Opening the Gates of Heaven Perry Stone

10. C ONCLUDE W ITH P RAISE Dad always concluded prayers with praising the Lord. Most Christians understand the spiritual principles of approaching the Lord in prayer. Many, however, think very little about how a person should conclude his or her prayer. The simple answer would be, “Say amen.” The word amen in Hebrew is ‘ amen , which means, “truth and faithfulness, or so will it be.” The New Testament uses the world amen fifty-one times. When spoken, the Greek word for “amen” means, “to put a surety or a firm trust on what has been said.” It became a custom to end prayer with amen, which indicates agreement, and to set a seal of faith that the words had been heard, they were firm and sure, and they would eventually be answered. 2 Dad always did more than say “amen” at the conclusion of his prayers. He put the icing on the cake by saying, “Glory to the name of the Lord,” “Praise the Lord,” and “Hallelujah.” This was also the pattern in the prayers of David, as seen in Psalm 106:48: “Blessed be the L ORD God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting! And let all the people say, ‘Amen.’ Praise the L ORD .” In the Book of Psalms, twelve of the psalms conclude with the words, “Praise the L ORD .” (See Psalms 104:35; 150:6, for example.) In each instance the word praise is the Hebrew word halal, which means, “to shine, boast, or celebrate.” 3 It is the root for the word hallelujah , which means, “Praise the Lord!” It may seem to be repetitious to say “Praise the Lord” or “Hallelujah” over and over. However, consider