Kingdom Gratitude: The Power and the Glory

What if Thanksgiving were about more than gratitude for pumpkin pie and mashed potatoes?

Don’t get me wrong—those are good gifts, too. But the closing words of the Lord’s Prayer invite us into a different, deeper kind of thanksgiving:

“For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.”

Most of us grew up saying those words by heart. They roll off the tongue easily, like the “amen” at the end. But every now and then, it’s worth pausing to ask:What are we actually saying here?And what would it mean to live as if these words were really true?

In our recent sermon, “Kingdom Gratitude: The Power and the Glory,” we explored three simple, but life-changing ideas buried in that one little line.

1. A Kingdom Beyond Our Control

First, we remembered that the kingdom, the power, and the glory are bigger than us.

When we say, “Thine is the kingdom,” we are admitting that reality does not begin and end with our own preferences, politics, or plans. There is a larger reality shaping and holding our lives—a reality of mercy, justice, and love.

Some of us call that larger reality God, a personal Presence we can speak to in prayer. Others experience it more as Holy Mystery, or as the deep goodness woven into the universe itself: the earth, the forces of nature, the laws of physics, the inner voice of conscience, the love that keeps surfacing in human hearts despite everything.

However we name it, this line of the prayer reminds us:

• We are not in charge of the universe.

• We are not alone in the universe, either.

• There is a kingdom, a power, and a glory that do not depend on our mood, our income, or our newsfeed.

In a world where we are constantly told that everything depends on us, this is strangely good news.

2. The Lord’s Prayer as a Way of Joining In

If the kingdom, power, and glory belong to God (or to this deeper Goodness beyond us), then what is our part?

That’s where the rest of the Lord’s Prayer comes in.

Before we ever reach the closing line, we’ve already been praying things like:

• “Our Father…” – reminding us we belong to one another, not just to ourselves.

• “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” – asking that this larger reality of mercy and justice would shape our very ordinary, everyday lives.

• “Give us this day our daily bread” – learning to trust that there can be enough, and that “us” means everyone, not just me and mine.

• “Forgive us… as we forgive…” – opening ourselves to grace, and then passing it along.

• “Deliver us from evil” – admitting that we sometimes get tangled up in what harms us and others, and asking to be guided toward what heals.

In other words, the Lord’s Prayer isn’t just a set of nice words to recite. It is a pattern for living in which the transcendent kingdom becomes tangible and visible on earth—in real people, real choices, real community.

We could say it this way:The kingdom may be beyond us, but it is not meant to be without us.We’re invited to let it come in us and through us.

3. Gratitude as the Doorway to Power and Glory

That still leaves one big question:If the kingdom is real, and the prayer is our way of joining in, then how do we actually experience the power and the glory of that kingdom?

This is where gratitude comes in.

When we practice genuine thanksgiving, we are doing something very simple and very profound. We are saying:

“These blessings did not start with me. I received them.”

That one awareness is called humility. It’s the posture that opens us to communion with the One (or the Holy Source) behind all the gifts.

Think about some of the things we can be thankful for:

• Life on this earth—breath, body, moments of beauty.

• The people who walk with us and live with us.

• Our gifts, chances, and second chances.

• Our past, even the hard parts that taught us, and our future that is still unfolding.

• The Source in whom we “live and move and have our being,” whether we name that as God, the life within, or the living universe.

As we become more honestly grateful for these things, something happens:

• Power begins to show up as courage to do the right thing, staying power when life is hard, and the capacity to forgive, to serve, and to love.

• Glory begins to show up as joy and peace, a sense of meaning, a bit of “sparkle” in our relationships, a deeper harmony with creation, and simple, quiet acts of justice and mercy.

The kingdom has not changed. The power and the glory have not changed.What changes is our openness to them.

Gratitude doesn’t make God love us more. It doesn’t earn us points in heaven.But it does clear a space inside us where the kingdom’s power and glory can be felt and seen.

A Simple Practice for This Week

If you’d like to take this off the page and into your daily life, here’s a simple practice:

At some point this week, quietly pray the Lord’s Prayer—just once, and a little slower than usual.

After each line, pause and name one thing you’re thankful for that fits that line:

• After “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be thy name” – one way you’ve experienced something holy or good.

• After “Thy kingdom come…” – one place you’ve glimpsed justice, mercy, or humility.

• After “Give us this day our daily bread” – one concrete provision in your life that you’re grateful for.

• After “Forgive us…” – one place where forgiveness (received or given) has brought healing.

• After “Deliver us from evil” – one time you’ve been pulled back from something harmful, or helped through something hard.

Then finish with:

“For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.”

You may be surprised at how different that familiar line feels when it’s soaked in specific, honest gratitude.

Wherever you are on your spiritual journey—certain, skeptical, or somewhere in between—you’re welcome to explore this mystery with us:

A kingdom bigger than we are.A power and glory we don’t have to manufacture.And a simple, human practice—gratitude—that opens us to both.