Your entire faith can be expressed in one simple word!
Read / Listen
Read Psalm 145
Listen to passage & devotional:
Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 129
Q. What does that little word “Amen” express?
A. “Amen” means,
This is sure to be!
It is even more sure
that God listens to my prayer,
than that I really desire
what I pray for.
Summary
Faith is fundamental to Christianity. In fact, as Reformed Christians, we hold it to be on of the five core doctrines of our salvation (We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, because of Christ alone, all of which we learn through Scripture alone, to which we give God alone all of the glory. These tenants are often referred to as The Five Solas (alones) of the Reformation).
As critical as what faith is to your salvation, it's the object of your faith - the thing you believe in - that makes it effective. Many Christians would reply that they have their faith in Christ alone, and that certainly would be a correct answer! But Psalm 145 helps remind us that there's more to the answer; our faith is not just in Christ alone, but in the Triune God that Christ is part of!
Our God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - "is righteous in all of His ways and faithful in all He does (v17)." The LORD is the one who "hears our cries and saves us (v19)."
In other words, while your salvation is secured because of the work of Christ alone, your faith must be rooted just as much in your loving Father, who is "gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love (v8)," and in the Holy Spirit who "is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth (v18)."
Dig Deeper
The simple little word, "Amen," one which you've likely said thousands of times in your life, is one of the few words that all of God's people throughout all of history have in common. It is spelled and pronounced the same way in the Biblical languages that it is in English:
Hebrew: אָמֵן (ʾā·mēn)
Greek: ἀμήν (amēn)
The word amen means much more than 'the prayer is over and you can open your eyes now.' When you finish your prayers with this powerful little word, you are grounding both your prayer and your faith in the certainty and truth that your Triune God will "fulfill the desires of those who fear Him," because you know that "He hears your cries and saves you (v19)."
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, the LORD, who is near to all who call on Him in truth (v18);
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that as you end 2023 and begin 2024, that your mouth will speak in praise of the LORD (v21);
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Revelation 22
