It has been a real privilege over the last few months to sink deeply into the riches of the Lord’s Prayer and take time to dwell on its amazing truths. We come now to the final sentence, which rallies the disciple with eternal perspective, rightly giving God the last attention and all the glory.

As Clifford Denton intimated last week, this sentence explains and justifies everything that has preceded it – both the Prayer’s first section of worship and declaration about who God is, which puts His Kingdom and will up-front-and-centre, and its second section where we ask God for things for ourselves – provision, forgiveness, protection. Both sections are justified in this one final sentence; we declare and request, worship and ask, because the Kingdom, the power and the glory all belong to You, O Lord.

“Give us this day…for thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory”

In pondering this this week, I have found that it’s somehow easier to connect this jubilant final sentence with the first part of the Lord’s Prayer than with the second. It makes sense to praise and worship God, and to cry out for His Kingdom to come (as in the opening sentences of the Prayer) if it’s all ultimately about Him, both now and forever.

But if it’s all about Him, how is that also reason to ask things for myself? How can I justify lifting personal requests to the Lord of all Creation, as in the Prayer’s second section, if it’s ultimately not about me at all?

1. We ask of God because He is our only true source of provision, forgiveness and protection.

We are taught to ask the Lord for what we need because it can all only come from Him – we cannot find what we seek anywhere else. He is our Creator, who has willingly and lovingly committed to provide for those in His Creation who will come under His care. Nobody else in Heaven, on earth or below the earth has the power and the authority to bestow these things to us. Not a crust of bread, nor an ounce of true security, can be obtained that is not given by God.

Thus, the final sentence of the Lord’s Prayer puts our personal needs and requests in perspective – that all we have comes from God and, ultimately, should flow back to Him as glory. Acknowledging this is an exercise in humility and deference – we cannot exist without Him. But having started off the prayer with the confident declaration that God is ‘our Father’, we can relax into His provision in peace, confident that He will not fail us.

2. We ask for ourselves that we might fulfil His calling.

When David cries out in the Psalms for protection from his enemies, he gives this reason: if he is overrun and killed, he will no longer be able to praise and worship the Lord (e.g. Ps 6:4-5, 30:9). If we go down to the grave, who will be left to lift His name in all the earth and make it known – that He might be glorified? In other words, if we are not adequately provided for and protected, and restored into right relationship with God through forgiveness, we will not be able to fulfil our ultimate purpose for existence: worship.

In this way, asking for our daily needs is not a selfish thing, but an enabling thing, which constantly holds in view this fundamental truth: that we exist not for our own glory, but for His. As such, we should lift up prayer requests for ourselves and others from a desire to serve Him well, rather than out of greed, vanity or fear. After all, Jesus reminded His followers that when we seek the Kingdom of God first, all the things we need will be given to us anyway.

3. We ask for ourselves because we are His children.

Finally, our personal prayer requests feed into God’s Kingdom, power and glory because when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour and come into relationship with the Father, suddenly our needs and desires become His remit in a new and precious way. Yes, ultimately it is all about Him, but the wonder of the Gospel is that we are invited to somehow experience that glory ourselves, and be transformed by it, sharing in His joy, enjoying His victory and partaking in His love.

God has designed true worship to flow through and out of relationship with Him, for He is not a far-off God who looks down on us disdainfully, but a loving God who desires to draw near – to dwell in and with His people for all eternity. And so though His Kingship, power and glory sound like marvellous and lofty aspects of His majesty (and in ways they most definitely are), they are also to be revealed in His care for the tiniest aspects of our lives.

Come boldly before the throne of grace.

The beautiful symmetry of the Lord’s Prayer, starting and ending with God’s eternal character and majesty, teaches us to hold our own lives and desires not in a selfish way, but always in view of His vast and wondrous glory. Our daily cares and travails find their rightful place when we get that greater perspective of just how much it is all about Him.

In a rudderless consumer culture that threatens to tear itself apart with self-obsession, this is an anchor for the soul: that we have been redeemed for a far greater purpose than simply our own fulfilment. We are called to live for One who is infinitely greater and more worthy.

Let’s draw near and worship the Lord today, declaring that it is all about Him and that we exist for the praise of His glory. Let’s enjoy the riches of His grace – not with arrogance or a sense of entitlement, but with humility and amazement at the magnitude of what has been offered to us. For “how great is the love that has been lavished upon us, that we should be called children of God” (1 John 3:1).

Author: Frances Rabbitts