Father's Glory

Introduction:

What is the one prayer that God loves to answer the most? Today we are finishing up this summer series on the Lord’s Prayer, how Jesus instructed us to pray, which is at the heart of Christian Spirituality. We’ve followed as Jesus has showed us Upward Prayer (Father’s Character), Outward Prayer (Father’s Kingdom ) and Inward Prayer (Father’s Provision, Forgiveness, Guidance and Protection). It’s all been about God the Father. Jesus has showed us what spirituality actually looks like. But there’s one remaining part of the Lord’s Prayer we need to get to, and it’s the purpose and motivation and heartcry behind the entire prayer.

So again, what prayer do you think God loves to answer the most? God loves to answer the prayer “Show me your glory.” We believe in the Lord, who is a God who speaks, a God who reveals, a God who actually shows Himself to His creation. He isn’t just transcendent but loves to come near His people. In fact, that’s the heartbeat behind all of history: God revealing God! He loves when we ask Him to show us His glory!

Now think about this: In the midst of your daily life, when your soul feels dry, when your day is full, when your tank feels empty, when you’re running on fumes, when you open your Bible and you finally ask for God’s help, what do you pray? This is the simplest, most honest and humble and passionate plea that you can make: “Father, show me your glory.” That’s the heartbeat of the Lord’s Prayer and why it ends with: “Yours is the Kingdom, and the Power and the Glory, forever and ever! Amen!”

You see, God wants to show His glory! He made the world to show His glory and also to share His glory. He made us humans in his very own image to reflect His glory in the world. We are but only mirrors too reflect Him. But we will not fully and truly reflect Him if we haven’t yet stood straight like a good mirror and let Him show His glory upon us. We won’t reflect anything if we haven’t stood in awe of Him and enjoyed his beauty in our hearts. And our hearts cannot look on him in awe and stunned silence if we haven’t yet seen him with the eyes of our souls. I’ve said this before, and it’s very important to realize: Changed lives which changes the world begin with seeing God’s glory. “Beholding the glory of the Lord, [we] are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

So we pray: “God, show me your glory.” We yell out: “Yours is the Kingdom!” We groan “Yours is the Power!” In tears of longing we mutter: “Yours is the Glory!” We want to see the Father’s Glory! And all of history and all of our very own lives depend on him answering that prayer. And one great evidence that God is at work in a person and in your own soul is when you feel, and then express, that longing: You want to see the Father’s Glory!

Exposition:

In fact that was Jesus’ very passion and heartbeat! All things in His life and His ministry and His teaching were for the glory of God.

And even in this prayer that He taught His disciples to pray: He expresses such a God-centered focus! He started the prayer with God and it ends with more adoration! All prayer must be for the glory of God.

You see the primary goal of prayer is to be riveted upon the glory of God. Everything else must submit to the glory of God!  In Matthew 6:13, this is expressed with the words “For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen” (nkjv).

The first phrase ‘yours is the Kingdom’ is passionate declaration of God’s sovereignty. God both possesses and presides over His vast kingdom. And we long for His Kingdom, we desire His kingdom. He is the sovereign king, who exercises supreme authority and unrestricted dominion over all things. He commands all the affairs of mankind, even the detailed inner workings of the entire universe. From His throne above, God “works all things according to the counsel of his will” (Eph. 1:11). We long for His Kingdom!

The second phrase "yours is the power” belongs to God. The definite article ‘the’ defines the unlimited scope of His power. He possesses the power. Not a mere portion of some power, but the power. In other words, He has all power in heaven and earth. All power, both electric and political are inferior to His and in fact only exist because they come from Him! We long for His power to come and break out!

The third phrase “yours is the glory” is the wonderous declaration of God’s glory, which embraces all of this. The Bible describes God’s glory in two ways. First, His intrinsic glory is the everything and all that God is inside Himself. If you gather up together everything about Him and all His characteristics, perfections and attributes: that’s the dazzling glory of God. He is who He is. Second, there is God’s ascribed glory, which is the glory that is given to Him by us and His creation from outside of Himself. This is the praise and honor we give Him which is due His name. This is worship. Heartfelt, passionate, truthful, Spirit-filled total pursuit of God! Such glory is to be ascribed to Him alone.

And all of this fervent praise and red-hot worship should come to God “forever.” Because His kingdom and power is without end, so must our praise be without ceasing. Because His glory never dims, so we should forever stand in stunned silence at His magnitude. Every moment of this fragile and short life must be filled with praise, both now and throughout all eternity. Forever, and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever!

Illustration:

You see, this is what life is all about: The Father’s Glory. And His glory is splendid and delightful. Even in commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy Him. Did you catch that, when God commands us to glorify and praise Him, He is actually inviting us to enjoy Him! We actually get to see and savor and delight in God. Now I know that some think “God is an egomaniac. Why does He want us to worship Him?” But to rephrase the Westminster Catechism: what is our very purpose? Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, by fully enjoying him forever. Or as John Piper has stated, “God is most glorified, when we are most satisfied in Him.” God has nothing greater than Himself to give to us. If there was something greater and more glorious than the Lord God, well… it would be God. No, He’s not an egomaniac, He is serving us by giving to humans the best thing we could ever get: Himself!

But you might not see that or want that. You might be so focused on your own Kingdom and life, your own power and strength, your own glory and goodness that He’s not too appealing. That’s why the apostle Paul prayed for Christians that “the eyes of your hearts [would be] enlightened” so they might know “the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and . . . the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe” (Ephesians 1:18–19). This is a prayer to ask for yourself and others, especially when you don’t see God as great and good and glorious and gracious: “Shoe me your glory! “Show her your glory”! “God, show him your glory.” “Father, show them your glory.”

In fact, when I first became a Christian, my youth pastor told me to read the Bible from cover to cover. Well, what if I don’t understand it, I asked. He said, that’s fine, just keep reading and keep looking for God, read to get a glimpse of God’s glory. I did that and I clearly remember coming to Exodus and an event in Moses’ life that has shaped me ever since:

In Exodus 33, before leading God’s people into the Promised Land, Moses prayed. He was overwhelmed by the stiff-necked, rebellous people. He wondered what to do and what God would do. Then His prayers plunged a little deeper… More than getting something from the Lord, Moses opened His heart up fully and vulnerable: He wanted to know the Lord the most deeply? So, Moses asks, “Please show me your glory” (Exodus 33:18).

And here’s the amazing thing… God responded:

“I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.” (Exodus 33:19)

The Lord showed his glory to Moses by putting his goodness on display. And what was it? Something stronger than wrath... higher than power… It’s God’s glory: grace and mercy.

The next morning God hides Moses in a cleft of the rock on the top of the mountain and draws near:

“The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” (Exodus 34:5–7)

Moses yearned in His heart for Father’s Glory. He wanted to see it. He wanted to live in it. And He got a small glimpse into the heart of God. And you know what he did, he laid his entire body down, bowing fully on the ground in full worship. He was totally consumed for the glory of God in the glory of God!

Application:

And this is why we pray “Yours is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory! Sola dei gloria, for the glory of God! We hunger for His glory!

And my friends, to pray for God’s glory and seek His presence, it’s a costly thing. In 1 Corinthians 10:31 Paul wrote, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Now, I know it’s easy to just rattle off a phrase ‘for the glory of God’ or to say you are doing something for God’s glory. But it’s easy to say that when it will not cost you too much or unsettle your version of comfort.

It’s must more difficult to live for God’s glory when it costs something. I know by experience that sometimes, for the sake of His glory, God pushes us past our own comfort zones by putting us in a hard and unique and needy mission field or family or workplace or by bringing about hard-to-accept consequences for sin. It’s in that place that you and I struggle with praying for the glory of God because the glory of God can be both kind and terrifying. But for those of you in Christ, this life becomes a tool to transform you into the image of Christ, and that gives God glory. It redirects peoples attention from yourself, and back to Him! He will get glory out of it!

But here’s the thing, it’s not passive! Praying for God’s glory is not just a passive activity. Sometimes we think just because we end prayer with “Amen” when praying for the glory of God, all the work is done. But you and I are not at the theaters waiting for the show of God’s glory to start. In fact to pray itself is to enter the governing room of the universe and God will likely use you to answer your own prayer. So it can be scary to pray a prayer, knowing that God very well may use you to answer it. We participate in God’s plan in displaying His glory. We simply takes action by being obedient to the work God gave us to do. This can be uncomfortably stretching for us. We participate with God’s work. We are His instruments. We pray for and live for the Father’s Glory!

And all of this is accomplished by making sure our prayer time includes worship. Worship is the most powerful way to both seek God’s glory and give God glory! When we sing we seek His glory and give Him glory! When we kneel before Him, we are showing our need for His glory and giving Him glory! When we sit or stand in silence, we contemplate His glory and give Him glory! When we cry tears of adoration, He gets great glory and our tears tell Him we love His glory! When we do anything in worship to give Him worth and attention, it gives Him glory and expresses our own desire for His glory! This is why worship is so important! It’s one reason Prayer is a value of our church and one reason we gather once a month for nights of Prayer and Worship that we call Glorify!

But as I said, that’s just the beginning. When you leave today after we say amen. You get to live for God’s glory by all the decisions you make. You get to seek His glory all around you, in all the spaces and places you will go. You get to take all the things we have been discussing the past 2 months and put it in to practice. Are you ready to seek God and His glory?

And you’ve got to remember that God always gets His glory. This doesn’t make us passive or indifferent. No, it solidifies in our hearts that God’s glory is in God’s hands, according to God’s plan. You can lay your head to rest at night because of the truth that God’s Word always accomplishes exactly what God has intended it to accomplish. Praying for the glory of God may be costly and it will require participation on your part, but there are no better words to express your prayers than simply: Yours oh Lord is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory forever!

Every single prayer uttered for the glory of God is an expression of surrender to the Father’s wisdom and His sovereign plan. And every single thing that that God calls you to be and do is for His glory, now and forever, and also for your good and your joy, now and forever. Amen!

Christ-centered Closing:

And my friends, this is what it means to say Amen at the end of a prayer. Jesus taught His disciples to end their prayers with the statement, “Amen.” It’s Hebrew root meaning to agree. “Let it be”! “I agree” is what ‘Amen’ means. And this should be our concluding response to God in prayer. Amen to all that we know to be true about God. Amen to His kingdom. Let it be to His sovereign will. Let it be to His daily provision. I agree to His forgiveness . Amen to His delivering power.

All prayer should build and rise to this lofty summit of God’s glory. Our only response must resoundingly be — amen!

And we get to do this, we get to do this, we get to behold God’s glory because of Jesus, and only Jesus. When Moses asked the Father to show His glory, God said No, “You cannot see my face” Exodus 33:20).

At the beginning I asked you, What is the one prayer that God loves to answer the most? It’s that prayer, show me your glory! And that glory God hid from Moses... but now He shows it to us in His Son.

For “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. . . . For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known. (John 1:14, 16–18)

Jesus has made the Father known! Jesus is the glory of God coming to us. Jesus Christ alone truly and fully reveals God! Jesus is “the [visible] image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15).

Do you want to see the Father’s Glory! You get Jesus! Do you want to see God? You get Jesus! Do you long to look upon his face? You see Jesus! Where will we see “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God”? “in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6).

God loves to answer the prayer “Show me your glory” and He does it by giving us Jesus! He doesn’t leave us in the dark wondering where we should turn to have our prayer answered. Once we pray this audacious declaration “all is for your glory”, we’re not left clueless as to where to focus next.

All we have to do is look on a coarse Roman tool for execution, where a real Jewish man is squirming in agony. And if we look closely, if we give undistracted attention, we see that He is doing all of it, He is suffering through it all for God’s glory. He is seeking to give the Father the highest glory imaginable with His life. It’s costly, it’s not passive.

And He is seeking God and desiring God’s glory even in the face of His pain. Can you hear Him pray, can you see Him seek and pursue God, even in silence and suffering! And do you hear what He’s praying? It’s all for God’s glory and for the good and joy of all of those, all of you, who pursue Him and love Him and want Him. For God’s glory and our good. It’s a prayer of hope and a prayer of pain: It is finished He said. That’s God’s answer to our deepest prayer. That’s the Father’s glory.