Prayer as an Expression of Hope
“For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” Matthew 6:13
John Maxwell said, “Where there is no hope in the future, there is no power in the present.” When you can find hope for the future, you have the strength and empowerment to succeed in the present.
Transcript
THE HISTORICAL PROBLEM WITH MATTHEW 6:13B
“For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” –6:13b
This is the ending to The Lord’s Prayer…. but there’s a problem with it. It’s not in the Bible. Go ahead, look it up. If you have a Bible app, pull out your phone and look up Matthew 6:13. It’s not there.
Does anyone actually see it in the Bible you’re looking at? If yes, what version? King James? Thou art blessed. Okay, switch to the King James version. And there it is.
In fact, the King James version and its two updated versions are the only modern Bible translations that include it. However, some do put it in parentheses, and others in a footnote.
Why so much confusion over one little sentence? Because this phrase isn’t found in the earliest and most reliable Greek manuscripts of the Bible. In fact, it didn’t appear in texts until about 40-50 years after the books of Matthew or Luke were written.
How did this happen? A popular theory is that an ending sentence like this, called a doxology, was so common in the existing Jewish prayers that the Church started adding it on when they would recite The Lord’s Prayer. And then, after long enough, it just became part of the prayer.
So, why did the early church keep it? Three reasons:
It was 100% consistent with Biblical theology.
Doxologies like these were very common in both the Old and New Testaments.
Lastly, it just became part of the trusted liturgy of the Church.
THE SELF-CENTERED PRAYER
So, for 2,000 years, this line has remained. Despite that, most of us have replaced this line of The Lord’s Prayer with a different one. Instead of saying, “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,” we say, “For mine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory.”
Let’s face it, every one of us has invested a considerable amount of time building our kingdom, amassing our power, or striving for our glory. What does that look like for you?
Kingdom – This could be your house, your family, your hobbies. It’s whatever little part of your life you control and build it up to be bigger and bigger.
Power – It could be money, a job title, a degree, social influence. It could be how loud or opinionated you are. It’s trying to getting others to do what you want. Any time you amp up against another person or idea, you are attempting to amass power for yourself.
Glory – That’s reputation, image management, and how people see you. It’s trying to impress people or put on a false front. It’s likes, shares, and comments. You could do hundreds of things a day, striving for your own glory.
Which one is it for you—your kingdom, your power, or your glory? Trust me, you’re driven by one of those.
For me, it’s probably glory. I want to be liked and appreciated. I crave validation. I want to feel good about myself. Even if my striving is mostly internal, I’m still fixated on my glory.
What about you? Which is it—kingdom, power, or glory?
THE ANTIDOTE TO SELF-CENTERED PRAYER
Well, here’s the rub. When our aspirations are self-serving, our prayers become self-serving.
This line is the antidote to self-centered faith. “For Yours, God, is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.”
This line is the antidote to self-centered faith. Let me explain.
How much of your prayer life is for yourself?
God, help me with this problem.
God, heal this body part.
Lord, bless this food I’m about to receive…
Even the last few lines of the Lord’s Prayer have been about us.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts.
Lead us not into temptation.
Deliver us from the evil one.
But this line says nothing about us. It’s all about God. We end the Lord’s Prayer by putting the emphasis where it belongs—on God’s kingdom, God’s power, and God’s glory.
This line is a lesson in humility. It’s humbling to say that my life is not about my kingdom, my power, or my glory.
I love how an anonymous blogger from a Christian ministry called Power to Change put it:
“My selfish nature is narrow and concerned only with the priorities of my own little kingdom. The world system provokes my ambitious desires and lures me into believing that it is up to me to attain power, success, comfort, and recognition. I want to be a self-made person… I want things to go my way. I overlay my plan and preferences on the way I want God’s kingdom to come.”
This line is the antidote to self-centered faith.
I wonder what would happen if we stopped praying for ourselves and started praying exclusively for God's kingdom to come, for God’s power to be unleashed, and for God’s glory to be our only concern.
If Jesus was telling the truth when he said, “33 Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well,” then I think the rest of our concerns and prayers would take care of themselves.
EXPLANATION OF KINGDOM, POWER, AND GLORY
So, let’s say you want to start praying more for God’s kingdom, power, and glory. What are you actually praying for? Let’s define our terms.
God’s Kingdom
We talked about that in the second week of this series. It’s God’s rule and reign. It’s where God’s will always happens. It’s restoration. It’s justice. It’s wholeness. God both possesses and presides over His vast kingdom as the supreme authority. And God’s kingdom arguably the most important idea in the entire Bible.
So, when you pray, “God, yours is the kingdom,” you are abandoning your kingdom and recognizing God as the rightful ruler over his kingdom and yours.
God’s Power
This is often called God’s omnipotence, meaning that God is able to do all his holy will. Fifty-six times in Scripture is God called All-Mighty. God possesses not a mere portion of some power but all power in heaven and earth.
So, when you pray, “God, yours is the power,” you are relinquishing your power and recognizing God as All-Mighty.
God’s Glory
This is God’s “honor” or his “excellent reputation or character” or his “majestic beauty or splendor.” It manifests as the actual bright light that surrounds God.
So, when you pray, “God, yours is the glory,” you are committing yourself to a life of representing God with honor, essentially making Him look good instead of you.
THE HOPE THIS PRAYER BRINGS
“For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.”
If you routinely pray for God’s kingdom, power, and glory, especially over your own kingdom, power, and glory, an amazing thing happens. God births hope in you. And I want to share with you three expressions of that hope that comes from kingdom prayer.
1. Hope for a Better Future
Hope is a confident belief, based on the Word of God, that the future He speaks of will happen. Hope is forward-looking faith. Hope is a future certainty that gives us joy, peace, and patience in the present.
But if you’re placing your hope in yourself, you know deep down that you’ll disappoint. On the other hand, if your future is full of God’s kingdom, power, and glory, then you know your future is anchored strong. That’s a future you can look forward to, no matter how hard things get here today.
2. Hope for Justice
We live in an unjust world. And the mass shootings in California, the killing of Tyre Nichols, or the fatal stabbing of a Harding student reminds us just how unjust our country can be, especially for communities of color. And we are terrible at administering true justice. We’re great at vengeance or self-righteousness but not justice. But God’s kingdom is perfectly just and right. It’s a kingdom where evil is punished, power is used for good, and the vulnerable are protected.
3. Hope for a Life with Less Fear
We get afraid when we think the future depends on us. We get controlling, bossy, or demanding. Or, we go the other way and get worried, anxious, or depressed. If you’re any of those, you’re just living out of fear. But this prayer relieves fear because it reminds us that the future belongs to God, not us.
I love how the Early Church Father, John Chrysostom, described this around 400 AD. And remember that immediately preceding this line, the Lord’s Pray talked about the Devil. Here’s what he said about fear.
“Having made us anxious by the mention of our enemy… [Jesus] again restores confidence by that which is added in some copies, ‘For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory’, since if His be the kingdom, none need fear, since even he who fights against us [Satan], must be God’s subject. But since God’s power and glory are infinite, He can not only deliver from evil, but also make glorious.
Friends, Jesus is giving you an invitation into hope, justice, and fearlessness by abandoning your quests for kingdom, power, and glory and setting your heart on God’s kingdom, power, and glory. Forever and ever. Amen.
