Hi how are you all today? I am well. The weather is still cool here but not cold yet. Apart from work, I have been visiting family and going to church. What has your weekend been like?
If you are in America, happy summer soon. Please add my book “From Egypt to the Promised Land” onto your summer reading list and don’t forget to put a review on Amazon. It really helps!
This week I want to talk about invitation. One of the meanings of invitation in the Oxford Dictionary means: the action of inviting someone to go somewhere or to do something. It is a word that conjures up someone thinking of you then wanting to spend time with you. Invitation is generally a feel good word whilst coercion is generally a forceful word. Why did I make a distinction ?
Let me tell you a story. I was sitting in church this morning listening to the preaching and God impressed upon me these words:
“Prayer is me inviting God into my life. Bible reading is us learning the ways of God and who He is”.
Prayer is me inviting God into my life – those words are so challenging. When I gave my life to Jesus, it was God inviting me into His kingdom. He was inviting me to take a step with my life, trust Him with it so I could fulfill His plans for my life with His help.
Prayer then is my invitation to God to be involved in my life and the plans He has for me. That gives me such a different perspective on prayer. Prayer is not just me asking and being selfish in my needs and desires but an invitation for God to walk with me.
Revelation 3:20 in the Message Bible states:
“Look at me. I stand at the door. I knock. If you hear me call and open the door, I’ll come right in and sit down to supper with you.
Jesus is continually knocking at the door of our hearts and wants to be invited in. But only we can do the inviting. This is not so Jesus can berate us but to sit with us and have communion.
At the dinner table with our family, we talk, laugh and catch up on each others lives and that’s what prayer is like. It is a time to commune with God and talk about the day coming or the day we have just had. But talking is two way. God listens to us and we listen to Him.
Psalm 23:5 in the Message Bible puts it this way:
5 You serve me a six-course dinner
right in front of my enemies.
You revive my drooping head;
my cup brims with blessing.
The communion time is where Jesus serves us. It is a time in the midst of battles raging around us that Jesus is invited into our lives to restore us, strengthen us and uphold us until the answers come and blessings overflow.
This is what our prayer time should be like. A time of communion with God.
I have been struggling in this area but no more now that the invitation is in my hands and I know that God will always accept.
Will you go on this journey with me? Maybe your prayer life is great but you need a new perspective. Here it is – prayer is your invitation to God to become a part of your everyday. This is not in a religious sense but a relationship one.
I pray this has encouraged you this week like it has me.
Bless you and keep living the life God intended for you.
Karen
0 Comments