Well, it's great to see you all this morning. As you know, we've been going over the Lord's Prayer in the last few weeks just to give us an opportunity to stop and reflect as we pray this great prayer which Jesus taught us to pray. So far we've seen in this prayer that Jesus told us God is our father. We approach God like his children, that God is our provider, that he is the one who provides for our physical and our spiritual needs, that our God's kingdom is coming and that we should be prepared for that and that indeed God's will be done on earth. as it is in heaven. As the angels submit to God's will, we pray that God would turn our hearts to Him, that our hearts may also desire to do His will. So today we come to the conclusion of this prayer, and it's a few short words that we'll be looking at. But at the end, we'll be looking at these three things in light of the entire prayer. We'll be looking at the conclusion of this prayer in light of that prayer in its entirety. And so in this conclusion, we read, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen. And so today's sermon, we will look at our father, who is the one who is worthy of all glory and praise. And this is also our sermon title for today. Our father, the one worthy of glory and praise. Again, our father, the one worthy of glory and praise. And so in this conclusion to the Lord's prayer, we read that to God belongs the kingdom. to God belongs the power as well as the glory, not only now, but forever and ever. And this teaches us two things. The first thing we see in this conclusion is that we as Christians should take our encouragement when we pray from God only, that our encouragement from prayer should come from God only. What do I mean by this? Well, let's think about this for a moment. Are we encouraged when we pray? When we come to prayer on a Wednesday or when we pray as a church, do we feel encouraged afterwards? I would say, yeah. Many of us would say, yes, we feel encouraged. We feel refreshed after we pray. Why is that? Why do we feel encouraged at the end of our prayers? Is it perhaps because we feel more holy than those who were not at prayer? Are we encouraged by our great spirituality? Or maybe we feel encouraged because now we've twisted God's arm to get what we want. So we're encouraged and expectant to get what we want. And while I'm sure there are many Christians who feel this way, this shouldn't be the reason we gain encouragement from prayer. The biggest reason we draw encouragement from prayer is because in this act of praying and going on our knees and with our hands open, as it were, we come to God, not on our own worthiness, but on his. You know, we come to God as the one who has the kingdom and is eternally sovereign, the one who has all powerful and to whom belongs all the glory forever and ever. Therefore, the God we come to is sovereign and able to answer our prayers and this should be the foundation why we are encouraged. You know what a great encouragement it is when we pray to know that our God hears us. What a great encouragement it is that our God is not some dead idol or some dead historical figure but that he is alive and not only alive but that he has a kingdom and he has the power and the glory forever. You know, in Daniel nine, we see a great example of this. You know, Daniel, the story of Daniel going to a foreign land, being told that he's not allowed to pray to his God, but Daniel finding encouragement, as it were, from prayer turns to God. And in Daniel nine, we read his prayer. Daniel prays saying, Oh Lord, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments. Just a side note here, we see, like we saw last week, Daniel comes to his God knowing who he's praying to. The great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love. So again, Daniel knows who he's praying to. In verse five, Daniel continues, we have sinned and done wrong and act wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. We have not listened to your servants and prophets who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers. To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us, open shame. To you, Lord, belongs glory, but to us, open shame. You see, as Daniel approaches God in this prayer, he knows his place in God's economy. He sees that to God belongs righteousness and in the way that his people have acted belong wickedness. And in verse 17, Daniel continues. Now, therefore, O God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy. And for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate. Oh my God, incline your ear and hear, for your eyes see our desolations and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. You see here in Daniel, we find someone who understands that we do not come to God based on our righteousness, but because of his. Daniel doesn't seek to stand before the throne of God because he is such a great and righteous man, but because of God's great mercy in allowing Daniel to come. And you see it is the same for us today. We are not accepted by God and we do not approach God because of a righteousness of our own. We're accepted because of the righteousness of Christ being imputed to us. So when we approach God, we don't approach God thinking that we are righteous and that God needs to listen to us because of the great works we have done. No, we approach God because of the righteousness of Christ given to us. And what a great encouragement it is to just stop and think about that. What a great encouragement it is that we do not stand before God because of our righteousness, because if we tried to do that, He would just wipe us away, as Matt said this morning. So church, when we come to God and we say, to you belong the kingdom and the power and the glory, and we stop and reflect about this God whom we are praying to, what a great encouragement it is that He has given us His righteousness to stand before him in prayer. So in this prayer, we find a great encouragement because of who God is. But secondly, then, we also see that we do something in this prayer. We ascribe to God kingdom and power and glory. What does that mean? What does it mean when we say that we ascribe to God the power and the glory and the kingdom? Well, Matt read a great example of This in the Old Testament, in First Chronicles 29, David says, as we've read this morning, blessed are you, O God, O Lord, the God of our father, Israel, forever and ever. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom and you're exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you and you rule over all. And we saw the same revelation for as the angels say, holy, Holy, holy. What does it mean then for us to say these things to God? I mean, surely it doesn't mean that because we say to you belong the kingdom, God's like, oh, great, thanks. Thank you for saying that the kingdom is mine. Now I can take it. Surely God isn't waiting for us to say yours is the power and now he's all powerful. No, when we reflect on these things, it is merely us reflecting on what the reality and the truth of the matter is. When we say yours is the kingdom, it is indeed scripture given for us to stop and reflect on the fact that God is a kingdom. That would mean that he is the king. The king of what? Well, the king of the universe. That means God is sovereign over all. And therefore, when we pray, we pray to the sovereign king who is king over the universe. When we say that the power is God's, we do not only speak about the fact that God can create or that God is powerful like somebody that is strong. No, when we are saying that the power belongs to God, we are again ascribing and saying that God is all powerful, all sovereign, and therefore entirely capable to answer our prayers. And what a great encouragement that is. Knowing that we do not only pray to the king of the universe, but we're praying to the king who is entirely able to answer our prayer. And when we say, all the glory belongs to you forever, you know, we're not speaking about some glory which belongs to a football team at the end of the season when they lift the cup. And we say, that was a glorious season to them belong the football glory. No, when we say this, we are speaking about an eternal glory, God's glory, which shines into eternity. a glory which we cannot add or take away from, a glory that belongs to God forever and ever. You see, in this final conclusion of the prayer, it causes us to stop and reflect on the God who has all authority and is therefore able to answer our prayers, all powerful, and to whom belongs all the glory. You see, in this declaration, We do not declare these things in order to add these things to God, in order to give Him the permission to do these things. No, when we say these things, we are merely giving back to God what is His. The glory of God, which shines into creation when He created, we're merely giving back to God the glory. So when we reflect on this, what do we see? When we look at this conclusion and we reflect on the fact that the kingdom and the glory and the power belongs to God, how does this influence the Lord's Prayer? And the reason I didn't go over the Lord's Prayer before I started was I think it's a good practice to look at the entirety of the Lord's Prayer, just a few of the petitions in light of the fact that the kingdom and the power and the glory belongs to God. You see, when we therefore say, hallowed be thy name, it is not just saying, oh, I would really like God's name to be glorified, or it would be a nice thing for God's name to be glorified. No, we say, hallowed be thy name, because as the conclusion tells us, to him belong all glory forever and ever. So saying, hallowed be thy name is merely a natural outflow of a prayer to the person to whom all glory belongs. When we say, Thy kingdom come, you know, in the hearts of people, Thy kingdom come in the salvation of people, Thy kingdom come when Christ returns. It is because to Him belong the kingdom. It is merely an outflow of the reality that He is the King of the universe. When we approach God, as his children, asking for our daily bread, or asking for our sins to be forgiven, or asking for us to be kept from temptation, it is because we approach the one to whom belongs all power. The one who is all powerful and entirely able to answer our prayers for bread, forgiveness of sin, and to be kept from temptation. You see, in the conclusion of this prayer, we in fact found the foundation of all of our prayers, the foundation by which we come to God, the foundation by which we make our petitions and supplications. We come to God because he is the king of the kingdom. We approach God because he is all powerful. We approach God because he is entirely able and willing to answer our prayers. Why? Because to him belongs the kingdom. because he is all powerful and to him belongs all glory forever and ever. You see, we as Christians, doesn't not only applicable in the Lord's prayer, but in fact, in all of our prayers, we need to be reflective on who it is that we are praying to. Just as Daniel approaches God in his prayer in Daniel nine, and he starts with the words, God of mercy, forgive me. In all of our prayers, the foundation and the comfort we draw from that should be the fact that we are in fact praying to the king of the universe. The foundation by which we come to God is the fact that he is all powerful and able to answer our prayers. I mean, what a great tragedy it would be if we find out in five or 10 years, oh, we've in fact been praying to God, but he's not entirely powerful. He can't actually answer all of our prayers. He can only answer some. No church. The reason we as Christians pray and can find encouragement from our prayers and be encouraged when we leave a time of prayer is the fact that our God is able to answer those prayers and because He is glorified when He answers our prayers. Just think about this for a moment. How glorified is God in the salvation of an unbeliever? Throughout scripture, we see the glory of God in the salvation of unbelievers. We see the joy in heaven when a sinner comes to salvation. What a great encouragement it is then when we pray for our friends and family members who are non-believers. We're praying for the king to add to his kingdom. Which king would say no to that? We are praying to the one who is all-powerful, who is able to change hearts and change minds. What a great encouragement that is. And we're praying to the one to whom all glory belongs, who's glorified in the salvation of sinners. What a great encouragement we have then when we pray for our friends and family members for salvation. And this is the same for all of our prayers and petitions. Church, we should come to God knowing who He is. We say this every week. That is why it's so important for us to be steeped and bathed in the Scriptures, that we may know who our God is, that when we read of His great mercy, we can stand on that and pray and say, Lord, I see Your mercy. You are merciful. You have been merciful to Your people throughout all the New Testaments. I come to You on this basis alone, not because of my righteousness, but on Your mercy. So let us find encouragement from our prayers. And then in the Lord's Prayer, we see this prayer ending in a word we say at the end of all our prayers. And sometimes even in our normal conversations, this prayer ends with the word Amen. You know, many times we glance over this word, it's at the end of a prayer. Many of us are not even thinking what it means. I mean, many of us might not even know what the word Amen means. The word Amen just means verily, indeed, or let it be so. In Greek, there are various translations of this. But we really shouldn't use this word flippantly, or at least shouldn't just use this word and not think what we're saying. And it's very normal to do so. I mean, it's not like I or we don't do that. But in this word, amen, at the end of our prayers, it expresses two things, or at least should express two things. Firstly, when we say amen, it concludes a prayer and it expresses our desire. saying, indeed, Lord, let these things be so. At the end of our prayer, it's sort of a bow that we tie on it. It's an expression of our desire, saying, Lord, let this be so. We find an example of this in Revelation 22. We find in Revelation 22, John writing, saying, he who testifies of these things, saying, surely I am coming soon. And then John, adding his editorial note, saying, amen. Come, Lord Jesus. That amen, verily, let it be so. John expressing his desire to see the risen Lord Jesus. And this is what we do at the end of our prayers. When we pray for the salvation of our family members, or when we pray for the Lord's supplication, ending that prayer with the word amen, saying, Lord, let it be so. This is my earnest desire. I didn't just bring random thoughts to you, Lord, but my earnest desires were brought to you this morning or this evening. But we also find this idea of assurance. You know, at the end of our prayers when we say, Amen, we find this idea of assurance that the one to whom we come in prayer is able to answer. It's like Asa when he prayed in 2 Chronicles 14. We read in 2 Chronicles 14, then Asa called to the Lord his God and said, Lord, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us. Lord our God, we rely on you. And in your name, we have come against this vast enemy. Lord, you are our God. Do not let mere mortals prevail against you. So when we end our prayers in Amen, it's the sense where we're saying, Lord, we are powerless to do anything about these things that we have prayed about. But Lord, we rely on you to do this. This gives us the sense of assurance. So when we say Amen, we proclaim our assurance that God is willing and able to hear us and indeed has heard us. Amen. Let it be so. So as we've gone over the Lord's Prayer in the last few weeks, we have seen several things. You know, we've seen God as our great father, our great provider, the one to whom belongs all glory and power. So the question now is where do we go from here? Where do we as a church go from here? We've slowed down and we've gone over the Lord's Prayer. And the fact is, as a church, we should now, as we say the Lord's Prayer every week as a church, perhaps as a family at home, seek to stop in our thoughts or pray it a bit slower and just meditate on these great truths, that we're praying to the king of the universe, our great provider who is entirely able and willing to answer our prayers. One of the English theologians, Thomas Boston, at the end of Going over the Lord's Prayer asked a similar question. Now, having studied the Lord's Prayer, where do we go from here? And he ends with a few inferences, and I'm just going to go over these four as we draw to a close this evening. Or afternoon, morning, sorry. Thomas Boston, at the end of the Lord's Prayer, he said, the first inference in this is that we should be fervent with God and prayer and set ourselves to plead and pray as men that are in the deepest and earnest about a thing on which their highest interests were suspended. If earnestness were required, here they are highly, no, absolutely requisite. And earnestness just really means that when we come to God, we are vulnerable and open and honest and truthful about the things that we are praying for. So church, as we come then to the Lord in prayer, we know the God to whom we're praying about. Our father who loves us and wants to provide for us, who is able and willing to do so. So when we come to prayer, we should not do it flippantly. or mindlessly, or just as something that we as Christians do know, we should be fervent with God in prayer, knowing to whom we are praying for, knowing that he is able to answer our prayers. Secondly, he says that, let not complaints come out of your prayers. Let not complaints come out of your praises. But remember that every day affords you as much matter of praise as of requests. God's mercies are new every morning. Let, therefore, the sacrifice of praise be a part of your daily sacrifice unto God. And what a great reminder, Church, we have that when we come to God with our supplications, He loves to hear us come to Him asking for things. But let that not be the only thing we come to God for. Let us not be like children who are just wanting things all the time. And yes, God wants to give us, but let us come to God with our praises as well. What a great privilege we have to bring our praises to God as well. The God who is our provider. Our God who is willing to answer our prayers. Our God who has given and provided for us so much greater than we can ever ask or imagine. You know, that is the scripture that the Stangheilers have come to Norway for. And I think that scripture ties in so well with the Lord's Prayer. That the God we pray to, it's not only able and willing to answer, but the way in which you provide exceeds our expectations, exceeds the way we could ever ask or imagine. So let's praise this God in our prayers when we come to Him. Thirdly, deeply consider what a God He is with whom you have to do. Pleas in prayer may be fetched, and faith will fetch them from every divine attribute and perfection. And faith will improve these pleas in such a manner as to procure the good things it applies to the throne for. And here he's saying that when we pray, we should consider who God is, just like Daniel did. God of mercy, be merciful. God of all powerful, show your power in doing this thing. Church, when we pray the Lord's prayer or any prayer for that matter, we should consider deeply who God is when we pray to him. And then finally, he ends saying, use not amen superficially at the end of your prayers, but with earnestness and faith. And church, again, when we say amen at the end of our prayers, it shouldn't just be a superficial thing we end prayer off, but it should be an earnestness and faith. a faith-based assurance that the things which we have asked God for and praised God for, He indeed has heard it and He is indeed able to answer our prayers. Let us pray.