There are not a lot of examples in the gospels of people asking Jesus to teach them something. But in Luke 11, Jesus’ disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray. Perhaps more amazingly is that Jesus teaches them to pray in just fifty-odd words (about 290 characters by my count – just a little more than a tweet!)
In the next 8 blogs, we’ll look at the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6 and Luke 11. We’ll do this slowly and allow the truths of Jesus’ teaching to shape and encourage our prayer lives.
The Ending
5th July 2021
I am sure you are very familiar with the final words that we recite of the Lord’s Prayer,
“For yours in the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen."
You may be surprised when you then turn to Matthew 6 in your Bible and you don’t find them there. Some translations include these words and others don’t with the latter usually including them in a footnote. The reason for this is that these words are most likely a later scribal addition to the Lord’s Prayer and may not have been actually spoken by Jesus.
So, should we pray them?
Yes, we can. There is clearly nothing theologically wrong with these words and they do provide a very helpful way to conclude the Lord’s Prayer. In fact, they provide a wonderful doxology to close the Lord’s Prayer. And this reminds us of how important it is to praise in prayer. We can sometimes separate these things – we sing praise and we speak prayer. But we can also pray praise. And this is what this doxology does at the end of the Lord’s Prayer – it causes us to turn our eyes to God, our great, sovereign King.
Regardless of whether they were spoken by Jesus or not, they very closely mirror another prayer in the Bible – one by Jesus’ ancestors, King David:
“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. Both riches and honour come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name.” 1 Chronicles 29:11-13
I am sure you can see the similarities in these verses.
Why are these words helpful?
These words are an antidote to self-centred prayers. Sometimes we may find ourselves instructing God what to do; or telling God what will bring Him glory; or demanding that God do something. But self-centred prayer clashes with words that declare the Lordship of Jesus. He is in-charge. He is the all-powerful one. And He always acts for His glory.
And these words remind us that God is our sovereign King and He rules over all. It is by His power that people are brought into His kingdom, and He exercises all authority throughout His kingdom. He is omnipotent and not lacking power to accomplish His will.
And therefore, all glory belongs to Him. We ascribe praise and glory to our great God for there is none like Him. We submit ourselves to His kind and good reign over us that He might receive glory through our surrendered lives.
It would be a very scary thing – unthinkable perhaps – if the one who ruled with power was evil, corrupt, and terrifying. We might surrender but only out of trepidation. It is altogether another thing – a joyous thing – when the one who rules with power is good, righteous, just, merciful, and loving. We gladly surrender to Him in praise.
How does this affect us as we pray this week?
Praise
You may wish to use Psalms like Psalm 47 and 97 to help you praise God for who He is as our sovereign King.
Repent
Come before our great, powerful, sovereign King knowing that you are at peace with Him because you are in Christ Jesus.
Ask
Pray that God would help each of us here at Calderwood to find great joy in prayer. Ask that God would mature our prayer lives that we don’t pray in a self-centred way but in a way that seeks the advancement of God’s kingdom.
Yield
Pray that we would surrender ourselves, as a church, to our good and loving sovereign King. Pray that together we would give ourselves to serving our King and making Him known.
