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PRAYER #4

 {pray} KINGDOM, POWER, GLORY AND PASSION_ 

Matthew 6:9-13 

The final sentence of the Lord’s Prayer - “For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen” (Matt 6:13) - is not in the earliest copies of the Gospel of Matthew. In most modern translations (like the NIV) the verse isn’t included in the main text but appears in a footnote. 
Most Bible scholars believe that these words were not part of the original prayer Jesus gave his disciples. So, should we include this last sentence as part of the Lord’s Prayer or not? 
One of the best outlooks is that we accept these final words for what they are – not the words of Jesus to us but the words of Jesus’ early followers in response to the prayer. 
The prayer, as it stands, never really concludes; it just stops. It’s almost as if Jesus deliberately left it open-ended – as if he wanted to give us the opportunity to respond spontaneously to the prayer. The response of the early Christians was worship and adoration... 

 

What does it mean to you personally when you say to God:  
“Yours is the kingdom”? 

“Yours is the power”? 

“Yours is the glory”? 

 
God’s character will never change. He will be the great good God that He is forever – and all eternity will be centred on the worship of God. In Revelation 4, the apostle John is transported to heaven in a vision, and he sees a magnificent scene... 

[Read Revelation 4] 

 
John sees a figure seated on the throne – a figure representing God the Father. Drawing on this passage, how would you describe God to a friend? 

 
The twenty-four elders in the vision (verse 4) represent the people of God, those who have linked themselves to God through faith in Jesus. What is their role in this scene? 

 
In your mind, project this scene from Revelation 4 above your personal worship or above your worship in a church service. How will it change your attitude and approach to worship? 

 
What would this scene mean to the persecuted Christians who were the first readers/hearers of the book – or to the persecuted Christians in our world today? 

What does this vision say to us as we view our threatening and seemingly out-of-control world? 

 

Every wedding I’ve ever been to has included an interesting question: “Do you take this person to have and to hold from this day forward?” The answer always (hopefully!) comes back the same: “I do.” 
Jesus’ prayer ends with the little word Amen. It’s not just the signal that the prayer is over. It means, “So be it,” and it’s a lot like saying “I do” at a wedding. Agreeing to the marriage vows is not the end of our commitment but the beginning. Saying Amen at the end of prayer is a commitment to do what we’ve prayed. We aren’t just putting a full-stop at the end of a list of requests; we are making a promise to live out what we’ve said to God. Be careful with that little word! When you say it, you’ve just said “I do” to God. 

The Sermon on the Mount wasn’t the only time Jesus gave the Lord’s Prayer as instruction to his followers. Luke records an occasion when Jesus’ disciples came upon Jesus in prayer, and they asked him to teach them to pray... 

[Read Luke 11:1-13] 

 
As you read through this version of the Lord’s Prayer, what differences do you see from the version we’ve been looking at in Matthew 6:9-13? 

 
On a human level, what is the point of the parable in verses 5-8? 

 
How do you react to someone’s relentless requests for something? 

 
Jesus wants to emphasise that God is not like the grumpy neighbour who has to be harassed into helping us. How would you characterise God’s responsiveness to us based on verses 9-10? 

 
How is it possible to misuse or abuse the promises in verses 9-10? 

 
In verses 11-13, what is Jesus’ point in the story about fathers and children? 

 
Based on this passage in Luke, what would you say to a friend who has prayed about a specific issue for a long time but has not yet seen God respond? 

 
Throughout this study, what has changed in your approach and attitude toward prayer? 

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