The Lord’s Prayer - Amen (part 8) by Anthony Cooksey

The Lord’s Prayer: Amen - Part 8

(By Anthony Cooksey)

The Lord’s Prayer: Amen

“After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which are in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.”

Matthew 6:9-13

Part 8:

For Thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. The final chapter of this prayer ends in a fitting way: as it began. It ends in hallowing the name of the Father. Honoring the name of the Lord. Worshiping the name of our savior. This must be our first and last. It must be our focus and the aim at which we spend our lives. The pursuit of honoring Him should take all the breath in our lungs, all the strength of our bodies, and all the time we have on this earth. It is a wholly worthwhile endeavor that we should spend ourselves in worship.

“Yours, Oh 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, oh 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 29:11-13.

David understood in this prayer that it is all from Him and all must be given to Him.

For Thine is the kingdom. What is that saying? These are not cheap words meant to sound eloquent. There is no pomp and circumstance in “Thine is the kingdom”. This is an all-encompassing statement of what falls under the authority of God. He rules over all. For He alone is the king of kings. His sovereignty and dominion stretch further and higher than any great ruling man or nation in history past, or future to come. His kingdom is the true kingdom. He alone is ruler of heaven and earth. He sits on the only true throne; all others are but cheap imitations. Be careful to not separate yourself from this equation. God does not sit on a thrown wrapped in clouds detached from us, akin to the Greek gods of human imagination; sitting aloft and starring down on his subjects. His kingdom is so much more than that. While he rules over the infinite expanse of all we know that exists and also all that which will be revealed to us later, He must also sit on the throne of your heart. Your body-your actions- your mind, will, and emotions, must fall subject to His will. To say “Thine is the kingdom” is to say: “Lord, all things submit to your will, myself included.”

Thine is the power. How is it possible for one being to be over all? It is possible because there is but one being that is able to be over all. There is but one entity that by His word, light bursts from darkness. His word brought existence and time and space into actuality. The Great I Am rules because of who He is, and the authority that His power commands. This realization is the only place from which a healthy fear of the Lord springs forth. The power to command the universe; to set the laws of nature and the course of History is to Him alone. And how comforting is it to know that that being, beacons us to call Him Father. His power is never more evident than in the heart of a reformed sinner- the prodigal son returning. He alone has the power to bring to life what once was dead. That very same power is able to snatch us from the grave and grant us eternity. Remind yourself of this fact over and again, that in our weakness, His strength is shown.

Thus, Thine is the Glory.

“You are worthy, Oh Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for you created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.”

Revelation 4:11.

God created all things for His own glory. Therefore, in order to act and live as we were literally created to act and live, we must glorify Him, and there is nothing more that we can do to glorify God than to accept the salvation that He offers through His Son Jesus Christ and allow that transforming power to redeem us and mold us in His image. It is only then that we can truly praise and worship and adore and glorify God.

For ever and ever, amen. Amen has become interesting little word that we say before we open our eyes to signify to others that the prayer has ended. It has been so reduced to tradition that its actual meaning has been eroded over time. How sad it is that our eyes have been shut to what this word means, and how immense of a word, it actually is. To say amen is to say that it is so. Amen denotes the acknowledgement or the confirmation of a truth. When we come to the Father in the faithful act of prayer and conclude with amen, we believe, through faith, that it has been fulfilled. We believe that God hears us and answers our prayer. To say amen is to say that it is so. That is powerful. May we have the type of faith to say amen and mean amen.

Thus concludes the Lord’s prayer. We have come to the end of the words that Christ modeled for us. The true heart of how we are to communicate with God. If we could look at this prayer and every other utterance from our mouth with proper reverence and equally, less superstition or ritual, when we enter into the presence of God, we might begin to more frequently commune with Him in the correct posture-with the appropriate awe and wonder and adoration. There is life in the words of this prayer. There is power in the words of this prayer. But only if their meaning is known. Our lives can be molded by the truth they hold. So dwell deep in the endless expanse of this prayer. Allow it to soak into the very fabric of your soul, unable to be forgotten and neglected, or relegated to tradition again. The Lord’s prayer is too consequential-too life changing and earth shattering to not be truly known- to not be clung to for guidance in how we are to communicate with the one true living God.

Father God, thank You for who You are to us. Thank You for how great and vast and immense You are. We praise You for all that You do and all that You are. Lord, we pray that all You desire is done in us and throughout the world. Because we depend on you for everything. We need you for our very breath and will not allow a day to slip by with out the acknowledgement of that fact. Lord, help us on our journey through today. Remind us that you are there directing our path and guiding us through all that we will face. Lord help us to have strength to face difficulty and disappointment around us and in ourselves. We thank You Father and praise your name.

Amen.