Invocation in·vo·ca·tion n
1. a calling upon a greater power such as God or a spirit for help
2. a short prayer forming part of a religious service
3. the act of calling upon or quoting something such as a law as a reason or justification
4. a casting of a spell in an attempt to make an evil spirit appear, or the spell itself
At a recent church committee meeting the leader began his opening prayer, "O Lord, we call you into our presence."
It was an ordinary enough prayer and I'm sure it was well intentioned, but it struck me as very odd. Should we call God into our presence or should we be called to acknowledge that we are in the presence of God?
But what about all those scriptures about calling on the name of the Lord?
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The everyday life of a presbyterian/reformed minister
1 Peter 4:12-13 (New International Version)
Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
2 comments:
Sometimes I think we've decided God is simply powerless without our invitation!
I agree with what you write. God IS present. We are told this in the Bible. I assume it to be true. I wonder if we are commanded to call upon the name of the Lord as a display of our faith, not as "permission for God to enter."
could be - after writing this I was humbled when I remembered all the Scriptures that tell us to call upon the name of the Lord.... But I still think the term "invocation" is weird.
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