25th February 2026

You may have noticed some Christian authors and speakers are using the phrase ‘invite God’ to do this or that. One in particular tells us we should invite God into our prayer time. I find it disturbing they feel the need to do this, as it gives the impression that God is standing over there somewhere, waiting to be called over to get in on what’s happening in our lives. Perhaps they think he doesn’t want to interfere or get in the way and is content to wait for a formal invitation. 

I’ve always thought it was Jesus who gives us the invitation, not the other way around. In Matthew 11:28 (NRSVUE), he said, ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest’. We are the ones who forget that he is always with us and the Holy Spirit is always working in our hearts and lives. 

This is kind of long, but I believe it perfectly illustrates why we don’t need to invite God into our prayers. This is C.S. Lewis describing prayer in Mere Christianity: ‘What I mean is this. An ordinary simple Christian kneels down to say his prayers. He is trying to get into touch with God. But if he is a Christian he knows that what is prompting him to pray is also God: God, so to speak, inside him. But he also knows that all his real knowledge of God comes through Christ, the Man who was God – that Christ is standing beside him, helping him to pray, praying for him. You see what is happening. God is the thing to which he is praying – the goal he is trying to reach. God is also the thing inside him which is pushing him on – the motive power. God is also the road or bridge along which he is being pushed to that goal. So that the whole threefold life of the three-personal Being is actually going on in that ordinary little bedroom where an ordinary man is saying his prayers.’ 

God has already ‘invited’ us into his life. All we have to do is open our eyes to this wonderful reality.

A slightly amended study that was first published on 3 February 2026, at www.gemsofgodsgrace.wordpress.com a personal blog which is not sponsored by Grace Communion International.

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