As I prepared for writing this devotional, I read the following sentences from David Timms’ book, Living the Lord’s Prayer. They are sobering to me, maybe they will be for you, too:

“The Bible is not about how God fits into our story, but how we fit into His.”

“How often do we open the scriptures to understand ourselves? We want God to clarify our lives, not highlight His……How does the Father want to bless us, use us, help us, heal us, guide us, and give to us? If we study the Book at all, its often to get advice for our own issues – our needs, wants, and feelings.”

“However, the Bible is not a therapy textbook. It reveals God’s story and relentlessly asserts that the main character of history is Christ.”

“The drama of the Word beckons us to join God’s world, where He takes initiative, has control, and determines the outcomes. All history is really his story, not our story.”

Gulp. These sentences point toward two difficult responses for any of us. Surrender. Obedience.

In John Chopka’s message on October 16, he explained the etymology for “obedience” as rooted in “listening.”

Furthermore, David Augsberger, a Mennonite author, claims that “Being heard is so close to being loved that for the average person they are almost indistinguishable.” Could this advice for human relationships also be a clue for my relationship with God? Does God feel my love when I actively listen for Him?

Perhaps, the process of surrender and obedience begins with:

1. Attentive Listening - Taking time out from the ceaseless striving in our lives to seek Him, be with him, listening for His promptings.

2. Heartfelt Response - Deciding to willfully act on the invitations He sets in your heart. Having the faith and selflessness to at least try.

Realize that this is a continual, ongoing process. On this side of heaven, we will struggle with our human will. Give grace to yourself. Rest upon God’s promise to be with you. Let your faith sprout and grow.

Allow your story to become part of His Story.

For Reflection:

1. What are the biggest challenges for you to listen attentively to God?

2. Think about a time you had a heartfelt response to God’s nudging. What happened? How did it impact you (and possibly others)?

When you hear (or use) the word Amen (a Hebrew term), what does it mean to you?

For many, it is simply acknowledging the end of something like a prayer. It’s “we’re done, let’s move on now.” It’s generally dismissive in tone.

Other times, it is used as a polite affirmation of something said. We may hear “Amens” during sermons or in conversations with friends. It becomes “I agree.”

But Amen as used throughout scripture is so much more significant than that. (For examples, see: 2 Timothy 4:18; Hebrews 13:20-21; I Peter 4:11; Jude 25)

It is a powerful, positive, and resounding “Yes!” It is a full body and soul embrace of whatever was said or done.

David Timms says:

“Amen captures the assurance of the soul. It expresses acknowledgment, agreement, commitment, and confidence. No Greek word conveyed the same range of nuances, so the early church simply carried this Hebrew term into their daily vocabulary.”

Eugene Peterson also eloquently explains:

“We come to God with a history of nay-saying, of rejecting and being rejected. At the throne of God we are immersed in God’s yes, a yes that silences all our noes and calls forth an answering yes in us…Amen! Amen is recurring and emphatic among God’s people. It is robust and exuberant. There is nothing cowering or timid in it. It is an answering word, purged of all negatives…When we Christians sing or shout “amen,” God hears our unequivocating assent to his irrevocable Yes to us, the Yes of our redeemer Lamb, the Yes of our creator King.”

Reread that. Reflect on it. Have you experienced that type of Amen?

When used in this way, Amen becomes the most powerful four-letter word we can ever utter.

How fitting for Jesus to use Amen at the end of His prayer. It becomes our opportunity to fully embrace the previous aspects of the prayer with a resounding Yes!

For Reflection:

1. What have been some of the most powerful “Amen” times in your faith journey?

2. How have you experienced nay-saying and rejection? Are you able to allow yourself to be immersed in God’s Yes?

Highly Recommended Resource:

For a sense of using Amen as a resounding Yes response to God, see this music video Amen by Charity Gayle, Joshua Sherman, and a circle of friends and musicians. 

I realize this week’s devotionals are loaded with quotes from David Timms, but he just expresses the meaning of Amen so well, I struggle to paraphrase it. The final chapter, “Amen – Living with a Yes” alone is worth the price of his book. Consider these excerpts:

“The Lord’s Prayer calls each of us to live in the Yes.”

“This Yes emerges not from a vain sense of invincibility or an egotistical sense of self-confidence but from a deep trust in the Lord’s grace and provision.”

“As we hear afresh the Lord’s unequivocal Yes to us, we discover new levels of hope, even amidst pain and despair.”

Timms confronts the critical, judgmental spirit we often encounter in our culture, workplaces, churches, and families. Read on:

“Amen. This ancient word also challenges our human practice of nay-saying. All too often the No rises up within us and against us, or we blurt it out against others. We receive and dish out truckloads of criticism.”

“Every effort we make receives critical assessment rather than encouragement. Every positive word we receive is overwhelmed by waves of negative words that crash over us.”

Timms differentiates between “critical spirit” and “critical thinking” as follows:

“Critical thinking at its best displays gentleness, analysis, thoughtfulness, and constructiveness. The critical spirit at its worst is close-minded, intolerant, aggressive, and destructive.”

What does living the Amen-Yes life look like?

“Jesus models this lifestyle. The only people whom he openly criticized were those who reserved the strongest Yes for themselves and took a perverted pleasure in pronouncing a strong No on everyone else. (The Pharisees).”

“But Jesus constantly affirmed the beaten, the broken, and the burned-out. These people, victims of the critical spirit of their age, crushed in spirit, drained of hope, shamed by their circumstances, rejected by the mainstream – those who lived in a world of constant no’s – received grace from Christ.”

“Jesus lived in the Yes and sought to draw others into that same place.”

For Reflection:

1. How would others describe me on a critical spirit scale?

2. How can I turn my critical spirit (one of nay-saying) into a life marked by resounding Amens?