The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
(Matthew 6:9-13, NKJV)
Many versions of the Bible leave out the last part of Matthew 6:13, which consummates the Lord’s Prayer. In the New King James, it reads, “For Yours is the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” I would like to explore the Lord’s Prayer through the lens of those three themes: God’s Kingdom, power, and glory.
Kingdom
God is King over all the earth and all mankind. He dwells in heaven, ruling on His throne. We can see this described in verses 9 and 10, “Our Father in heaven, Hallowed (or holy) be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” God is a personal God (Our Father). He lives and rules from His home in heaven. As King, He has a Kingdom we can be part of. As a king or ruler, we should reverence Him because He is holy and exalted. His name is to be respected because it carries His authority and power to rule. The next two verses describe His power.
Power
God is all-powerful, or omnipotent. All power belongs to Him because He created everything. A person cannot provide for others unless they have the power to provide. God the Father uses His power to see that our needs are met. Verse 11 says, “Give us this day our daily bread.” When an earthly father provides for his children every day, not just some days, he reflects God’s image. God is known as Jehovah Jireh, which means “the Lord who sees to it.” He sees to it that our needs are met daily by His riches in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:13).
Verse 12 shows another side of God’s power: “And forgive us our debts (sins), as we forgive our debtors (those who sin against us).” In the story of the paralytic, whom Jesus healed, Jesus displayed the power of God to forgive sins: “But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins,” He then speaks to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house” (Matthew 9:6). The reaction to that power was astonishment, “Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men” (v.8). True Godly power should always lead to God receiving the glory.
Glory
Matthew 6:13 shows God’s glory. It reads, “And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” It is God’s glory to deliver us. God is a good God who doesn’t lead us into temptation. In the words of 1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” Rather, God showed His glory when He defeated all the power of the enemy through Jesus’ death on the cross. 1 John 3:8b tells us, “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.” Jesus came to destroy evil and empower us to do the same so that God’s glory might fill the earth again: “But truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of God,” (Numbers 14:21). God chooses to allow us to partner with Him to spread His glory in all the earth.
God is the true King. He is overseeing His Kingdom, displaying His power, and extending His glory over all the earth. The Lord’s Prayer helps us reverence God as our King and Father, stand in awe of His power, and ask Him to use us to spread His glory everywhere we go on this earth.
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