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c) The Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13)
MATTHEW 6:13
13 … For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen. (1 Chronicles 29:11-13)
The glorification of the Father at the end of the Lord’s Prayer is the response, thanks and worshipping of the church.
Christians admit that their heavenly Father is the owner of the world, for He is its creator. He lives and rules from eternity and forever. His truth is abiding in all the people, even if they did not recognize His right.
Capitalism and socialism became deceiving powers. Properties, minerals and health are not owned by individuals or by people. They are the property of our Father in heaven. This is why we do not worship the god of mammon, but give our money and time to our heavenly Father. We should not cling to earthly things, but cling to the eternal One. He is nonperishable.
Our Father in heaven is unlimitedly strong. As the sun sends its rays, day and night, to space, without any reduction in its nuclear power, so He shines with His love on all mankind to enlighten them, save them and protect them, even if they refuse. The power of God is beyond our perception. We sometimes sense its gravity when the earth shakes or the thunder rumbles. All the hydrogen bombs together form nothing against the great power of the Omnipotent. Do you believe in His work, His wisdom, His presence with you, and His willingness to save you? The Almighty is your Father, so how long will you remain unmindful of His honor and love?
Our Father in heaven is glorious. No one can see Him, for we are mortal. Every natural person is unable to enter into the kingdom of God. He needs regeneration, spiritual birth and resurrection with Christ. Without being born again of the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, we cannot endure the glory of God. But he that is newly born of the spirit of the Heavenly Father shall be as glorious as the sun. This comes not out of himself, but because of his nearness to our glorious Father. Then he will recognize that the heart of glory is holy love that wants to change us into our Father’s image that we may be glorious as He is. The aim of our salvation is not to be glorious but our changing into the source of glory that is love.
Christ taught us that God is love in the legal form of a Father. He entrusted us with this famous prayer an invaluable treasure. This prayer is, in fact, the “fatherly prayer” since it is centered upon the person of the Father to glorify Him and to hallow His unique name. The aim of the proclamation of Jesus is that we know the Father, be His children, honor Him with our trust and long to see Him in the coming of His kingdom on earth.
PRAYER: Our Father in heaven! Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
QUESTION:
- How do you glorify God your Father?
The Summary of the Lord’s Prayer
If you penetrate faithfully into the most important prayer in the Holy Bible, meditate on its precious words and pray it from the bottom of your heart, you will come near to your Father who cares for you and will never leave you. What did you, so far, understand and observe from this divine model prayer? Has Almighty God become the Heavenly Father in your life and recognition? Do you speak to Him directly? Did you become one of His beloved children? Or you are still far from Him? Do you thank Him for accepting you in His Fatherhood with abiding faith and praiseworthy trust?
Christ did not only declare to us that almighty God is the great Creator, the Omnipotent and the eternal Judge. He did not first teach us to pray to the Lord of the covenant, or to the Most Exalted Master. He guided us to His own Father, shared with us His personal rights and qualified us to become members of His eternal family. Through the atonement of Jesus Christ we receive the privilege to call God our Father, because Christ reconciled us to Him. He commanded us to sanctify the name of the Father and accept Him as a center for our thoughts and hopes so that He may be the essence of our life and hope.
However, the Holy Spirit cries out within us, “Abba, Father!” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God (Romans 8:15b-16). Since the heavenly Father adopts us as a result of the atonement of His Son, He grants us to be born again by His Holy Spirit that He will dwell in us. He makes us worthy of His Fatherhood and charges us with His service in His kingdom and sanctifies us with His everlasting love. We, the unworthy, whom He chose in Christ before the foundation of the world, are looking forward to seeing Him and staying with Him forever. He loves and longs for every one of His own. Do you also love Him, thank Him and glorify Him? He who discovers the depth of the Lord’s Prayer will perceive the essence of the whole gospel. We do not believe in an unknowable, far off and fearful god, but in a near and loving Father who has attached Himself to us in the New Covenant forever.