AMEN! Be Careful What You Pray For

Amen! It’s a word that comes at the end of every prayer: The Lord’s Prayer, The Hail Mary, The Glory Be, The Apostle’s Creed, and even random-made-up prayers.

When I first asked someone about the meaning of “amen”, I was told it meant “I believe.” This is simple and unobtrusive.

Recently, however, I was writing an article about “faith” and looked up the Hebrew root for faith. To my surprise, I found the Hebrew word for faith comes from the Hebrew root aman, pronounced ah-MAHN (Strong’s 539), meaning to build up, to support, to stand firm. Aman is an action-oriented word. Faith in the Old Testament has nothing to do with a mental belief in God or trust in God. It is more accurately defined as an unwavering commitment of support to “live by faith” according to every word that comes from the mouth of God.

So, amen has a lot to do with faith. The Hebrew word for “amen” is amen, pronounced aw-MANE (Strong’s 543), meaning truly, so be it.

“Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Let all the people say, ‘Amen! Hallelujah!’” (Psalm 106:48) Thus, “Blessed be the LORD. So be it! Praise and glory!”

The word “amen” is used more like a solemn oath or pledge of commitment and support. To respond amen to something is sort of like saying, “That is the absolute truth and I promise I will faithfully live by it.”

Amen occurs thirty times in the Old Testament. Here is something not commonly known about amen: Half of the occurrences of amen come after a curse is proclaimed, not a blessing or prayer to God.

Amen occurs the most in Deuteronomy chapter 27. On Mount Ebal, twelve curses are declared upon the Israelites; each one a consequence of violating a particular commandment of God. After each curse, the Israelites are required to respond “Amen!” to declare their unwavering commitment to the commandment and acceptance of the curse if they are unfaithful to the commandment. For example:

            Cursed be anyone who makes a carved or molten idol…And all the people shall answer, “Amen!” (v 15)

            Cursed be anyone who dishonors father or mother! And all the people shall answer, “Amen!” (v 16)

            Cursed be anyone whose actions do not uphold the words of this law! And all the people shall answer, “Amen!” (v 26)

Amen is a solemn oath, rooted in faith. Amen seals covenants, ratifies prayers, affirms praise and witnesses to the absolute faithfulness of God. Amen is a promise to live in faith according to God’s word, both blessings and curses.

Amen is a legally binding agreement with God. Saying amen is like picking up a pen and signing a contract in ink, agreeing to abide by all terms and conditions. By saying “amen” to each curse, twelve times the Israelites pledged an oath to willingly accept the responsibility and consequences of God’s punishment if they did not live by their faith.

One should never respond amen without deep consideration of faith in what was just said. In fact, Hebrew tradition says there should always be a pause between the last word of a proclamation and the response “Amen!” This pause gives people time to truly consider what they are about to agree to.

Amen is not just a word at the end of Christian prayers. Amen is not like calling God on the phone and then saying “Goodbye” when we are finished speaking to him.

Amen is not a word to say after another person speaks, as if to say “Yes, I agree.” Amen shouldn’t be thoughtlessly spoken after prayer, as if to say “I believe.” Amen should be said only when the pen is in hand and the contract with God is ready to sign.

Saying amen after the Lord’s Prayer means affirming the truth of Christ in the prayer, promising to live faithfully by the prayer, and agreeing to accept all consequences from not living by the prayer. It means:

          I promise to do my part in working for God’s kingdom on earth.

          I promise to seek and abide by God’s will, not my will.

          I promise to be satisfied with whatever bread God gives me today.

          I promise to accept God not forgiving my sins if there is anyone whose sins I have not forgiven.

          I promise to follow the Holy Spirit when the Spirit leads me away from temptation.

To simply say the words of The Lord’s Prayer, or any prayer, without a deep understanding of what is being asked of God is dangerous. We could be asking God to withhold his grace and blessings from us if we do not seek his kingdom, seek his will and do our part to avoid places and situations of temptation. We could also be asking God to not forgive any of our sins if there is a single person in our life we have not forgiven; and if we do not love as Jesus loves.

Salvation from eternal death is a free gift from God for those who desire it. The Kingdom of Heaven and being in the glorious presence of God, on the other hand, is not a free gift. It takes faith, holiness, and doing God’s work on earth (Matthew 25:31-46).

To pray The Lord’s Prayer and mindlessly say “Amen!” at the end could be writing oneself a ticket to Purgatory instead of Heaven.

If your goal for eternal life is Heaven and not Purgatory, say “Amen!” only when you are ready to sign God’s contract in ink.

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