The Doxology of the Lord's Prayer: For Yours Is the Kingdom
The traditional doxology of the Lord's Prayer is the closing line, "For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever." Many churches use it to end the prayer with praise. The familiar wording appears in later manuscripts of Matthew, while an early Christian work called the Didache preserves a shorter form.
"For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen." (Matthew 6:13, traditional ending)
Many Christians have prayed these words for years. The line gives worshipers a way to end their requests with praise. The kingdom, power, and glory belong to God.
Why Some Bibles Put the Line in a Footnote
Many modern Bibles place the doxology in a footnote because the earliest surviving manuscripts of Matthew do not include it. The familiar three-part ending begins appearing in Greek manuscripts centuries later.
The history also shows early Christian worship. The Didache, an early church teaching document, ends the Lord's Prayer with a shorter line: "For yours is the power and the glory forever." This does not prove that Matthew first wrote the familiar ending. It does show that Christians added praise when they prayed the Lord's Prayer very early.
We can be honest about the manuscript evidence and still use the line as worship. We should label it as the traditional ending instead of presenting it as a certain part of Matthew's earliest text.
The Doxology Echoes Scripture
The doxology sounds like prayers found elsewhere in Scripture. One clear echo appears in David's prayer near the end of 1 Chronicles.
"Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the splendor and the majesty, for everything in the heavens and on earth belongs to You. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom, and You are exalted as head over all." (1 Chronicles 29:11 CSB)
The wording is not the same, but the themes are close: kingdom, power, glory, and God's rule over all things. The traditional ending gathers those biblical themes into a short prayer of praise.
Paul lands in the same place. "For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen." (Romans 11:36 CSB) From Him, through Him, to Him. The doxology simply agrees with the whole sweep of the Bible: it all belongs to God, and it all returns to His glory.
Why Christians End With Praise
Let me name the hard thing. Prayer can quietly become all about us. We come with our needs, our requests, our worries, and if we are not careful, God becomes a means to our ends.
The doxology corrects that drift. It turns the prayer back around.
After we ask for bread, forgiveness, and protection, the doxology turns our attention toward God. The prayer begins by honoring God's name, and the traditional ending returns to praise. This is the same posture found in the first line, where we call Him Father and holy.
We do not end with our needs. We end with His glory.
What It Means to Pray "Yours"
Sit on that one word. Yours. The kingdom is Yours. The power is Yours. The glory is Yours. Forever.
When you pray the kingdom is His, you are releasing your grip on running your own. It is the heart of praying your kingdom come, the surrender of our agenda to His.
When you pray the power is His, you stop pretending the outcome rests on your strength. You asked Him for daily bread and deliverance precisely because the power to provide and protect is His, not yours, the same dependence that runs through asking to be rescued from the evil one.
And when you pray the glory is His, you settle the question of what your life is finally for. Not your name. His.
Ending Every Prayer With Trust
This shapes the way you pray. It gives every prayer a proper destination. You can bring God anything, the messy and the urgent and the small. But you end by lifting your eyes off the request and onto Him.
It also gives you words on days when the answer is different from what you hoped. Praise does not erase grief or make a painful outcome good. It helps you bring both trust and sorrow to the God who hears you.
John saw where all of this is going. One day every voice in creation will say it together. "Blessing and honor and glory and power be to the One seated on the throne." (Revelation 5:13 CSB) The doxology is a rehearsal for that day.
So we come back to where we started. The Lord's Prayer does not end with us. It ends with God, where it began. We hand back the kingdom we asked to come, the power we leaned on, and the glory that was always His.
His is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever. That is enough.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Doxology of the Lord's Prayer
What is the doxology of the Lord's Prayer?
It is the traditional closing line, "For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen." Many churches use it to end the Lord's Prayer with praise.
Why is the doxology in a footnote in some Bibles?
Because the earliest surviving manuscripts of Matthew do not include it. A shorter doxology appears in the Didache, and the familiar wording appears in later Greek manuscripts.
Where does the doxology come from?
Its themes closely echo 1 Chronicles 29:11, where David says the greatness, power, glory, and kingdom belong to God. Romans 11:36 also gives glory to God forever.
Should Christians still pray the doxology?
Christians may pray it as a traditional, Bible-shaped ending. Churches differ in how they use it, so readers can follow their church tradition with a clear understanding of the manuscript history.
Why does the Lord's Prayer end with God's glory?
Because prayer is meant to end where it began, with God at the center. After asking for our needs, the doxology turns the prayer back to worship, reminding us the kingdom, power, and glory are all His.
This post is part of a series on the Lord's Prayer. You can also read more on the blog about what it means to pray your kingdom come.
Taking care of home, pastor, science teacher, Bible reader
