At the end of the Lord’s prayer in Matthew 6, we read this phrase in the King James Version:
“…For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen” - Matthew 6:13 KJV
What an incredible phrase. I can't help but think about shouting this phrase at the end of our pre-game prayers in the locker room during high school football. Why our cussin' coaches led our team of primarily non-Christians in this prayer every week, I'm not sure. But it sure hyped us up!
This phrase is unique from the rest of the Lord's Prayer in that it is not found in every Bible translation or Greek manuscript. According to the ESV Study Bible footnote, this phrase "is evidently a later scribal addition.” However, since there is nothing theologically wrong about the wording, and it is not inappropriate to pray it (especially since it was given as a model prayer anyway), we will include it. In fact, it sounds just like what David prayed in 1 Chronicles 29:11–13.
"Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. Now, therefore, our God, we thank thee and praise thy glorious name." - 1 Chronicles 29:11-13 KJV
This oddity reminds us that while no original manuscripts are still in existence, the Bible remains THE world's most reliable and trustworthy document, at least on a literary level. You might not believe what it says, but you cannot deny that it has said what it says for a very long time. It is exponentially more reliable than any other literary work, including works by Shakespeare, Homer, and Socrates.
So, let’s look at the little innuendoes that make up this short yet poignant phrase.
Yours Is the Kingdom
All kingdoms belong to God. That means all people, cultures, races, tribes, and tongues, no matter when and where they live, ultimately belong to God because he created them. They do not belong to us and, thankfully, do not belong to the devil, although he is currently allowed to participate. And it is good that the Jehovah God of the Bible, Yahweh, is God because he is loving and just. He forgives sin and judges rightly. He is gracious and merciful to all people in countless ways and wise and impartial in his judgments of all people.
But if you were to zoom in from the whole that God “so loves,” as Jesus said in John 3, we also see another kind of kingdom within the earthly kingdom: the kingdom of God. This kingdom comprises all people who have submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and made their allegiance to him as king in their hearts and lives. And one day, that spiritual kingdom we are part of will be transformed into a more physical kingdom that we call heaven.
Because all of this, especially the kingdom of God, belongs to God, he is present in it, and his sovereign plan will ultimately come to pass.
Yours Is the Power
All power belongs to God. He is omnipotent, meaning nothing is impossible to him. If God can save a lost soul, heal a broken body, cause blind eyes to see and deaf ears to hear, release a trapped mind, cast out demons, turn water into wine, raise the dead, cause a virgin woman to birth a child, form humans out of dirt and ribs, create animals, plants, and that dirt out of nothing, Planets and moons and stars, as well as the whole universe for them to hang inside of just the right way, then he is certainly to meet your need.
And lastly, if this is his kingdom and all power belongs to him, then we can also be confident of the last phrase:
Yours Is the Glory
All glory belongs to God. He is the only one deserving of our glory because of who he is, what he has done, what he can do, and what he will do. To give someone glory means to magnify, lift up, or place them in a prominent view. We might also say that all honor, respect, and awe belong to God.
God alone is worthy of our worship and worthy of praise. As the song says, referencing Colossians 1,
“For from you are all things, and to you are all things, you deserve the glory.”
Giving God glory means that we are making Him known to others above all things with our actions, words, and attitudes. In response, we must ask ourselves: what or whom do we talk about the most? What or who do we spend our money on the most? What or who gets most of our attention? Or let me say it like this: who is sitting on the throne of our hearts?
It would be helpful for us to remember this theme from the Sermon on the Mount: the righteousness we possess will produce righteousness in practice. So when God is clearly sitting on the throne of our hearts, then it will make a difference in what we glorify with our life.
Forever. Amen.
God's kingdom, power, and glory are not just right now or temporary in any way. As the rest of the phrase in Matthew 6 says, they are forever and ever. They never end.
And to all of that, if you believe it, we all say together, “Amen” (which means “so be it” or “I agree”).
To pray a prayer like this, including this final phrase (whether included in the original or not), is nothing to be taken lightly. As the late theologian John Stott called it, it is an “intelligent prayer” (because to truly pray this prayer is to contemplate the words and meditate on the message instead of just reciting empty phrases).
Think about what this prayer is saying: to recognize God as your Father, submit to his kingdom and will above your own, pray for his presence and provision and power to be in your life, seek his approval and forgiveness, recognize your desperate need for his strength to rescue you, and to offer up your worship to him …this can only be done by someone who is in-dwelt and empowered by the Holy Spirit and who desires to live a God-centered (not me-centered) and God-dependent (not independent) life.
May this be a challenge for us today to set our hearts right so that we can honestly say to God:
“Yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen!”
Photo Courtesy: ©GettyImages/Matthew Maude
