This week I  studyed the little word Amen; and I came across four great articles that you might want to print and study before the Lord’s Day. I promise you, after considering this you will never say this word lightly again.

Here is a taste of each one of these articles:

“The saying of the corporate amen is a great covenant privilege, and has the force of a binding oath. We never want to take it lightly, or invoke it to no purpose, or, worst of all, to mumble it.” Douglas Wilson

Read Douglas Wilson’s article here.

“I think he would say that God is calling us out of our cocoons of emotional isolation and invisible, inaudible, unshared responsiveness. I think he would say, it’s God’s will that we echo the excellence of God in preaching and prayer – that we express our affirmation of the truth of God in the Word, and that we resonate verbally with Godward longings and yearnings in prayer.” John Piper

Read Piper’s article here.

“It doesn’t mean primarily, “YES, I have said all this prayer.” It means primarily, “YES, God has made all these promises.” AMEN means, YES, Lord, you can do it. It means, YES, Lord, you are powerful. YES, Lord, you are wise. YES, Lord, you are merciful. AMEN is like an exclamation point of faith in a prayer for help. Or an exclamation point of strong affirmation after a statement of God’s greatness.

As you come to the end of every prayer there are two AMEN’s, two YES’s. When you say, “In Jesus’ name,” that is God’s AMEN. All his promises are YES and AMEN in Jesus: Jesus Christ is God’s YES and AMEN at the end of your prayer. Then when you say, “AMEN,” this is your YES and AMEN back to God for his. AMEN is our YES to God for his YES to us in Jesus Christ.” John Piper

Read this article here.

“Worship in biblical terms is a corporate matter. The corporate body is made up of individuals, and when an individual sounds the “amen,” the individual is connecting to the corporate expression of worship and praise. However, we are told in the Scriptures that the truths of God are “yea” and “amen” (2 Cor. 1:20), which simply means that the Word of God is valid, it is certain, and it is binding. Therefore, the expression “amen” is not simply an acknowledgment of personal agreement with what has been stated; it is an expression of willingness to submit to the implications of that word, to indeed be bound by it, as if the Word of God would put ropes around us not to strangle or retard us but to hold us firmly in place.” R.C. Sproul

Read Sproul’s article here.

By His Grace, under His sun,

Becky