Hebrews 13:20-21 Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep… I had been talking to a little ignorant, neglected boy about the good God and His love for children. "I should like to live along o' Him!" said the poor little man with a wistful sigh. It was all such a new revelation in his hurried, loveless existence. "Shall I pray to God to make you a good boy, clean and good, fit to live with Him?" I asked. "Yes, do, missus." "But you must pray too," I urged. "I dunno' how." "Then you must listen to me and say ' Amen' at the end of my prayer. That will mean 'Yes, I want all that,' and God will understand you. The child nodded, and I began a very simple, short prayer for the Holy Spirit's help to make my little friend pure and true and obedient, for Jesus Christ's sake, — I paused for the "Amen." A soft, hushed "Yes" fluttered up to heaven from the young lips. "I couldn't remember the other word," the child whispered, "but won't God know about it?" And he went away quite satisfied. He had made the prayer his own in his own way. If all Amens could have the force of that gentle "Yes," I thought, as I watched the last flutter of the poor little man's rags, surely prayer would meet with a fuller and quicker answer. But we are too apt to think that the prayer is everything, the Amen nothing, and so we listeners do not do our part; we remain mere listeners, no prayers. Parallel Verses KJV: Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, |
    |