This Is What Happens When Rachel Wammack Says Amen

Rachel Wammack wrote her new/old song back in March of 2018.

And now, her “When I Say Amen” is the right song for right now. Because timing is everything.

“Almost exactly two years later, Nashville was hit by a tornado. I could actually hear it ripping through homes half a mile away from me while I sat in my bathroom, terrified, holding my cat and reading my Bible. Then I realized I hadn’t actually taken a second to pray,” Wammack says of the song she wrote with with Matt Maher and Sam Ellis, “and with my eyes open, holding Stevie in my arms, looking at the bathroom wall, I prayed.”

Then shortly after those tornadoes wreaked havoc on Nashville, so did the coronavirus. And again, Wammack felt like prayers were in order.

“Barely a week later, COVID-19 entered the picture…slowly but surely becoming the focus of every day and every conversation. Now people are losing even more,” she said, “some are losing their jobs, some are losing their stability, some are losing their minds, and some are losing their hope.

“Last week I listened to ‘When I Say Amen’ for the first time in a long time, and I felt a voice inside say, ‘I think you wrote this song for this. Right now.’ I’ve never had anything like that happen to me before. I’ve always believed prayer goes far beyond church walls, but sometimes things seem too big or I forget to pray. But when I do, whether in a scary tornado or when things didn’t turn out like I wanted, I’m reminded I’m not alone. I feel more peace in the good and the bad.”

Lyrics:

I say it broken when the whole world is hurting
I say it hoping it’s just what I need
I say it believing when my heart is bleeding
That my words break the ceiling when I say amen
At the end of a prayer
Running out on the edge
On fire like a sunset
I lift my hands
To first love shooting stars
Burning candles in the dark
Every step, every breath
That’s when I say amen
I say it loud with I do’s at a wedding
Back of the bleachers at a cold homecoming game
Sing it out lonely here on the highway
When life won’t go my way I say it again
At the end of a prayer
Running out on the edge
On fire like a sunset
I lift my hands
To first love shooting stars
Burning candles in the dark
Every step, every breath
That’s when I say amen
Amen, amen, amen
I say it quiet when faith is a whisper
And I hear it echo like a heavenly choir
At the end of a prayer
Running out on the edge
On fire like a sunset
I lift my hands
To first love shooting stars
Burning candles in the dark
Every step, every breath
That’s when I say amen
That’s when I say amen
Amen, amen