I just sat down to a hot cup of Door County Jamaican Blue Mountain Blend Coffee and two warm Springer Spaniels sitting on my feet.
I always like to say "Amen" at the end of my prayers and I guess it is just out of habit. I never gave it much thought until lately. I examined the definition of the word amen. I found that it means "I agree, so be it, and truly". So when I thought about this and pondered it, as usual, like many things it fell off of my radar screen. Yesterday however while driving I listened to a message on the word Amen. It was powerful to say the least and Preacher Allan Kearns filled in the blanks for me. Here is what I was missing in my knowledge.
James 5:16 The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
When we say amen at the end of our prayers we are adding our signature to an agreement with God. Much like signing a contract or a personal check. When we say amen we are agreeing with the statements made in the prayer and agree to do our part, whatever it is to honor our request. So someone who asks God for something or to do something and prays eloquently or not so eloquently and adds their signature at the end of the prayer agrees to live a life worthy of honoring the request. Really, should we pray with beauty and eloquence and then curse those around us? It is as if you just wrote a bad check with insufficient funds. That check will bounce a sure as I am old.
Our statement to God is one we own and we need to lead and live a life worthy of His response. When we do just the opposite I would say our prayer becomes ugly and it is like putting lipstick on a pig. We glamour it up with our words and our hearts are still ugly.
Just saying AMEN to this blog!
Have a great day.
Marty
Check my heart before signing the check.
ReplyDeleteYes Sir.
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