Invitation to Prayer: How to Invite God into Your Daily Life

In this compelling sermon, Reagan guides us through Matthew chapter six and emphasizes how prayer acts as an invitation for God to work in our lives. He explores the importance of having Christian homes, the significance of feeling invited, and explains three specific ways we can invite God into our lives through prayer. Reagan encourages us to invite God's presence into our spaces, His word into our hearts, and His will into our schedules. Highlighting the power of praying scripture and the promises of God, this message serves as a reminder of the deep and intimate relationship we can cultivate with God through earnest prayer.

00:00 Introduction and Opening Prayer
01:16 The Importance of Invitations
03:28 Understanding the Purpose of Prayer
05:01 Inviting God into Our Lives
08:02 Creating a Space for Prayer
15:00 Praying Scripture
27:59 Inviting God's Will into Your Schedule
33:21 Final Invitation and Conclusion

Transcript

If you have your Bible with you, would you take it out please and turn to the gospel of Matthew. Matthew, chapter six. We'd like to mark your spot there in Matthew chapter six. We're gonna be reading verse 32 here in just a moment. But referring back to that section in the Sermon on the Mount a number of times this morning.

So Matthew chapter six and verse 32. I couldn't help but think about the appropriateness of that last song that we sang. God give us Christian Homes as several of our babies have been expressive this morning. But that's exactly what those parents are providing. They're providing those Christian homes where these children are led to know God and his love and who he is and what he intends for them in their lives and the altar fires.

So that metaphor for prayer. Our burning, not just in those parents' lives, for those children, but us for those children as well. What a joy and blessing that it is that we have so many of these young people. Maybe we think about some of their parents as young people, but also these very youngest people with these babies.

We we're blessed to have that. And it's music to my ears to hear these babies as they're, as they're well, whatever they're doing, crying or. Perfecting praise to God in a way that we cannot we're grateful so much for that. It's invitation season, isn't it? Graduation invitations, graduation party invitations, shower invitations, both baby and wedding.

And of course, the wedding invitations. A so many wedding invitations that we've had over the last couple of months. And as we'll look to in the next few months as well. And invitations are lovely, aren't they? Especially if it's an invitation to something that you actually want to go to. But it's a nice gesture even if you're not particularly excited about going to the thing you're invited to.

And if it's someone you love and someone you've poured your life into that's being honored or is being married or is being showered. You want to be invited to that and, and maybe we would not be so bold as to show up if we're not invited. We, we want to have the invitation, but do you remember the first time in your life that you were invited to something that, that, that you were not invited to, something that you really wanted to go to?

Do you remember that? Raise your hand if you remember that first time in your life. For, for me, it was in second grade. In second grade I was not invited to a birthday party. With someone that I thought was one of my very best friends. And I, I, I look back on that now and I see probably the issue is more with, with, with his parents and our relationship as families than it was with me as an individual.

But that, that hurt me so much. I thought we were good close friends. Lots of other people were invited, but I was not, I was, I was left out from somebody that I thought I was close to. I. God ever feels kinda like that. You know, it's difficult sometimes to assign human emotions to God, but we forget maybe that God is the originator of emotions and that God does have emotions and that God can be hurt even by our actions.

And I wonder sometimes if God looks at us and all of the love that he has for us and how he created us and put us in so many positions to succeed in life. And sometimes we don't invite him back into that life that he has created for us. As we think about that kind of invitation, that's really what prayer is.

Prayer is an invitation for God to be working in your life. Our congregational focus for this year is walk like Jesus, finding peace by imitating the Prince of Peace. And this quarter we're focusing on this idea of walking like Jesus by finding the quiet places. And, and we're gonna talk about that in a number of ways over the quarter, but we've begun this month by talking about this idea of prayer that we find the common quiet places for God in prayer.

And so if God. If God knows the things that we need, why is it that we go to him in prayer at all? If you're there in Matthew chapter six, in verse 32, we see that Jesus says, in talking about our day-to-day needs for after all these things, the Gentiles seek for your Heavenly Father knows that you need all of these things.

So if God knows the things that we need without even asking why, why do we pray? Well, several reasons. But I think one of the, and most important reasons why we pray is that God wants to be invited. He wants to be invited into our lives. He doesn't want to have to force his way in, and there is a point at which he will not he'll knock, he'll give the opportunity, but God is not gonna force his way into your life uninvited.

And so as we continue to think about this idea of falling at God's feet in the quiet places, I wanna suggest that prayer is an invitation, an invitation to God for him to work in your life. Can you view prayer as your simple desire as a Christian and his working and his love into every aspect of your life?

And it's not something that we. You know, we print off and put an envelope and, and write an address and put a stamp on it. It, it doesn't have to be that complicated. It can be something as simple as saying, help me Lord. I want you in my life. God said to his people in the Old Testament call to me and I will answer you in Jeremiah 33 in verse three, and in Psalm 1 45 in verse 18, the Lord is near to all.

Who call on him. God is saying, call on me. I will answer. I will be near if, if you invite me. And how much more when we have the mediator, his son Jesus Christ, by which can approach God through prayer that we are promised as his children, that Jesus himself will take those words and thoughts and emotions and bring them to the very throne of God.

If you're still there in the Sermon on the Mount, look down in Matthew chapter seven, beginning in verse seven. Ask that's in a continuous sense. Keep on asking and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find knock and it will be open to you for everyone who asks, receives, and he who seeks fines and to him who knocks it will be opened.

Jesus goes on to explain because that's the kind of God that God is. He wants us to ask. He wants us to seek. He wants us to knock, and if we do, he will be there Again, we're thinking about imitating Jesus and what we see in the gospel is that Jesus just pray all the time. And why did Jesus pray all the time?

If he had this closeness and unity with his father, why did he need to pray all the time? Because he wanted to be in constant communication with his father. God was with him, but Jesus invited God to be with him too. That's a broad way of thinking about this concept, that prayer is an invitation to God for him to be working in your life.

But may I suggest this morning, three specific ways we should be inviting God into our lives by prayer. And hopefully these three ideas, these three concepts will be helpful to you in saying, okay, how am I supposed to pray to God? Well, I'm inviting him, inviting him into my life. And I'm doing so in these three ways.

So inviting God to work in your life. Number one, invite God's presence into your place. Again, the Lord is near to all who call on him. And maybe that's a little bit confusing because we know that God is everywhere and sees all of those things, but what we're really doing is inviting God to be actively present in our lives.

There are times where God, you know, kicks down the door. We think about a fireman. Sometimes the house is on fire. And the, the fireman has really rights that other, other personnel do not have. Even medical personnel or, law enforcement personnel, a fireman can just go into a burning house. He doesn't need permission.

And sometimes our house is on fire and God says, I'm gonna come in and I'm gonna help in ways that you could not imagine. But I'm afraid sometimes our house is on fire and we're like the meme. We're sitting there with our coffee cup saying, this is fine. And God comes to the door and we're like, no, no, no, no, no, no.

I've got it. I don't need you. Yeah, the house is on fire, but I don't need you. What we should be doing is saying, yes, come in and do whatever you will because I need it. We're inviting God's presence into your place. And how do we do that? Well, let me suggest one way that we might do that. We, we pray in quiet places when teaching on prayer in Matthew chapter six, beginning in verse five, maybe a page back from where we are there in Matthew chapter seven.

In Matthew chapter six, verses five and six, as Jacob said, sometimes you read things and you see something that was always there, but maybe you didn't quite catch it the first time or the second time or the hundredth time. Jesus says in verse five, and when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites.

They love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. We've got a bunch of good hearted people in here. You're not praying like that to be seen by men. We, we know that, but you, here's the contrast, verse six, but you Christians, you kingdom citizens.

When you pray, go into your room. Maybe yours says, go into your inner chamber. Maybe yours says, go into your closet. And I've always kind of focused on that idea. But notice the next phrase. And when you have shut your door, pray to your father who is in the secret place, and your father who sees in secret, will reward you openly.

Now, I don't think what Jesus is saying here is you can only play pray in places that have a door. But it is interesting that he says that you can go somewhere and you can shut your door. What does that, what does that imply? Not you have to be in a place with the door in order to pray. What it says is sometimes we need to be alone.

We need to be alone with God and our thoughts. We need to be able to shut the door so that we can have this privacy in a quiet place to be there with God. Jesus instructed, playing in a private place where you can shut your door and God can be prayed to anywhere in any time, and we should do that. But the example that is left by Jesus and others throughout scripture is to have a place.

Or several places dedicated to that purpose of prayer. You remember Daniel, of course, in Daniel chapter six in verse 10, that he had a specific time, a specific place, and a specific routine for prayer and discuss that even here in recent days. But I ask you, do you have a specific private place for prayer?

We make specific places for doing all sorts of important and unimportant things in our life. You think about our modern houses, we have a ton more room rooms than they did. Well, both, right? We have a ton more room and a ton more rooms than they did in the ancient world. But you think about some of the rooms, this is a kitchen.

What is this for? Well, it's to cook in. That's what it's intended for, right? For us to cook in this place. This is a dining room. What is that? Intended for, it's intended to be a place where we dine, where we eat together with one another. This is a garage. What is it for? Well, maybe we misuse it and we just fill it with a bunch of junk.

It's intended for a car to be in there and whatever else we might store. This is a home gym. What is it for? Well, the hang the clothes on the treadmill? No, it's, it's intended for us to go in there and work out. This is a bedroom. Where is it for? It's intended for us to go to bed in this place. We have all of these places that are assigned for specific things, and we design a place that fits what we want to do in that place.

You don't go to the dining room to sleep, and we can use it for other things, but it is specifically intended for that purpose. And so my question is, do you have a special place? A quiet place for prayer, and if not, why not? Is there a place that you could find to pray to God? Maybe it's a whole room. I know of people that have entire rooms devoted to prayer.

But probably it's just a smaller place designed for that purpose, a prayer. I remember when the girls were smaller, we lived over on Roper Road and we had this giant hand me down chair. It was somewhere between a love seat. I only had one cushion, not two, you know, so it's not really a love seat, but it was just extra wide, extra big.

And the girls called it the football chair. Why? Because I would get in it and they would pile in with me and we'd watch football together. That's the football chair. Do you have. Prayer chair, A chair that can be used for that purpose. Is there a place where you can go, a closet, a desk, a park bench, a deck or a porch or a patio?

Maybe it's a place where you can close the door, maybe your office. At a time when you're in between calls is a place where you can close your door and go to God in prayer. Maybe it's shower in the morning or night, or your vanity when you're getting ready in the morning, or your bed when you're about to go to sleep at night.

But it is helpful to have at least a place, preferably several places that you use, and just as importantly, you associate with prayer that when I'm here. This is a quiet place for me to pray so that God's presence might be invited into my place, into my life, into my decisions, and into my heart. And as we think about our heart, that's really the second that I want us to think about in regard to inviting God.

Number two, invite God's word into your heart. This is biblically how we get the, the Holy Spirit to dwell with us and in us. Again, we're inviting God, we're inviting the Holy Spirit to come and be with us when we get the. Spirits of scripture that the Holy Spirit inspired. When we get those into our heart, we get the character of the Holy Spirit in our heart as well.

So how do we do that? How do we invite God's word into our heart? Well, we read our Bible certainly, but may I suggest taking that one step further and pray scripture. If you pray the scriptures, that too can be an invitation for God to come and fulfill those scriptures. Do you find it hard to know what words to say in prayer?

Do you ever find it hard to know what words to say in prayer? Now y'all are supposed to be better trained than this. You know, I go preaching all over the place and I always say, now, back home, you know, I tell people I gotta hear your heads rattle. And they do. They do that. So don't make me a liar on that.

Do you ever, and if you say no, I know all the words all the time, that's okay too. But do you ever find it hard to find the right words to pray to God? I've got all the words and sometimes I can't find the right ones.

You know, it's funny I was having this discussion with somebody over supper a week or two ago. You know, there are some people and, and the person that Stephanie and I, the couple that step and I were sitting with, they were talking about this and he was talking about how, you know, there are just some people who just finish other people's sentences.

And as he was saying that, I said other people's sentences, that was a joke. I, I sometimes do that. And he wasn't calling me out on that. He was actually talking about another situation, but. But sometimes I do that, you know, I'm just, I want to keep moving, right? I wanna keep talking and, and somebody's trying to find the right words and I'm like, let me help you.

I think, I think I know, I think I know what it is you're trying to say. And, and I think it's frustrating for other people sometimes. Sometimes, because I get those words wrong, that's not what I'm trying to say. And sometimes I get those words right and they're like, just let me say it instead of you saying it, let me say it.

Right. Well, the wonderful thing is God. God knows the right words. He knows what it is that we need to say. God knows that, but God allows us to find the words ourselves. And yes, there's sometimes we search and we search and we can't find the words, and there are groanings, which cannot be uttered, that Paul talks about in the book of Romans.

And Jesus can make intercession from our spirit to God to say, this is what's in His or her heart. God can do that, but God wants us to search for those words so that maybe we can have a clearer mind, clearer idea in our mind and heart is what it is that we truly want and what it is we truly need. One excellent way to grow in finding the right words in talking to God is to pray scripture to look at the Bible for motivation.

Look at the Bible for examples. So this might be accomplished in a, in a number of ways. Pray Scripture is the point. But let me just give you some practical things to think about. If you were to pray scripture, maybe you find and cite scripture related to your situation. You know, early Christians cited scripture in their prayers.

We have both biblical and extra biblical examples of this. Over and over we see them doing this. A number of. Places in both the gospels and the epistles. We could talk about this, but let's go instead to the Book of Acts. Go to Acts chapter four. In Acts chapter four. The church is coming under persecution.

The apostles especially at this point, it's not widely dispersed to, to all Christians really yet, but in Acts chapter four. Beginning in verse 23, after Peter and John are arrested and then released, they come back to the rest of the brethren and they pray a prayer beginning in verse 23, read with me and being let go.

They went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. So when they heard that they raised their voice to God with one accord and said, Lord. You are God who made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them. Who by the mouth of your servant David, have said, why did the nation's rage And the people plot vain things, the kings of the earth took their stand and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ.

Verse 27. For truly against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together to do whatever your hand and your purpose determined before to be done now, Lord. So in light of all of that. Now Lord, look on their threats against us.

And grant your servants that with all boldness, they may speak your word by stretching out your hand to heal. And that signs and wonders may be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus. And when they have prayed, we see a manifestation of God answering that prayer. What's interesting is the majority of their words are citing scripture.

They cite from Psalm 1 46 in verse six there in verse 24. And then in verses 25 and 26, they cite from Psalm two, verses one and two. These timeless words gave them inspired direction and purpose to their prayers. So you find yourself in a situation, can you think of a Bible character who's been through something similar?

Go find that scripture. And pray that back to God. Well, maybe it's not something specific along those lines. Maybe you're just doing your daily Bible reading and, and it's great to pray what you're reading and around what you're reading. We can pray before we read, endearing our reading and after your Bible reading.

Pray for understanding. Talk to God about what you are reading and if you can run across words and say, yes, that's it. Pray those words to God as you're reading them. Maybe you're looking for and finding prayers in scripture and you, you choose to pray those prayers, pray the prayers of Nehemiah and Paul and, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Jesus himself, and David and Jeremiah and others.

How do they pray? God, what do they pray for? And use similar phrases and concepts in your own prayers, not as an incantation. I've gotta find just the right words, not as vain repetition. If I repeat the words of David, then God's gonna listen to me, but merely as a guide or outline to find the words you want to pray to God, learn from their fateful prayers as a way to form your own.

And a great place to do this, of course, is in the Psalms. Pray the Psalms because so many of the psalms are just that they are prayers to God. Turn to Psalm one. If you would. I'll give you an example of this. I've done this p some through my life and I've found it beneficial. I read the psalm, I pray the words of the psalm, but I also add in things that are happening in my own life in such a way that they apply specifically to my situation as well as I go.

So for example, Psalm one, what would that look like? We're all taught to close our eyes and bow our heads when we pray, but that's not something we have to do. Let's look at Psalm one and let's see if we can pray. Psalm one together. Okay, so there beginning in verse one, we pray to our God in heaven.

God, may we be blessed people, may we be people who are blessed by you. Approved in your sight. Help us not to walk in the council of the ungodly. Help us not to stand in the path of sinners. Lord, protect our steps so that we do not sit in the seat of the scornful. Allow us to stop this progression of ungodliness before it begins.

Instead, Lord, help us to delight in your law. May we meditate on it day and night, and think about you and your word and what you want us to be, and we remind you of your promise to us that if we have this kind of outlook, if we live our lives from this perspective, that we can be solid in the way we live, that we can be like a tree planted by the rivers of water.

We receive the nourishment we need from your word and your working, and we find our place and purpose in life. We know that the ungodly are not so they're like chaff that the wind drives away. And so our prayer father is if we find ourselves with this kind of blowing here and there, and uncertainty in life, that you would bring us back to you, that we would once again find an anchor in your word.

When we stand before you in judgment, we might hear well done. Good and fateful servant, you know our way. Please, father, direct us in such a way that we may not perish either now or eternally, but know you and know what is right. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

You have 150 of those where God directs us. His fateful people direct us in how to pray. And then finally, in regard to reciting scripture as we pray pray the promises of God found in scripture. I've, I've preached on this a year or two ago, this idea of praying to the one who keeps his promises, praying those promises back to God.

And that's something that I've been doing over the last 18 months or so. I find it so helpful. It's a reminder to me what God has promised. And it's assurance that God will answer because he has promised these things. Do you wanna guarantee, we all want guarantees in life, don't we? A guarantee not just that God will answer your prayer, but how God is gonna answer your prayer will ask God to fulfill what he has already promised.

One of my favorite promises in scripture, and if you've heard me preach over any period of time, you know this is from one Corinthians chapter 10. If you turn over there for just a moment, one Corinthians chapter 10.

One Corinthians chapter 10,

a warning in verse 12. Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. We need to be watching to make sure that we're not falling into temptation, but then a promise in verse 13. No temptation is overtaken you except such as is common to man, but God is faithful. Who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it.

God is faithful to what he has promised, and it's no wonder then that Jesus. Instructs us to pray the way that he instructs us in Matthew chapter six, verses nine through 13, the model prayer. We'll talk about that more in coming weeks, but that particular line lead us not into temptation. Well, I I don't mean this disrespectfully.

Duh. I mean, God's not gonna lead us into temptation. God wouldn't do that. Why is that included in this model prayer that Jesus gives? Because he is giving us a model to say, pray to God and fulfill your promises. That you will not lead me into temptation, that you'll make the way of escape. And if I pray that promise, then God will fulfill what it is he has said, and I am reminded.

I'm reminded of what God has promised and we see other promises in scripture that he'll give us our needs if we seek the kingdom of God. Matthew six and verse 33, that the God of peace will be with us if we go to him as he has called us to in Philippians chapter four, four through seven. These are things that I can hang on to.

I know this to be true because God has promised it. And so I pray for God to fulfill the things that he has already promised. Invite God's word into your heart by praying scripture. And then finally, number three, invite God's will into your schedule. How well I, I struggled with exactly how to put this. I, I think this is easy to remember.

Pray your day. Pray your day. It even rhymes, right? Pray your day. We all have to-do lists. Calendars and planners and post-it notes and scheduling apps on our phones. Just a hot tip for you. Did you know your iPhone, you can have a shared calendar with everybody who chooses to join that particular calendar.

That's especially helpful for your family, right? So you've got all these things and maybe you don't write those things down, but you certainly have a mental to-do list you want or need to get done. May I suggest attaching prayer to your daily habit of planning what that day is gonna be. Instead of worrying about all that you must do, take a moment at the beginning of your day or the night before your day and invite God into your schedule.

Proverbs chapter three and verse six says, acknowledge him in all your ways, and he will direct your steps. If I pray to God in the things that I'm gonna be doing in the day, I'm acknowledging him and that he has a part to play in my day so that he might direct my steps as I go through that day. Maybe looking at it from a little bit more negative of an angle.

James puts it this way in James chapter four. This is our last scripture reference this morning. If you turn to James chapter four, beginning in verse 13, James chapter four, beginning in verse 13.

Come now. You who say, today or tomorrow, we will raise your hand. If you've ever thought planned or said to yourself today or tomorrow, we will do something. Raise your hand. That's, that's all of us. Come now you who say, today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city. Spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit.

Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow for what is your life. This even a vapor that appears for a little time and then poof, it vanishes away. So that means that we shouldn't plan anything. Well that for non planners like me, this sounds great. Just fly by the seat of my pants. Whatever happens, happens.

I'll take it as it come. No. The point is found in verse 15. Instead, you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we live to do this or that, but now you boast in your arrogance saying, this is what's going to happen because I put it on the calendar. That means it's absolutely going to happen. All such boasting as evil, what God desires is to be invited.

Invited into our schedule to where we say, look, this is my plan, but I need God with me to direct my steps to be there beside me. I want him in my life working on my behalf. Will I be able to do all of these things that I have planned only, and I mean only if the Lord allows me to do those things. If the Lord wills, we shall live to do this or that.

So what does your day look like tomorrow? Can you walk through it in your mind or on your calendar or in your phone? And are you willing to invite God to be a part of that? We sang just a moment ago. Need the once a day? No, I need the occasional, no, I need the every hour. Well. What's happening every hour where you need the Lord.

So running your schedule might look something like this. Dear God, as I go to work tomorrow, help me to see people and encourage souls in need. Lord at 8:00 AM let me be light to that client that I'm seeing who I know is in a dark place at 11:00 AM Please help me to do well on my presentation that I'm needing to give to my colleagues.

At lunch tomorrow. Help me to find rest and peace and communion with you tomorrow afternoon. Lord, I am nervous about a difficult conversation that I have to have. Help me to find the right words that will forward truth, make for peace and draw others to you tomorrow night. Father, please bless our family.

As we go here and there and all of these physical things that we're doing, help us to not lose sight of you. And when I lay my head on my pillow tomorrow night, father, as I come back to this same place, may I be able to say I've done all that I could do and if, if I don't make it there. Father, I pray that you welcome me with open arms and say, well done.

Good and fateful servant. We need God, and God wants to be invited. Will you invite him into your place? Will you invite him into your heart? Will you invite him into your schedule? We end our services traditionally with an invitation. That's not something we have to do, but it's something that we've chosen to do because we don't want miss the opportunity to invite you to come to God.

It's not my invitation, it's God's prayer is our invitation to him, but he has invited us to come to him as well. Jesus said, come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest if you need. The rest that comes from God, even this morning, need to respond to Christ's invitation for salvation and fellowship.

If you need to put Christ on in baptism or you need the prayers in support of your brothers and sisters, respond to that invitation from God himself and come now while together, we stand and while we sing.