The Lord’s Prayer begins and ends with the worship of God, and His Glory. In giving God the Glory, we are reminded why we pray – we do it because the kingdom and the power and the glory are God’s, and that’s what gives us the confidence that our prayers are in safe hands. God will answer our prayer 1 John 5:15: “And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.” Prayer is important and effective because it because it changes us and it touches the heart of God.
Doxology
So, we’re looking at a Doxology today, which is a standard formula for praising God. The word doxology is a Greek word that is made up of the word doxa which means honor or glory and logia which means language or speak. So doxology means “glory speak”. For doxologies see: Romans 16:27, Ephesians 3:21, and Jude 25. They’re also found all over the Old Testament (see, for example Gen 24:27, Ex 15:2, Deut 32:3-4, Psalm 107:1, Ps 19:1, Ps 96:9)
So, the idea of a doxology is to give praise to God.
Whose is the Kingdom?
Psalm 22:28 tells us For the kingdom is the Lord’s And He rules over the nations. Increasing His Kingdom is what we seek. Col 1:12-14 reminds us that by His sacrifice on the cross, Jesus has purchased for us forgiveness of sins, and we have been transferred, redeemed from the domain of darkness to the Kingdom of God, and His beloved Son Jesus. God, who has redeemed us, keeps on saving us from evil works by the power of His Holy Spirit (2 Tim 4:18).
Power
The power is God’s. It was His power that made everything at creation. Jerimiah 10:12 tells us It is He who made the earth by His power, Who established the world by His wisdom; And by His understanding He has stretched out the heavens. He knows exactly what’s going on in our nation, and in all of the nations, and He is still in control Psalm 22: He rules by His might forever; His eyes keep watch on the nations; The rebellious shall not exalt themselves!
We should praise Him for His Power. When we truly allow God to turn our heart toward Him, we can’t help but praise Him for His greatness, ascribing to Him the power, the glory, the victory and the majesty and the sovereignty that is His! (see 1st Chron 29:10-12).
God makes His power available to us to do His work. The Holy Spirit teaches us about Jesus, guides us in the work that God has for us to do, and then empowers us to do this work. We can only do the work by the power of God. And His power enables us to stand in it: Eph 6:10-11 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. We can put on the armor of God because we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us, and we can stand in the battle with courage, because of His power.
Glory
His is the Glory. Psalm 24:8-10 8 Who is the King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, The Lord mighty in battle. 9 Lift up your heads, you gates, And lift them up, you ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in! 10 Who is this King of glory? The Lord of armies, He is the King of glory. God is the one and only King of Glory. He reigns in radiance and beauty, and there is no other. In Him is no sin or moral evil whatsoever. But we, in our flesh cannot even come in to His glorious Presence. We 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, as Romans 3:23 reminds us. And so, there is this great gulf of sin and corruption between us, and the Glorious God (Rom 7:21-24). Jesus is God’s answer to the problem of the flesh, the problem of sin and corruption with separates us from His Glory. And we see this remedy, this redemption in action in Hebrew 2:9-10 9 But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of His suffering death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. 10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the originator of their salvation through sufferings. We see Jesus laying aside his Glory that He had with the Father before time began. We see Him putting on flesh, and coming to earth as a baby, made lower than the angels for a while so that He could suffer and die for our sins. And because He did this, He is crowned with glory and honor. And because He was our sacrifice, our Passover, we don’t have to die eternally, but can be brought into glory, because he bought our salvation through His suffering. Praise God! And not only that, we are promised that Romans 8:16-17 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. As, adopted Children of God, He allows us to share in His glory to the extent we suffer with Him. The glorification is always linked to the suffering. 1 Peter 5:10 After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. God’s Glory is forever. And so, we say, along with Jesus, to God be the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory forever, Amen.
Let’s stand, and say together these verses from Psalm 145:10-13: All Your works will give thanks to You, Lord, And Your godly ones will bless You. 11 They will speak of the glory of Your kingdom, And talk of Your might, 12 To make known to the sons of mankind Your mighty acts, And the glory of the majesty of Your kingdom. 13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And Your dominion endures throughout all generations. The Lord is faithful in His words, And holy in all His works.