Nougat 27

Hi

I have a confession. One of my pet peeves is hearing someone use amen as spiritual punctuation. You know when someone is preaching or testifying and they are are speaking about something that goes against the promises of God, amen. Or when they place it at the end of a phrase amen. Like this amen. Or after a negative statement amen. For some, it even has different inflections so the amen might be a question, simple statement or high praise (exclamation).

Occasionally I wonder at its roots, but have never found an answer. Today’s Holy Nougat actually references amen; but it is used differently.

“For in Him all the promises of God are “Yes.” Therefore also through Him is the “Amen” by us, to the glory of God.” 2 Corinthians‬ ‭1:20‬ ‭TLV‬‬

For us to wholly appreciate this assurance, it is helpful to note that the writer spoke in regard to his own promise to the church, or rather his desire for a second visit with the saints of Corinth. He did not visit; but sought to help the saints understand that human promises are subject to Human Nature. On the other hand, the writer reminds the saints then that in Christ

ALL promises of God

are in the affirmative. And it is thus that our ‘Amen’ is legitimized, as Amen loosely translates to ‘let it be so’.

Using Amen at the end of our prayer is therefore a way of asking God to honor what we placed before God in the prayer we just uttered. Most of us use the term ‘in Jesus name’ just before our amen. That seems to be an almost literal appropriation of the nougat – in Christ is the amen. It is appropriate and yet may be incorrect if it is outside of God’s will.

Interestingly, if ALL God’s promises are YES, then the Yes applies to each of us as individuals and to us as a whole. God’s promise may be directed to the ‘just’ or the ‘unjust’, for God is no respecter of persons (remember Moses, Jacob and Abram?). Most of us are challenged by the fact that our prayers don’t always seem to generate God’s Yes.

Perhaps we should consider that it isn’t with God that the problem lies; but with us. Maybe we ought to ensure that our prayers are in alignment with God’s promises – a guaranteed Yes – so that when we add ‘in Jesus name,’; we know that we are genuinely guaranteed the AMEN.

May our prayers elicit God’s Yes in Christ Jesus today and always. Amen

In Christ’s love and grace . . .