We come at last to the postscript of the Lord’s Prayer. And while these words do not appear in the best manuscripts of the New Testament, they surely belong in the prayer. They are in any case biblical. I hope you noticed that as we read the Old Testament lesson from 1 Chronicles 29. How can you miss hearing in the conclusion of the Lord’s Prayer the echoes of David’s prayer there? “Blessed are you, O LORD, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. Yours, O LORD is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all” (1 Chron. 29:10b-11). Do you hear the similarities?
So then, let’s look at this last part of the Lord’s Prayer: “For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.” With your permission, we will take it a word at a time.
Notice the little word “for” at the beginning of this concluding postscript. It is a causative conjunction; that is, it explains why something is so. It is so because certain other things are so. It is so that we can pray with the expectation that God will answer—why? The reason is this: because His “is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.”
Remember how we said there are six petitions in the Lord’s Prayer? In praying, “Hallowed be Thy name,” what have we asked of God? We have asked Him to infuse us with holy zeal for the honor of His name. In praying, “Thy kingdom come,” what have we done? We have asked Him to plant in our hearts a deep longing for His triumph over every rival. In praying, “Thy will be done,” what have we said? We have declared ourselves to be dedicated to His purposes. And that’s only the first three of the petitions. There are three more.
We ask for provision—“Give us this day our daily bread”—and then for pardon—“Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors”—and finally for protection—“Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.”
And there you have it: the six petitions we direct towward God. And we do so confidently…why? Because—or, as the prayer says, “For”—“Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.” This concluding postscript gives us a holy rationale for being bold in what we ask. We can ask big things because we have a big God.
Just how big is He? The conclusion to the Lord’s Prayer tells us, and it uses four words to make its point. Those four words are “kingdom,” “power,” “glory,” and “forever.” Those words just sound big, don’t they? They sound grand, and that’s because they are grand. Let’s look at each of them in turn.
First, “kingdom.” We’ve encountered this word already in the prayer. Jesus’ pattern for prayer instructs us early on to pray that the Father’s “kingdom come.” And here is this word again. “Thine is the kingdom.” What is its significance? Well, just this: It asserts God’s right to do three things. He has the right to control, to demand, and to determine. He controls every aspect of His creation: the rising of the sun and its setting; the direction of the wind and its force; the rise and fall of kingdoms and those who govern them. And the list could go on and on.
And not only is God in control; He also demands loyalty from His subjects. Of course, not everyone submits to Him at the present moment. Some say, “There is no God” (Ps. 14:1; cf. 53:1). But they are fools. The Bible says as much. Others may acknowledge His existence, but they limit His ability. “The LORD does not see,” they say; “the God of Jacob does not perceive” (Ps. 94:7). And they go on doing what God has forbidden. But God asks, “He who planted the ear, does he not hear? He who formed the eye, does he not see?” (v. 9). Of course He does. And we are wise to submit to His demands.
Not only does God control all things, and not only does He demand obedience from His creatures. He also determines the course and the outcome of events. “The lot is cast into the lap,” the Bible says, “but its every decision is from the LORD” (Prov. 16:33). So, when we say, “Thine is the kingdom,” we affirm that God controls all things, demands whatever He wishes, and determines the outcome of a thing even before it comes to pass. And here’s the thing: He has every right to do all this. What does Scripture say? “All authority in heaven and on earth” is whose? It is His (cf. Matt. 28:18).
So what have we said thus far? We have acknowledged that God has the authority to exercise sovereignty over all things. “Thine is the kingdom,” we pray. But then we go on. We continue by saying, “and the power.” And what are we doing then? We are affirming—are we not?—that God has the power to exercise His authority. There are in our day, you know, those who have royal blood and bear royal title—they are kings and queens and are acknowledged as such—but they have no power. They are mere figureheads. They are leaders in name only; they are nominal heads of state. Pampered they may be. Prosperous they may be. Pandered to and promoted they may be. But powerful they are not! So, what about God? With Him it is different! Not only is His the kingdom; His also is the power.
What is power? What is it? It is the ability to do what is desired. And it implies the strength to do it. Does God lack the power to supply our needs day by day—enough to eat and drink, clothing to wear, shelter in which to take refuge, or any other necessity we might require? Shall he promise and then be unable to deliver what He has promised? No. Absolutely not! Does He lack the power to forgive sins? Are our sins too ugly, too vile even for God? Shall He teach us to pray for pardon and then be short on mercy? No. Absolutely not! And what about protection? Will he design to secure His sheep but in the end be taken by surprise by the thief who “comes…to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10)? What do you say? Absolutely not! What is it Luther has us sing in his great hymn? “And though this world with devils filled should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for God has willed His truth to triumph through us.” Okay. He has willed it, but shall be unable to accomplish it? No. No. A thousand times no. He is able. Scripture says of Him, “He is able to save to the uttermost” (Heb. 7:25). How so? His is “the kingdom and the power.”
And His is the glory. Is that not what we say next in Jesus’ pattern of prayer? “For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory.” You know, it is right to glorify God. We ought to glorify God. It is “our bounden duty,” as the old Anglican liturgy tells us. But God does not need us to glorify Him. We need to do it, but He does not need us to do it. Should we fail to do it, what then? Will His splendor be diminished because of our failure? Will He be any less magnificent because we have withheld our praise? Will His glory be tarnished in some respect because mere creatures have not praised it? What do you think?
You have but to turn to our New Testament text for today to find the answer to that. “For who has known the mind of the Lord,” it asks, “or who has been his counselor? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” (Rom. 11:34f.). The Bible tells us that God—the true God—is self-existent and self-sufficient. He is not accountable to you or me or anyone else. He is not dependent on you or me or anyone else.
Then why praise Him? Remember: It is our need that is in view, not His. We benefit when we praise God, when we acknowledge His glory. In Joachim Neander’s great hymn, “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty,” we sing, “O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation.” Not to recognize this has a damaging effect—not on God but on us. When we neglect to assess His magnitude with awe and wonder, it does not affect Him; it affects us. Our souls shrivel within us. When we exalt ourselves—imagining that the bigger we are in our own eyes, the bigger we truly are, and the smaller He is in our eyes, the smaller He actually is—when we do that, “we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:9).
But when we praise God for who He is and what He has done, it is the sign that something truly amazing has happened in us. In Titus 2:14, the Scriptures tell us that Jesus Christ, “our great God and Savior,” “gave himself for us to redeem us…and to purify for himself a people for his own possession,” and 1 Peter 2:9 tells us that we were chosen by God to be “a people of his own possession”—why? “that [we might] proclaim the excellencies of him who called [us] out of darkness into his marvelous light.” Peter goes on to say, “Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people” (v. 10). How do you know? Because it is your great delight to praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to “proclaim [His] excellencies.”
Let me ask you something. It is rather personal. And you don’t need to give an answer to me. I am nobody. But you need to be honest with yourself, and you need to be honest with God. Do you know God as your Father? I’m not talking about what some people call the universal fatherhood of God. I’m talking about the Bible’s definition of God’s Fatherhood. If He’s your Father, then you’re His child. And how does one become His child? The Gospel says that “to all…who believed in his name [that is, in the name of Jesus] he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). The way to God is through Jesus. Jesus Himself said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Have you come to the Father through Jesus? If not—or if you’re not sure—I urge you not to leave this place today without being sure.
Remember: There’s a fourth word in the conclusion to the Lord’s Prayer. It is the word “forever.” You may think forever will be a long time in coming, but the truth is: You never know. It could come for you in an instant. And you’re not ready for “forever” to come for you until you have come to the Father—and come to Him through Jesus. I urge you: Do not delay in this matter. Come to Him today. Come to Him now right where you are. Just lift up a silent prayer to God. Say to Him, “Father, I come to you through Jesus. I admit that my sin is great, but I believe the Savior is greater still. I turn from my sin, and I turn to you. Please make me one of your own.” Jesus said in John 6:37, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” I urge you: Come to Him.
But let’s say you have. Let’s say you have already come to Him. Let’s say that you have settled the matter of “forever” at some point in your life. You have come to the Father through Jesus. Then I have another question—actually a series of questions. How are you doing here and now as you anticipate your “forever”? Do you yearn for others to hold the name of the Father dear, as you do? Do you want to see His name hallowed? Do you long for His triumph over every rival? Do you want His kingdom to come? Do you consider yourself dedicated to His purposes, even above your own? Do you desire that His will be done on earth as it is in heaven? These are the things you’re asking for in the Lord’s Prayer. Are these the things you mean to ask for?
Do you depend on Him for the supply of all your needs? Do you look to Him for mercy, and do you regard others with mercy? Do you recognize how vulnerable you are and trust in Him to secure you, protect you, and see you through even if you have to pass through “the valley of the shadow of death” (Ps. 23:4)? These also are the things you are affirming in the Lord’s Prayer. Are these the things you mean to affirm?
Do you acknowledge that the God to whom you pray has all authority and all power, and that His glory is self-sustaining and eternal? This is what you are saying when you pray according to Jesus’ pattern for prayer. Is this what you mean to say?
Perhaps you could look at it this way: The Lord’s Prayer is not just something you say to God. When you pray it, it says something about you. It tells where your priorities are. It tells where your provision is found. It tells everyone in your life what is the “sun” around which you orbit, what is the core value in your life. It tells what you seek refuge in when threats assail you. It tells what you would sacrifice everything for. It tells who God really is to you—and it tells who you really are to Him.
