When I was young in the faith; and by that I mean stupidly immature, my approach to God’s Word was like that of an attorney who pours over the fine print of a contract to identify beneficial provisions and hold God’s feet to the fire to fulfill every last one of them for me. In so doing, I was trying to use God in a selfish and manipulative way to do what I wanted. Never did I pause to think about the inference of what I was doing, using scripture to back God into a corner so He had to do what He said He would do, as if God were a liar or swindler. Yeesh!

And yet, I’ve seen churches and individuals do that very thing, forever. For example, Matthew 18:20 in the Contemporary English Version says:

Whenever two or three of you come together in my name, I am there with you.

That wording seems to beg the question can any 2 believers decide to get together, invoke “Jesus name” and thereby compel Him to join them?

I don’t know how you react to that approach, but to me it sounds like a form of witchcraft. Lest the hearer take offense at the word “witchcraft”, I use it in the broadest sense of an art-form whose purpose is to bend someone’s will to conform to your own. In fact, one definition of the word “invoke” in the Merriam Webster dictionary says “to call forth by incantation” and it lists “conjure” as a synonym for “invoke”. How many of our worship services have an invocation? How often do we invoke God’s name to be there for us when we call upon Him? I’m not saying it’s always wrong. But it’s not always right, either. Friends, we must tread carefully with God’s word – it’s wrong to assert our flesh over His Spirit.

Sometimes while reading my eBible, the Holy Spirit prompts me to compare a single scripture in several translations to get a better understanding of what it means. Prompted to go deeper on Matthew 18:20 one translation jumped out at me for being subtly different from the others. The Apostolic Bible Polyglot translation also indexes every word to the Greek for even deeper study. It says:

For where there are two or three being gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

Notice the appearance of the word “being” in the Apostolic (ABP+) translation? That suggests to me gatherings are purposeful and initiated by the Lord Himself. In fact, the definition of the Greek word “sunago” (Strong’s index number G4863) is “to lead together, that is, to collect or convene; to entertain hospitably”. When the brethren are gathered together, it is at the leading and invitation of Jesus, in whose name we gather, where He is the host and remains “in the midst” of the gathering. Like it says elsewhere, Jesus draws all men to Himself where He is the gatherer and the central figure in the gatherings He originates. Jesus is the very “mortar” that joins the entire assembly together!

The unique translation of the Apostolic version is consistent with Matthew 16:18 wherein Jesus said “I will build MY assembly” (YLT) and Psalm 127:1 which says “Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain” (ESV).

The gatherings initiated by men are a far cry from gatherings initiated by Jesus. Typically, a man will call a meeting for a designated time and place and once gathered, invoke the “name of the Lord” to “invite” or compel Jesus to join them. Should Jesus be an invited guest to a meeting called by men, or should Jesus convene the meeting within His authority and remain as Lord of the banquet?

My dear wife and I have attended any number of religious meetings that were dry and Spirit-less, where once in a blue moon, the people would get excited when “Jesus showed up”. In our experience, meetings convened according to man’s will where Jesus shows up, are very few because men are rarely willing to sit down and be still long enough to let Jesus get a word in edge-wise. Conversely, when we wait on Jesus’ to convene His meetings His way, He’s there from start to finish!

Continuing with that thought trend, can 2 believers obligate the Lord to give them whatever they want by simply agreeing together in prayer? After all, Matthew 18:19 (CEV) says:

“I promise that when any two of you on earth agree about something you are praying for, my Father in heaven will do it for you.”

Just as our gatherings are to be initiated and hosted by Jesus, so should our prayers be according to God’s will, after all, Jesus taught us to pray “Father … thy will be done”. God always comes first.

How about this question: Can a believer worship God to the point of delirium and then ask God to grant the desires of their heart? After all, Psalm 37:4 (CEV) promises:

“Do what the LORD wants, and he will give you your heart’s desire.” Another says “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

So is the desire of our hearts in the things of this world, or is our delight IN the Lord Himself. As Helen Lemell wrote in the old hymn:

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

The hymn writer understood that when we delight in the Lord, He becomes the desire of our heart. And we see the things of earth for what they truly are: kindling for His fire.

In the half century since I first received Jesus as Lord, when I selfishly tried to use scripture to leverage the power of God to do my will, the Lord has taught me instead to “take up my cross and follow Him” which means I’ve surrendered my will and the desires of my flesh for the completion of Christ’s work in me. When scripture is viewed through the cross, where we are crucified and made one with Christ, His Word takes on a vastly different meaning than our fleshly imaginations.

There is certainly the power of God when praying and acting on the scriptures, but only when doing so according to the will of God. How grateful I am that when I mishandled scripture in my youth and sent up selfish prayers, the Father showed me grace by ignoring me. I hope now only to pray like Jesus did: “Father, not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42 KJV). As for meetings, well, I’ve begun to ask those who invite me whether the Lord called the meeting and I ask the Lord whether or not he wants me to accept their invitation. Suffice it to say, I attend very few meetings.

PS, I do not recommend the Contemporary English Version (CEV ©1995 American Bible Society) of the Bible, from which I read several scriptures. It was written at a grade school level for youthful believers who haven’t yet learned to discipline their flesh and subject themselves to the leading of the Spirit. The examples cited seem to subject the will of God to the will of man which is misleading. A God-first translation would be better suited for young believers. For that matter, a God-first translation would be best for all of us.