“For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.” - 2 Cor. 1:20
In 1535, Martin Luther wrote a letter titled, “A Simple Way to Pray,” to his longtime friend, Peter the Barber. Luther’s first line was, “I shall do my best to let you know how I go about praying. May our gracious Lord help you and others do it better than I. Amen.”
Luther loved the word “amen” and ended every one of his prayers with it. He urged his barber to do the same. After walking his friend through the various petitions of The Lord’s Prayer, Luther wrote,
Finally, mark this, that you must always speak the Amen firmly. Never doubt that God in his mercy will surely hear you and say “yes” to your prayers. Never think that you are kneeling or standing alone, rather think that the whole of Christendom, all devout Christians, are standing there beside you and you are standing among them in a common, united petition which God cannot disdain. Do not leave your prayer without having said or thought, “Very well, God has heard my prayer; this I know as a certainty and a truth.” That is what Amen means.
Thus, “amen” has been used throughout church history as a congregational response to affirm the biblical pronouncements and petitions of the one praying. It is the church’s way of saying, “Yes! So be it!”
Your “amen!” matters. Punctuate your own prayers with it, and say it heartily in response to the prayers of others. For in doing so, you together with all the saints “with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 15:6).