Day 30: And The Power and The Glory
Jesus ends His model prayer by declaring that is it from and for the King of the Kingdom that we can give all that we are, including power and glory. When most people think of power and glory, they think of conquering by brute strength, by overcoming with authoritative dictation, or maybe claiming the fame through a heroic activity such as winning a championship or stopping a fire.
The reality we see in Scripture is that our King is Victorious, our Messiah conquered the grave, and our Savior is illustrated as the Lion of the tribe of Judah. We also see the reality that the Victory of the King came through His death and atonement for sin on a cross. We see the fact that the Messiah conquered the grave by first entering into it so that He could be raised from it. And finally, we see that the Lion of Judah is actually revealed as the Lamb that was slain. We see the authority, power, and glory of God revealed in the humility, death, and obedience of our Savior to break and distribute Himself for all to receive love and life.
When we pray this prayer, we are not just recognizing the God who can speak and all of creation is formed, but also the God who came as the Word that laid down His life to recreate all things. We see the One and Only God whose love is pure and perfect. We see the One revealing power through humility and authority through the humiliation of a Roman torture device.
In this manner, when we speak these words, we are declaring that the Lord is All-Powerful, and His great power is His love. We are agreeing with who God was, is, and will always be, and in doing so, we are proclaiming that we are not seeking to gain power, authority, fame, and glory for our own needs, but rather we are laying it all down at the feet of the One who is worthy. We are taking up our most precious, authoritative, and powerful features here on this earth and saying that in the Kingdom humility is authority and we would rather be aligned with the King and His Kingdom. In praying and living this way, we just may be giving more glory and power to God than in pursuit of earthly riches and power. To God alone be all power and glory. Amen.
Action: In the world, the thought of riches, power, glory, and authority run together very closely. It goes so far that people even place their identity in the amount of money they have (their net worth), or the position they hold (I am a CEO), or how many people/companies they oversee. I believe these are all actions out of insecurity and pride, and I believe the greatest sign of power is in humility. Today, I encourage you to read Philippians 2:1-11. After reading, please pray this throughout the day: Love, align me with Your humility.
