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Who’s in your Amen corner?
I was talking to a couple of my colleagues here at Guideposts who do a lot of preaching, and I think it was Lemuel Beckett who said, “When you need encouragement it’s good to look to your Amen corner.”
I’d never heard the phrase but I latched onto the idea immediately. What a great thing to have in life! Those people you can look to who will say Amen when you’re out on a limb.
Admittedly, in my church, there aren’t a lot of people exclaiming Amen during the sermon. (“The frozen chosen,” another colleague ruefully put it.) But there are plenty of them at the coffee hour who come up to you and want to know: How are the kids? How’s the job? How are the parents? How are you? It’s like we’ve just come out of our prayer huddle and now it’s time to pass on some Amens to each other.
The word “Amen” is generally translated as “So be it” or “verily” or “truly.” I wish it was a feature on Facebook instead of “like.” Because Amen is what I want to click when someone asks for help losing weight, as a friend just did, or posts a picture of their incredibly cute kids or vents about a bureaucratic tangle. “Amen,” I want to say. “Amen, I hear you. Amen, I care about you. Amen, God loves you.”
In fact, I wish I could group my friends into something called an Amen corner. When I’m feeling down they’re the ones I can call for support or commiseration and encouragement. When I think about it, one of my biggest hopes in life is to be a crucial part of somebody’s Amen corner. My wife’s, my kids’, my colleagues’, my pals’. Dear Lord, put me in the Amen corner of the people who need it.
Not surprisingly, Lemuel is part of the OurPrayer team here, making sure everybody who sends in a prayer request gets prayed for. Staffers like him and our thousands of volunteers around the globe form one of the best Amen corners you can imagine. Got a prayer request? Let us know. We’re ready to pray.
Then say Amen, somebody. Say Amen!
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Rick Hamlin is the executive editor of Guideposts magazine and the author of 10 Prayers You Can't Live Without. To learn more about the book and explore your own prayer journey, watch this video.
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“You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear.” She put the shell to her ear and screamed. There was a heradmit crab iidnse and it pinched her ear. She never wants to go back! LoL I know this is entirely off topic but I had to tell someadone!response:We recieved this response today and it touched me in a unique way. First, I feel for the poor litadtle girl who sufadfered this unexadpected trauma and for her paradent who must have fealt horadriadble for havading given her, withadout knowading, the shell from hell. These are difadfiadcult things to bear and can make us feel teradriadbly guilty, but they can also be oporadtuadniadties for learnading about life. I would recadomadmend talkading to the young child about how this crab had taken the shell as his home and how he was scared at the sudadden pickading up of his home and then seeading a big (big for him) ear comadming into his entranceadway. He was simadply defendading what he thought was a threat. He would not have hurt the litadtle girl if he could have underadstood her intenadtions.We do the same things to one another. We often misadinadteradpret the intenadtions of othaders who “get too close” and we lash out and harm them. We then feel embarassed, often too embarassed to ask for foradgiveadness which could heal the misadunadderadstandading quickly. This all occurs, in many ciradcumadstances because we donb4t trust the closeadness of othaders because we have been hurt, we have been deceived, we have been abused and rejected and abanaddoned. So many of us need to ask the Lordb4s help in seeading how we have been wounded and how it affects our relaadtionadships with othaders. How do I lash out like this litadtle crab tryading to defend myself from a peradcieved threat? Who do I need to ask for foradgiveadness for havading hurt them?Finally, this litadtle trauma makes me think of teleadviadsion. Teleadviadsion can seem like a harmadless litadtle shell, but if we leave our chiladdren to watch whatadever they want(soaps, horadror shows, inapadproadpriadate caradtoons, shows or movies with vioadlence or sexadual conadtent) thinkading that they are learnading about life, we can be handading them a shell with a very visadcious crab which can make them scream with nightadmares or to grow up with a conadfused or promisadcuadous sexaduadaladity. With hyperadacadtivadity and vioadlent tenaddenadcies. It seems such an easy way to keep them enteradtained and “behavading” well, when what they really need is to be lisadtened to, to be hugged, to be played with. May God help us redisadcover his beauadtiadful beach where we can pick up the shell and hear His voice. Where we can appreadciadate His beauadtiadful nature with all its creaadtures, and bathe in the waters which cleanse our bodadies and our souls. Where we can lisadten to one another from the heart about of dreams and fears, our hurts and triadumphs.May God heal this litadtle girl and help her to underadstand the mysadtery behind the pain she has expeadriadenced. May she begin to trust ever more deeply her mother and that Godb4s creadation is not out to get her. We are in Lent and we should take moments to thank Jesus for recievading the worst from us. We have been like the crab and He like the litadtle girl, innoadcent and wantading to hear someadthing speadcial from within. Let us say someadthing really speadcial to Him. Like “Ib4m sorry and thank you for sufadferading for me.” Shalom — Fr.a0Isaac
When I first began as a prayer intercessor,I had a few years experience teaching choir at a local church,helping teach awana programs and games to the youth,and several empowering military wives prayed on a prayer committee too.I have some experience and I think volunteering is very important to have anything else.God rewards you in little ways. I cannot imagine as I borrow a computer,and have a library card that I would see almost 5000 prayers in my corner prayed for by now,or that we would merge with guideposts magazine.What a way to witness to others! I love to see the progress and growth..and I know God rewards people this way to better help you serve HIM.I have always loved guideposts magazine..nice job guys!God Bless You!
Amy Nichole-prayer intercessor
Amen