Growing up, ‘amen’ had just two meanings for me. First, it was the word that stood between me and my food – the magic cut-off point where I hung-up the phone on God and he said it was sweet to chow down. Second, it was the gauge of how well the pastor was doing.
On Sunday mornings if you heard a chorus of amens emanating from the pews you knew the preacher was on the money, alternatively, silence was rarely a good sign.
But laying food and inspired outbreaks aside, what does amen really mean?
Amen has a rather simple meaning but powerful application. It comes from the Hebrew word for truth and is used to say ‘may it be so’ or ‘certainly’. For example, in the Old Testament there are times where Israel would respond to God’s promises by saying ‘Amen’. So, put simply, amen is all about agreement with God’s truth. But it gets better. For the Bible teaches that all of God’s promises have become fully and freely available to us because of what Jesus has done. This includes forgiveness for our sins, receiving the Holy Spirit, and living with peace and joy in our hearts. That’s why the apostle Paul wrote that it is through Jesus that we say ‘Amen’ when we are praying and thanking God (see 2 Corinthians 1:20).
But wait, there’s more. Get this, Jesus even said that if just two Christians agree about what they ask in prayer, God will do it. Now that’s amazing!
So, amen is not about hanging the phone up on God and permission to eat. Amen is about agreement with the truth: the truth that Jesus saved us, loves us, and hears and acts on our prayers.
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