Prayer 101: For Thine Is

Welcome Graham fam! We are so glad you could watch Sunday morning online with us. Today, we continue with the Lord’s Prayer. – Matthew 6:9-13 (NKJ Version) Let’s have a clear talk really quick before we proceed in our message for today. We are focusing on the last half of verse 13 which is “For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” I always like to address things like this because people like to use verses like this to create division, promote their own agendas, and try to discredit scripture. You should know that the second part of verse 13 that we are focusing on today is included in the KJV and in the NKJV. Now, it is also included in other more modern translations like the NIV, NLT, NRSV, etc. but you will find it at the bottom of the page in the footnotes rather than right in the middle of the text. The reason why is because when the KJV was being translated into English, they were using the only known text that they had at the time in order to translate it. That text had 13b in it, so it was included in that version. Since the KJV has been translated there have been other scrolls and texts found that are older than what they had access to at the time of the KJV translation. Speaking from a historical perspective, the older a document is the more reliable it is considered to be. Because the oldest manuscripts that we have now does not include 13b, it is simply listed in the footnotes because most biblical scholars believe that it was added in later on and was not part of the original Lord’s Prayer that Jesus taught. Now, in saying all that, when you look at 13b you need to understand a couple of things. First, even if it wasn’t part of the original teaching that Jesus gave, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t true and good. Second, it is very much worthy enough to teach on and we are going to talk about this today. Points: Be mindful of our false sense of ownership! – Job 1:20-22 – Job 41:11 – Hebrews 3:3-4 (Jesus greater than Moses) – Ezekiel 18:4 (God declaring how he will judge the people’s sin referencing an old prove) Everything is on loan! – Leviticus 25:23 It all belongs to God! – Psalm 24:1 (Psalm of David) – Psalm 50:8-12 (A Psalm of Asaph) End: It should be a regular practice of ours to acknowledge God’s ownership and authority of the things and people that are in our lives. I try to make it a habit of thanking God for allowing me to have things and relationships. All of these things are on loan to me: Hannah belongs to God, Perry and Naomi belong to God My friendships, this church belong to God Our cars, our house, our land belong to God Our jobs, our money, our clothing belong to God At any given moment God could choose to take any of it or all of it away. I pray all the time that God would not test me like Job because I don’t know how well I would do on that test. Our praise and worship of God depends greatly on understanding that its his kingdom, his power, and his glory! 1 Chronicles 29:11-12 (David Praising after gifts for the temple were given) 11 Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, O Lord, and this is your kingdom. We adore you as the one who is over all things. 12 Wealth and honor come from you alone, for you rule over everything. Power and might are in your hand, and at your discretion people are made great and given strength. If you would like to watch our past services, you can do so here: https://www.gcwesleyan.org/sunday-service-videos/ Like and subscribe to our new YouTube channel, Graham Chapel Youth! We are producing some funny videos as well as live streaming our Wednesday night youth group: https://is.gd/grahamyouth.