Awhile back I was rocking Anaya (20 months old) as we always do for her bedtime routine. After singing a couple songs it was time to pray. We were praying for some friends, and after each phrase Anaya responded by saying "yeah." She had never done this before, and has not done it since but it presented a beautiful picture of what we mean when we say the word amen. Here is a little of the prayer from that night...
Me: God, we want to pray for _____________. Anaya: yeah
Me: We ask that you would give her strength. Anaya: yeah
Me: We ask that you would show grace to her body Anaya: yeah
Me: We ask that you would help her to feel your presence Anaya: yeah
And that is how the prayer continued on until it was complete. It was beautiful and precious, and something that I will likely not forget. It also created a beautiful picture of the word amen, which essentially is a word we use to say that we agree. Here is one definition that I found for the word amen.
"Amen is an exclamation expressing agreement with a statement. At the end of a prayer it expresses the genuineness or truth of the petition or praise."
Saying amen makes perfect sense at the end of the prayer, but that is not the only time when it is appropriate. Anytime you read, or hear, about a truthful declaration being made about who God is, or what God is doing, saying amen would be an appropriate response demonstrating your agreement with the statement that has been made about God. I think it would do us all good to be continually voicing our agreement as we hear and read declarations about who God is and what He is doing! So, what do you have to say amen to today? Or as Anaya so beautiful reminded me, what phrase do you simply want to respond to by saying, "YEAH!"
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