I remember as I child I prayed to God late at night when I should have been sleeping. I would ramble on with Him and tell Him all about my day, my hopes, my dreams. I knew I should finish the prayer and say, “Amen”, but I thought the word was like a goodbye or a door that closed. I didn’t want to speak it because I wanted God to stay with me forever. I didn’t realise then He would never leave me. I didn’t realise “Amen” didn’t mean, “Ok, I’m done talking with you, Lord. You can go now.”
The word, ‘Amen’, instead means, “It is so” and it is derived from the Hebrew āmēn which means “truth”, “certainty”, and “verily”. It’s not a goodbye or a full stop. It is so much greater than mere punctuation.
To me, it is a declaration of God’s Truth. It is a one word song of praise to Him. It is a mighty agreement to His presence in my life.
What does the word mean to you?
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15 comments:
"agreeing with GOD"
Blessings and prayers,
andrea
PS: I have an update on amden on arise 2 write.
Thank you for sharing other variations of the word Amen Lyn. To me the meaning of whatever I was praying for when I say Amen, then it is finished. Taken care of. Blessings to you dear one, JBR
Peace!
Like JBR, "Amen" reminds me "it is finished". Instead of question marks, prayers are ended with a punctuation mark! Thanks be to Jesus! Blessings.
For me, it is simply "thank you for hearing my prayer, Lord!"
I love all your answers. They are beautiful! I especially like the faith behind "Taken care of". It is a true handing over of our prayers to our God with the knowledge that He will take care of everything.
Blessings,
Lyn
What a wonderful post! I had never thought of this. I can't wait to share it with my family!
Amen!!!
To me it has always meant
"As I agree with God so it
will be." Believe it or not,
I thought exactly as you when
I was a little girl. I never
wanted to say Amen.
Loved this post.
Love the way you said "Amen" does not mean goodbye
kim
Sandy, I think it might be because as children we aren't taught the meaning of Amen, only that we have to say it at the end of a prayer. Our minds naturally conclude that it must mean goodbye because that's the last thing we say in a conversation.
Never thought about it in this way exactly, but I can relate to the feeling of not wanting to say amen because that time of connection with God would be ended. I think I tend to think of it as "Thy will be done."
Oh, I'm so thankful that He doesn't go away! I grateful that He is always with us!
"It's in Your hands" is how I see the final amen in a prayer...
I use many "amens" in my comments on other blogs...then it means..."in agreement"...and "I believe that's the truth"...
Thought provoking question, Lyn....
Connie, "Thy will be done" is a beautiful way of ending a prayer. Same with Karen's "It's in Your hands." Wish I had realised that as a child ;)
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