Matthew 6:13b “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.”(KJV)
The Lord’s Prayer does not end with a request. It ends with a declaration. And that is not an accident.
I am not a theologian by trade. But I am convinced that with access to modern tools and a willing curiosity, every serious follower of Christ can do the work of one. Studying the Lord’s Prayer entry by entry across this series has only deepened my prayer life while giving me a sharper understanding of what it actually means to approach the throne. Throughout the writing of this series, there have been spiritual attacks and victories. Both confirmed the same thing. The access we have to the Father pictured in this prayer defies human logic, distinguishes it from every other world religion, and makes it available to everyone.
The words of the doxology may or may not be familiar to you, depending on which Bible translation you carry. The ESV, NIV, and NASB omit this closing from the main text because it does not appear in the oldest manuscripts of Matthew 6. That is a real question, and if you want the full picture, the research companion linked below was written for exactly that purpose.11 What is not in dispute is the theology. These three declarations are drawn directly from the Old Testament and are as true today as they have ever been.
Where does this ending come from? Jesus points to the Old Testament frequently throughout the Sermon on the Mount, and the audience standing before him would have known it well. In 1 Chronicles 29:11-12, David is preparing to raise the temple and writes this prayer to the Lord: “Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, the power and the glory, the victory and the majesty; for all that is in heaven and in earth is yours; yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head over all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you reign over all. In your hand is power and might; in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all.” (NKJV)
The same three declarations. Centuries before Jesus taught the Lord’s Prayer. The doxology is not a new idea. It is the oldest vocabulary of Israel’s praise, arriving at the close of the model prayer to remind the one praying that everything just asked for was already his.
Now look at the architecture.
“Thine is the kingdom“ is not a hopeful look into someone else’s future. It is the bowing of the knee in recognition of ownership. We pray everything we have prayed because the kingdom belongs to Him. This declaration closes the loop on your kingdom come from verse 10. We asked for the kingdom to advance. We close by declaring it was always His. The advance we prayed for is not the establishment of something new. It is the full manifestation of what already belongs to Him.
“And the power” comes from the Greek word dynamis, from which we get the word dynamite, representing the power, the ability, the strength to accomplish. This closes the loop on Your will be done. The will of God is not wishful thinking, and it is not dependent on human cooperation to succeed. He has the power to accomplish everything He has purposed. Isaiah 46:10 says it plainly: “My counsel shall stand and I will accomplish all my purpose.” The prayer closes by declaring that the One to Whom we have submitted our agenda has the power to carry His own agenda to completion.
“And the glory,“ the weight, the manifest brilliance of who He is. This closes the loop on hallowed be Your name. We opened by asking His name to be treated with the weight it deserves. We close by declaring that the glory is already His, regardless of how it is treated by the world. The hallowing we prayed for is not the creation of something that does not exist. It is the acknowledgment of what already and always is.
“Forever. Amen.” Everything prayed in this model prayer is prayed in light of a kingdom that does not end, a power that does not diminish, and a glory that does not fade. The amen comes from the Hebrew, meaning truly, so be it, this is certain. It is a declaration of confidence in the One to Whom the prayer has been addressed from its first word to its last.
That is the architecture of the Lord’s Prayer. It opens by declaring who God is. It asks for what only He can provide. And it closes by declaring that what was asked for was already His. The one praying never moves to the center. God stays there from beginning to end.
We started this series with two words. Our Father. Every entry since has been filling in what that means in the daily life of someone who takes it seriously. The hallowed Name. The surrendered agenda. The daily provision. The canceled debt. The governed terrain. The released verdict. And now the declaration that closes the loop on all of it. Thine is the kingdom. Thine is the power. Thine is the glory.
It was always His. You were always invited. The prayer was always worth praying.
“Our Father which art 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, for ever. Amen.” (Matthew 6:9–13, KJV)
Your Father is listening. If you will bow the knee.
How will you pray differently now that you have walked through it word by word?
Stay on Mission
FOOTNOTES
11The doxology does not appear in the earliest Greek manuscripts of Matthew 6, including Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus, and is absent from the ESV main text. It appears in later Byzantine manuscripts and in the Didache, a first or second-century church manual. For the full manuscript history, commentary evidence, and theological discussion, download the Stay on Mission Doxology Research Companion HERE.
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
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