dedicate it to His honor and glory.
We consider that everything we have is His anyway, but felt that the formal acknowledging it as a family in prayer was important.
Well put.