Shortly before his death, the ancient Greek philosopher Diogenes instructed his students to bury him face-down. When asked why, Diogenes explained it was because he believed that one day the world would be turned right-side up. We might feel like Diogenes at times living in a world turned topsy-turvey, upside-down. Our hearts ache when good is called evil and evil is called good (see Isaiah 5:20; Romans 1:18-23). But having prayed for God’s kingdom to come and His will done throughout the earth, we cannot but rejoice as we pray “for yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever.”
We are assured that our Father’s victory is certain and that we will reign with Him in His kingdom, power, and glory. The prophet Daniel foretold the Father’s kingdom coming: “The kingship and dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the holy ones of the Most High; their kingdom shall be an everlasting Kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey them” (Daniel 7:27). The world always claims the kingdom, power, and glory for itself, but we know better. We pray, “…for yours is the kingdom, and the power and the glory, for ever and ever.” An old hymn tells the story: “This is my Father’s world, the battle is not done: Jesus who died shall be satisfied, and earth and Heav’n be one.” (Maltbie Babcock, “This Is My Father’s World”)
We who would seek first the kingdom of God “find our little lives caught up in the great drama of God’s redemption of the world and we are swept up in a grand adventure more significant than our lives would have been left to ourselves; heaven is open, the kingdom is come, and we shout, ‘Amen!’” (Stanley Hauerwas, William Willimon, Lord, Teach Us: The Lord’s Prayer & the Christian Life)
Once, as a hospital chaplain, I stood alongside an actively dying patient and his family when the patient, gasping for air, began whispering the Lord’s Prayer. Then a family member, and another, and another, joined in with growing, loud assurance, “Thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever.” We who love the Father join with Christians of the ages, praising our Father and confessing that victory is certain! God will turn the world right-side up!
PRAY THE LORD’S PRAYER (MORNING-NOON-NIGHT)
