Psalm 41:8-13

Psalm 41:8-13
New Living Translation (NLT)

  8 “He has some fatal disease,” they say. “He will never get out of that bed!” 9 Even my best friend, the one I trusted completely, the one who shared my food, has turned against me. 10 Lord, have mercy on me. Make me well again, so I can pay them back!
  11 I know you are pleased with me, for you have not let my enemies triumph over me. 12 You have preserved my life because I am innocent; you have brought me into your presence forever. 13 Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who lives from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and amen!

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  We say 'Amen' at the end of our prayers by habit, but that's actually a hugely important word.  'Amen' means 'so be it'--it's the handing off of the baton.  We've been running our race, carrying this burden, whatever it may be, and when we say 'Amen', we're handing the responsibility for that prayer to God.  We're letting God take over.  If we pray and then continue to clutch to our prayers, we indicate our unwillingness to trust God with our prayers.  I often do this--I keep holding on to the baton, and I think it must slow God down, as he's trying to run forward with the baton while dragging me along the ground behind it, my fingers clutches around my prayers, those things I have lofted to the heavens and tried to ascend behind them.

  So when we pray, let us say 'Amen' and let God take charge.  This doesn't mean we stop living, serving or striving in a faithful direction.  It just means that we recognize God's control over whatever we have handed off, and that the baton is in far better hands than ours.

May we all trust God with our prayers today