The Layman Foundations of the Faith
Forever, amen
Robert P. Mills, Posted Monday, Nov 24, 2003
Suggested Scripture Readings: John 13:16-20; Hebrews 13:8; Revelation 22:20-21 |
The Lord’s Prayer concludes with the doxology “For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.” In this, the concluding study of this series, we will look at the prayer’s last two words, “forever” and “Amen.”
Far from being simply a convenient or obligatory way to end our prayer after we have dealt with the important issues, these final words are themselves of great significance. For they ensure that we end our prayer with a focus on God and a sense of assurance.
Forever
When Jesus taught his disciples to end their prayer by acknowledging that the kingdom, power and glory belonged to God “forever,” he brought the prayer full circle by directing their attention to their heavenly Father.
As the final petitions of the Lord’s Prayer make clear, Christians are not merely allowed, but positively instructed to ask God for daily provision and protection. But if our prayers never move beyond our immediate wants and needs, we become short-sighted Christians. We are rightly concerned with our lives here and now. But as Jesus made clear, there is much more to life than the few decades we spend here on earth.
Jesus came to bring his followers eternal life, a life that transcends not only our concept of time but also such finite notions as peace and joy. The life we eternally will share in communion with the Triune God will immeasurably surpass all we can expect or imagine, as we abide with the One who “is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb. 13:8).
Coming at the end of the Lord’s Prayer, the word “forever” invests our prayer with a sense of eternity. The word “amen” gives us a sense of assurance.
Amen
“Amen,” writes Donald Williams, means much more than “OK, the prayer is over now, so you can open your eyes.”
Our English word comes from the Hebrew verb aman, which indicates firmness, reliability, or certainty. In the Old Testament, the form amen was most often used in response to the words of others. It could acknowledge the validity and binding nature of a prayer (I Chron. 16:36), a curse (Deut. 27:14-26), or a doxology (Ps. 41:13). In such cases, “amen” might be paraphrased, “Yes, we agree,” or “May it be as you have said.”
In the Gospels, amen occurs about 100 times, always spoken by Jesus. However, Jesus never said “amen” in response to another person’s prayer or praise. Instead, he often prefaced his own teachings by saying, “Amen I say to you,” a phrase that may be translated “Truly, truly” or “I tell you the truth.”
No one else in the New Testament begins a statement in this way, nor is there any exact Hebrew equivalent in the Old Testament or contemporary Jewish writings. Rather, in this remarkable reversal of Jewish usage, Jesus intended to emphasize that the words he was preparing to speak were, by their very nature, unquestionably true.
The assurance that Jesus’ words are true is especially important to Christians today, when the very idea that words can be true has come under attack. In an age when some try to reduce truth to power or preference, Jesus’ words assure us that truth is more than that which confirms my personal experiences or opinions. Jesus, God’s Word to us, is himself the Truth (John 1:1, 14; 14:6).
Ending with the word “Amen,” the Lord’s Prayer reminds us of the truth that God is our Father, of the truth that God provides all that we need and that he forgives us when we sin, and of what the true kingdom, power and glory look like. That Jesus taught this prayer to those who were already his disciples also tells us that we must be born again before we can acknowledge this truth.
The Lord’s Prayer
“One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray’” (Luke 11:1). Jesus responded by teaching his disciples the Lord’s Prayer.
You and I pray because Jesus prayed. We pray because he told us that we are to pray and because he taught us how to pray. We pray because our conversations with God remind us of his love, orient us toward his future, and assure us of the truth of all the words he has spoken.
The introduction to these studies cited Gerhard Ebeling’s observation, “Those who know how to pray ought also to know that at best they are in the process of learning how to pray.”
Lord, teach us to pray. Amen.
Additional Resources Gerhard Ebeling, On Prayer (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1966); Donald T. Williams, The Disciples’ Prayer (Camp Hill, Pa.: Christian Publications, 1999). |