Therefore David blessed the LORD in the presence of all the assembly. And David said: “Blessed are you, O LORD, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. 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 honor 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 29:10-13
This week Garrett preached the closing of the Lord’s Prayer:
FOR THINE IS THE KINGDOM, AND THE POWER, AND THE GLORY FOREVER. AMEN.
This doxology was not in the original words of Jesus, but became a common part of the prayer already in the first century (we know from the didache as well as other sources). It is a fitting conclusion, not only because it echoes the words of David’s prayer above and the larger teaching of the Bible, but also because it reminds us one more time of why we pray. We pray BECAUSE of who our God is.
The Apostles and early church Fathers had a much more realistic view of humanity than most of us do. We tend to think that if people know something that they will act on it. Right action will easily come from right belief; it isn’t that simple. The truth is, we have passions, desires, and sin that all compete with what we know we should do. Paul points to this reality in Romans 7, saying:
For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. | 18-19
This makes it clear that we are not people who do what is right, EVEN WHEN WE KNOW WHAT RIGHT IS. Because we need to be caught up in something greater. This is the motivation to sin in the first place: we are chasing greatness (we look for it apart from God). In this closing statement, we remind ourselves that God offers us the immensity we strive for. He calls us to share in His victory as His children, heirs, and those who will receive an inheritance. In this, we are much more than receivers of information or rules, but we are people being invited into the presence of the divine.
This is where all of this connects to prayer. Prayer is an invitation to come to God with all of our fears and needs. As immense as this is, we don’t take advantage of it. We intend to pray; we tell people we will pray for them, but too often, we use our time on something more concrete. The doxology is added to give us the because, to remind us of the story we are part of, as we bring our humanity to our Father and declare: AMEN, or so be it.
Prayer is meant to grow us toward God, to make the pull of other things weaker and weaker over time by making Him more. As we declare ourselves part of His Kingdom, under His power, living for His glory, He brings us more and more into the overwhelming benefit of being His.