Amen. We usually say it as we end our prayers. Sometimes it’s said when we are in agreement with something someone said or that we just read. We often say it at the end of a beautiful rendition of a song that was delivered or right before a meal. But what does this word really mean and how much weight does it carry?
Dictionary.com gives this definition of this word:
spoken to express solemn ratification or agreement. It means “it is so” or “so it be.” Amen is derived from the Hebrew āmēn, which means “certainty,” “truth,” and “verily.”
Truth be told, sometimes we say Amen after things we don’t necessarily agree with or believe. It has become so commonplace in today’s language, often spilling out of our mouths so easily these days, without a second thought.
Lord, I want to follow You in all things and submit to Your will above my own. Help me to soak in the truth that Your ways are better, even if they seem harder. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
from First 5 App study of Jeremiah
I remember reading through this devotional late last year when studying the book of Jeremiah with the First 5 app, which I absolutely love. As I said the prayer above at the end, I stumbled over the words about following the Lord in all things and submitting to His will above my own. To end it with amen, seemed as if I was betraying the Lord in some way because it wasn’t so. At that time, I knew the reason why it was a fight to get those words out of my mouth and say Amen…because, I am honest, it wasn’t true.
Many times I want my own way. His way is often harder and doesn’t make sense because it is the way of death–death to my wants, my plans, my agenda, my schedule, my time–to everything that I think defines me. It’s easy to submit to the Lord when it’s what I desire too, but in my heart, and when I consider things that I submitted to and were obedient in, I realize sometimes it is years before I see the fruit of my obedience. Then, I’m like Lord, “what is the point of it all anyway?”
As gentle as a whisper, the Holy Spirit so graciously asks me if I have considered the motives behind my obedience. This question highlights an area of my heart for which I must repent because in total transparency, sometimes my motives for being obedient are for selfish reasons. Continuing to look at others who seem to be getting what I have been waiting, asking and praying for, (and have been for years), will result in me continuing to wrestle and struggle with submitting to Him. It is the comparison trap working at its best, causing me to forget all of the things God has and is doing in my life in this season.
Yet, when I read that Christ learned obedience through the things He suffered (Hebrews 5:8) or that God desires my obedience more than sacrifice (i.e. anything I could ever offer Him-Jeremiah 7:21-23), the Word of God acts as a knife, slowly cutting away at my deceitful heart, dividing soul and spirit and exposing my innermost thoughts and desires (Hebrews 4:12). When I measure what little I want to offer Him with the truth that He already gave His best, His only Son, in order to have a relationship with me and be with me forever, my heart is instantly convicted.
For this, I repent Lord, because You deserve my life. Please forgive me for every time I do things my way without consulting You or disobeying Him when You already gave me instructions on what to do. You, Lord, deserve a life of Amens that spill so freely and honestly out of my mouth. You deserve my everything.
genesis 2:22, NLT
Scripture references: The Holy Bible (NLT)
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Lady In Waiting 222 