So, “be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thy heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few. When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou vowest. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thy hands? . . . but fear thou God.” (Eccl. 5:2, 4-7, AS) So let dedication be your personal step, of your own decision. Parents or guardians cannot do it for you and obligate you to abide by it if you are not willing. Be sure that you have calculated the cost of taking this step, so that you are determined to keep on in this way to ultimate success, cost what it may now and in the future. (Luke 14:26-33, NW) Impress your dedication to God upon your own heart by publicly symbolizing it with water baptism in obedience to Jesus Christ our Exemplar, to help you never to forget it.—Matt. 28:18-20, NW.

12. What Scripture warning proves God holds one to his dedication, and to what does living up to it lead?

¹² Be certain that God, who cannot lie and who loves no lie, holds you irrepealably to your vow. Do not be “without understanding, false to agreements”. Remember the “righteous decree of God, that those practicing such things are deserving of death”. (Rom. 1:31, 32, NW) Living the dedicated life faithfully according to God’s will assures you of everlasting life in the new world.

Questions From Readers

● Paragraph 3, page 269 of the May 1, 1951, Watchtower says: “They are to pray over him, so that he can hear what they pray and can show he agrees, with his ‘Amen!’” Does this mean that after one has prayed at a meeting or meal table all those listening should say “Amen” to show their agreement?—A. B., Gold Coast.

No, that would be an unwarranted lifting of the statement from its setting. The Watchtower was discussing a spiritually sick one over whom the older men of the congregation were to pray. Their prayer would be for the purpose of building up and strengthening the ailing one, presenting his problems and offering Scriptural counsels and procedures for coping with them, and petitioning the help of Jehovah on behalf of the spiritually sick one. But would the afflicted one permit himself to be helped? Would he acknowledge his failures, the causes for his spiritual distress, the wisdom of the counsels given, the necessity of following the suggested procedures for recovery? Or had he strayed so far from the right path and become so weakened spiritually that he would not respond to the prayerful assistance? In such a case there would be some question as to the individual’s reaction to the prayer and its contents. So a definite expression from him would be in order, and an “Amen” audible or in the heart would be the way to show agreement with the prayer.

The situation is different in the case of prayers at meetings or mealtimes. There is no reason to question the agreement of all listeners. Proper prayer on such occasions will not stir disagreement, and no expression of agreement is required. However, there is no objection to listeners’ adding an audible “Amen” to the conclusion if they desire to do so. The people voiced their “Amen” at the close of one of David’s psalms of thanksgiving, and on other occasions the Israelites showed agreement by use of the expression. (Deut. 27:14-26; 1 Chron. 16:7-36; Rev. 5:14) When discussing prayer in an unknown tongue Paul said: “How will the man occupying the seat of the ordinary person say Amen to your giving of thanks, since he does not know what you are saying?” (1 Cor. 14:16, NW) We do not speak in unknown