"Say "Amen" at your giving of thanks" (1 Cor.14:16, NKJV).

Amongst Christians, "amen" is one of the commonest religious words used (or perhaps "omein" if you are Messianic or Jewish). But few realise that it has multiple meanings.

In the most common usage, it is an affirmation of prayer - when we end a prayer with it, it is with the conviction that Yahweh will hear and answer that prayer. In a way, we are saying: "I mean it, Father - please do it!" But we also use it in response to the prayers of others and when we do, we are doing two things: first, we are adding our agreement; and second, we are iterating the prayer. When a hundred people say "Amen" to a single prayer, it's being sent heavenward a hundred times! One prayer becomes a hundred. And if this is done with real sincerity, faith and conviction, sometimes the results can be dramatic:

"And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit), and they spoke the word of Elohim (God) with boldness" (Acts 4:31, NKJV).

But there is another meaning to the word "Amen" which may better explain the heavenly response obtained in Acts 3:31 and which is likely the key to that response, and it's this: 'Amen' is an acceptance of Yahweh's Word.

In Ezra's day, a great crowd assembled in a public square in Jerusalem after hearing readings from the Torah. Men, women and children stood for hours listening to Yahweh's set-apart Word. As Ezra opened the ancient scroll, he thanked Yahweh for His Word:

"Then all the people answered, 'Amen, Amen!' while lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped Yahweh with their faces to the ground" (Neh.8:6, NKJV).