Following Jesus in Prayer - Part Six: Kingdom, Power, Glory
by James Lincoln on February 19, 2006
Depending on which version of the Bible you are reading the phrase, "For Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever. Amen." may not be included in the Lord's Prayer. The KJV includes it, others omit it and still others put brackets around it. Is this something we should be taking the time to study? It's true that the oldest manuscripts don't include it. That's a strong argument to leave it out as the NIV has done. What are we to think about this? First, this is a declaration about God that is found throughout the Scriptures revealing the hope and faith they had in God. One argument for including it comes from Paul's confidence in 2Ti. 4:18 where he says,
"The Lord will deliver me from every evil deed and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom" and then he adds, "To Him be glory and power for ever and ever."
It looks like he's alluding to the last line of the prayer with the ending intact. In the book of Revelation John says,
"He has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve God and Father-to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. Rev 1:6
Again in chapter 4:
"The twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:
11 "You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power." Rev 4:10-11In a loud voice they sang:
"Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!" Rev 5:12
Then David prayed in 1 Chron.29:10:
"Praise be to you, O LORD,
God of our Father Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
11 Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power
and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom;
you are exalted as head over all."
So, the question is really academic and not about whether or not the content is Scriptural. We know that it is. But, did Jesus tell us to end the Lord's Prayer this way? I can't say with certainty. On this debate I'll let the scholars duke it out. Certainly there is nothing here that challenges anything else in Scripture. It was the Jewish custom to end prayer with a brief doxology. Also, it would have been uncommon for Jesus to have ended the prayer without something like this. And from a literary point of view the prayer seems to be cut off and abrupt without the ending.
Now, it is a doxology which is a burst of praise to God's glory. Wouldn't it be a good thing if some of our poets and musicians would compose a second verse of the doxology we sing using these words? I love these words and would love to sing them. Again a doxology is a declaration of God's glory. Each Sunday I've been asking if you pray this prayer. Do you ever make room in your prayers for a declaration of God's glory? Here he declares several things about God and what the early Christians believed in their hearts about God. Their faith in these realities gave them confidence that their prayers were being heard and because these things are true about God they could rest in Him having placed their concerns before Him.
The doxology reminds us of God's greatness and the wondrous resources He has committed to us. When Paul says, "If God is for you who can stand against you." This is the God he has in mind. Praise and doxology are necessary to keep us on balance especially when we face doubts and opposition to our faith. Life is about more than solving problems and getting answers. In your prayers do you praise God? What is it about God that buoys up your soul and makes you want to declare it back to Him with thanksgiving? This is a way of saying, "Lord, we stand on a Rock that is higher than ourselves." This Rock is unshakable; it cannot be moved. Do you pull your chair up and feed your soul at this banquet table when you pray. Do you pray like this? This doxology calls us to rejoice and to rest in at least three things: God's rule, God's power and God's glory.
First, the doxology rejoices in God's Sovereign Rule and Reign over all things.
"For Thine is the Kingdom". Beloved, no truth of Scripture is more consistently revealed than this one: that the Lord Reigns. His dominion is forever. Everyone and everything owes its existence to God. If God were to hold His breath everything would perish in a moment. John says, "You have created all things and because of You will they exist and were created...Therefore, for this reason Thou art worthy O Lord to receive glory and honor and power."
When David gave his personal wealth to Solomon to build the temple he said this, "Thine, O LORD is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and on the earth is your...Yours is the dominion and you exalt yourself over all." David was acknowledging God's supremacy over all and that whatever he had to give was given to him by God; do we?
What does this mean for us? It means that to live in reality is to live with the recognition that your heart was made for a King. You have been authored therefore you have been made for authority. Your heart was made to rejoice in the splendor of another and to yield to the authority of Another. And the Lord God is the One who authored you. You can't escape this. You will yield and submit to something because that is the way you are made. The insanity of the fall was that our first parents chose to make themselves the final authority of their lives. They wanted to be their own king and queen. They thought they were setting themselves free. In reality they chained themselves to the limitations of the creature and cut themselves off from the Creator. Do you say when you pray, "Thine is the kingdom?" Do you begin your day acknowledging His sovereign rule and reign over this world and your life? This is sanity and reality.
It also means to acknowledge His rights over His creation which means His rights over us and our life. To obey Him, honor Him, yield to Him and praise Him is His due. When you do this you have only done what is His due. That's why sins are called debts as well as transgressions. When we sin we incur a debt. In Luke 17:10 Jesus was telling a parable about a servant serving His master and he said, "So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, you should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.'" When we obey Him we haven't done any thing special or noble. We have only done what is His due.
To say "Yours is the kingdom!" is to declare our confidence that He is King over all and that nothing can frustrate His will. Isaiah says in 14:27, "For the LORD of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?" No one has any power or authority to come between you and God and shorten His hand or hinder His promises. Even Satan had to go before God to get God's permission to test Job. God rules over all. If there is one maverick molecule in the universe there is no God. So, Job could say with confidence that it is the Lord who gives and the Lord who takes away; "Blessed be the name of the Lord." Life is not a collection of random and meaningless events. Our God reigns over every molecule and everything. Paul says in Ephesians 1, that God works out all things, "after the counsel of His will."
To say, "Thine is the kingdom" is to say that He is king over this fallen world as well as everything else. He even harnesses evil in some mysterious way unknown to us to accomplish His good purposes. Pilate said to Jesus, in John 19:10-11, "Don't you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?" Jesus answered, "[Don't you realize] You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above." In Psalms 2 David says,
"Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One. 3 "Let us break their chains," they say,"and throw off their fetters." 4 The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them."
In Jesus' day to say, "Thine is the kingdom" this was a seditious prayer. Augustus ruled as the sovereign for over twenty-five years. His rule stretched from Gibraltar to Jerusalem and from Britain to the Black Sea. He lifted his finger and 1,500 miles away an obscure couple takes a hazardous trip. That trip results in the birth of a child in a little town that just happens to be the one town that the prophets spoke about hundreds of years earlier to be the place where the Messiah would be born. Micah went on to say, "From you o Bethlehem would come One who will rule Israel."
Pilate thought he was king. Augustus thought he was king. But it was at the birth of Jesus that the angels sang of glory and peace. So, which is reality and which is the parody? Augustus did bring peace at a great price of death to many others. Jesus brings peace at the price of His own death. Someone said that Augustus' empire was like a well lit room at night. The lamps are arranged in a beautiful order, they shed pretty patterns... but they haven't defeated the darkness outside. Jesus' kingdom is like the morning star rising, signaling that it's time to blow out the candles, to throw open the curtains and to welcome the new day that is dawning. So, glory to God in the highest and peace among those on whom His favor rests.
These two kingdoms were destined to compete. Augustus was about sixty years old and represents perhaps the best that pagan kingdoms can do. Jesus represents a different kingdom, power and glory. His kingdom is not of this world. Caesar's kingdom is one of brute force and deep ambiguity. Jesus' kingdom is a kingdom of grace and truth. The kingdom of men is a kingdom of self assertion. Jesus' kingdom is a kingdom of a cross and self sacrifice. The kingdom of men asserts man's autonomy and great abilities. The kingdom of God calls men to submit and yield to God's authority. The kingdom of men is about trusting in men. The kingdom of God is about trusting God. The kingdom of men is about men's words. The kingdom of God is about His words.
These two kingdoms are in conflict. To pray, "Thine is the kingdom." is to announce and declare that Jesus is Lord of all and that allegiance to God is His due all the time. It's to tell the other kingdoms of the world that they should honor the one and only King of Kings and Lord of Lords. That message will not go down easy and without opposition. As John the Baptist showed us the only authority we have is declarative. We don't burn down abortions clinics and riot in the streets. But Jesus has told us that all authority in heaven and on earth is ours to make that declaration: that Jesus is Lord. And we declare that message by the way we live as well as by the words we say.
His is the Kingdom. And because He is our Sovereign King we can be at rest and confident that He rules well. Do you ever declare this before God in prayer? Do you ever say, "God, You rule well." Beloved, if God withholds something from you in prayer it's because that thing would not bring you closer to God or make you more like Him. His is the kingdom. And someday, either willingly or unwillingly, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. This means that we trust in His timing and in His forbearance and the mysteries of His ways that at times confuse us. And we know that He has promised us as we wait that He is the good shepherd who leads and rules well. Have you made this doxology part of your prayer, your rest, your joy and hope?
Second, the doxology declares not only God's Rule & Reign but also His great power.
"Thine is the kingdom and the power." What a good hope God has given us. To know His power is a great gift. Paul says in 2 Tim 1:7: "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." God can't be the ultimate ruler if there is anything more powerful than He is. To pray this is to rest in this, to rejoice in this, to hope in this, to treasure this in our hearts. John says in Rev 19:6-7,
"Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
"Hallelujah!
For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
7 Let us rejoice and be glad
and give him glory!
When you pray, "Thine is the power." You are declaring that God has the ultimate power and that nothing is impossible for God. Take the time to hear Isaiah abut this,
Isa 40:11-41:1
He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young. Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance? 13 Who has understood the mind of the LORD, or instructed him as his counselor? 14 Whom did the LORD consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge or showed him the path of understanding?Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust. 16 Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires, nor its animals enough for burnt offerings. 17 Before him all the nations are as nothing; they are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing. To whom, then, will you compare God? What image will you compare him to? 19 As for an idol, a craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and fashions silver chains for it. 20 A man too poor to present such an offering selects wood that will not rot. He looks for a skilled craftsman to set up an idol that will not topple.
21 Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded? 22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in. 23 He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. 24 No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.
25 "To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One. 26 Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel," My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God"? 28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. 29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."
His is the power. And He has given to us who believe in Him everything and every power we need for life and godliness. He has poured out the riches of His grace and given us His Holy Spirit to live within us. How much power do you think you need to cope with life and to thrive? I hear people pray for more power. But how much more power could God give than the gift of His Holy Spirit who created the universe and the power of His resurrection? Your body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit. It's the temple of the Shekinah glory. You can touch the person next to you and touch the temple of God (If they believe in Jesus)! Paul says that, "I labor striving according to His power which mightily works within me."
When you pray do you give thanks for the sanctifying power of God, the defending power of God, the keeping power of God that is more than sufficient for any need you will ever face?
Have you ever committed anything precious and dear to you to God in prayer? Can you say with Paul that, "I am persuaded that He is able to take that which I have committed and to keep it against that day?" When Paul says, "Faithful is He who calls you and He also will bring it to pass." Can you believe that God has committed His power and presence to you everyday? When you pray do you pray, "Lord God, Yours is the power and no one and no thing is more powerful than you. Thank you, Lord, for rising from the dead and demonstrating that nothing can hold you back or down!"
And then there's the power of His love and mercy!
Paul says, "If He did not spare His only Son will he not give us along with him all things? When you pray do you pray, "Yours, O Lord is the power?"
We rejoice that His is the kingdom ...we rejoice that His is the power and finally this doxology declares, "His is the glory."
Someone once asked me, "If God is so humble why does He look for so much praise and adoration?" OK, it's a fair question. However, isn't it true that what bothers us about proud people is that all of their attributes are derived? Everything they have and are comes from God. We know this intuitively. But the proud act as if their gifts originated with themselves. It's that misplaced praise that bothers us. Praise for God is never misplaced. God is never proud in the sense that he is undeserving of praise. Who has been more humble than Jesus Christ who did not consider the status of equality to be held on to but instead humbled himself and became a servant and died the most shameful death possible on the cross? If God seeks His praise and glory it is because there is nothing more wondrous and beautiful and righteous and humble and kind and just than He is. And get this, He desires to share all of that with us...people who have sought our own glory.
God's goal at every stage of creation and salvation is to magnify His glory. In Ephesians our salvation is to the "praise of His glorious grace." Isaiah says that we are created for the His glory (Isa. 43:6-7). Christ became a man...to glorify God for God's mercy" (Rm.15:8-9).
Paul says in 1 Cor.10:13, "Do everything to the glory of God." Samuel says to "Give unto the Lord the glory due His name" (2:30). David says, "Make God's name and his praise glorious." How do we do this? Well, certainly not by adding anything glorious to Him. We do it by acknowledging the truth about it. We do it by believing, by trusting and enjoying His glory. We do it by trusting the glory of His grace and truth in Jesus. Someone said that God is most glorified in us as we are most satisfied in Him. Are you satisfied in God? Have you tasted of the glory of His majesty and sovereignty? Have you tasted and been filled up by the glory of His grace? Does your heart prize and treasure up His will over your own? Does your heart rest in His good intentions for you...His child? Do you declare the glories of Him who called you out of darkness and into His marvelous light? Do you glorify His Lordship by obeying Him and yielding to His authority? Do you glorify his wisdom by learning His word? Do glorify His grace by humble admission of your sin? Do you glorify His mercy by being merciful to others? Do you glorify His meekness by being meek? Do you glorify His love by loving the loveless? Do you glorify His Joy in you by serving Him with joy? Do you glorify the sacrifice of His Son Jesus by believing in Him and trusting Him as your savior?
When you pray do you pray this prayer? In 1 Cor. 6:19-20, Paul says,
"You are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." We don't have the right to do what we want, think what we want, act as we want or live as we want. We are His by virtue of creation and His especially by virtue of the price Jesus paid to redeem us. So, beloved, to Him and Him alone be the kingdom. To Him be the power, not our feeble abilities and capacities and to Him be the glory - not our little candle - but the glory of the Father who can love you more than you could ever know. His love is a holy love. Which means to know it is to repent and believe in His Son who died for our sins. Believe in Him today. Trust Him today. Rejoice in Him today, taste and see that the Lord is good and let your prayer be a burst of praise and glory to our God who is worthy of it all.