Two Kinds of "Amen"

2 Corinthians 1:20

Paul wrote this to the church in Corinth while defending his changed travel plans against the charge that he said yes and no at once (2 Corinthians 1:15-20).

Father, I have ended a thousand prayers with a word I never understood. Thank You that it was never a full stop — that every promise You have made is already Yes in Your Son, and that when I say it I am only adding my name under His. Make my life agree with what my mouth says. Amen.

Paul wrote this to the church in Corinth while defending his changed travel plans against the charge that he said yes and no at once (2 Corinthians 1:15-20).

The Scripture

“For all the promises of God are “Yes” in Christ. And so through Him, our “Amen” is spoken to the glory of God.”
— 2 Corinthians 1:20

Prayer points from 2 Corinthians 1:20

Thank God that every one of His promises is Yes in Christ, never yes and no.
Name a promise of God you have found hard to believe, and bring it to Him plainly.
Confess the places where your own yes has been unreliable to God or to other people.
Ask that your Amen would mean real agreement, not just the polite end of a prayer.
Ask Him to make your daily life agree with what you say at the end of your prayers.
Pray by name for someone who has stopped trusting God's promises, that they would see them kept in Jesus.

About this verse

Paul wrote these lines while defending himself. He had changed his travel plans and not come to Corinth when expected, and some there were saying he was the kind of man who says yes and no in the same breath. His answer moves from his own reliability to God's. The Jesus he had preached with Silvanus and Timothy was never a mix of yes and no. Every one of God's promises is Yes in Him, Paul says, and so it is through Him that our Amen is spoken to the glory of God. Amen is a Hebrew word for what is firm and true, and in the Gospels Jesus often begins His own sayings with it, usually translated "truly." So the word you end a prayer with is not a polite sign-off. It is agreement. God has already said yes to His promises in His Son, and your amen is your name signed under His. That turns the word into a question for daily life as well: whether the way you live agrees with what you just said at the end of your prayer.

When to pray this prayer

When you've said "Amen" for years without thinking about what it means
When you're wondering whether God's promises apply to you
When you've broken your word and people no longer trust your yes
When your prayers feel like empty words you're only reciting
When you want your life to match what you say you believe
Before you make a promise you're not sure you can keep

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