June 2009

ARTICLE TOOLS

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YOURS, O LORD, are the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heavens and on the earth is yours; yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all.

1 Chronicles 29:11, NRSV

THE LORD'S PRAYER begins with praise and worship, "hallowed be thy name." It ends with praise as well, "for thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever." We have come full circle. The entire prayer is framed by praise. 

Arthur Paul Boers, Lord, Teach Us to Pray

[P]RAISING GOD isn't something we do, an activity we engage in among other activities. It is a fundamental way of being toward God. … Praise links us to God in love.

The praise of the psalmist is an expression of delight, and so is our own praise. Of course God wants it. It is the recognition, both conscious and unconscious, that God's name is hallowed in all things.

Roberta C. Bondi, A Place to Pray

IF THE CHURCH isn't prepared to subvert the kingdoms of the world with the kingdom of God, the only honest thing would be to give up praying this prayer altogether, especially its final doxology.

N. T. Wright, The Lord and His Prayer

THEN the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign forever and ever."

Revelation 11:15, NRSV

THE DIFFERENCE with this prayer is that its ending tells us more about God than it does about us. It's a conclusion that voices confidence in the present and the future because it understands who is in charge and in whose presence we live all our lives.

William J. Carl III, The Lord's Prayer for Today

INTERPRETERS get into trouble when they treat this prayer as less obvious than it is. For "Amen," think, "Duh!" The clarity and authenticity of the prayer are a function of its bone-headed straightforwardness. … Why pray what is obvious to God and even to us? To make it so.

Telford Work, Ain't Too Proud to Beg

AMEN, AMEN means "Yes, yes, it is going to come about just like this."

Martin Luther, The Small Catechism

TRUST IN GOD'S POWER and grace can never be overdone, since no situation is too complex, too complicated or too convoluted for God. It is never too late for a miracle, because divine power can write straight with crooked lines.

Albert Haase, Living the Lord's Prayer

WE STEP BACK and trust God to do with our prayers whatever, however, and whenever he chooses. … All now is in our Father's hands.

Eugene H. Peterson, Tell It Slant

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