The Doxology: Our Pledge of Allegiance to God

I love the idea of the Lord’s Prayer being “a pledge of allegiance to God.” As children, as soon as we started kindergarten, we were taught the American Pledge of Allegiance and could recite it verbatim before we entered 1st grade. By the same token, from a very young age, it was expected that I would learn to recite the Lord’s Prayer, and I was expected to do so at the bidding of any adult in my family or my church. I learned to say this prayer daily at bedtime.

I was raised in my faith mostly by my maternal grandmother in an African-Methodist-Episcopal (AME) church called Bethel AME. Bethel AME of Kansas City, Missouri was founded in September of 1912 and is located at 28th and Flora. I loved everything about this church but especially the singing of gospel hymns and the way the entire congregation recited prayers in unison. This traditionalist denomination followed many fundamental Christian beliefs which included the expectation that all children should learn the Lord’s Prayer by age 6, the Apostle’s Creed by age 9, and the Twenty-third Psalm by age 12. I was a young adult at age 20 and in college before I realized there were other Christians my age who did not know the Lord’s Prayer ‘by heart.” I found this more than a bit shocking! I had assumed no matter what church other Christian children belonged to, they were still all the same as Bethel in terms of the expectation that young children must learn the Lord’s Prayer. My grandmother was the first one to tell me that learning the Lord’s Prayer by heart truly meant it was written on my heart. I never doubted for one minute what she said and for most of my formative years, I definitely believed there were literal words written on my heart.

Now, here I am seven decades later, and despite three degrees and a broader knowledge and maturity about life in general, I still feel the words to the Lord’s Prayer are indeed written on my heart. I have quietly said this prayer in bed at night my entire life and I also have said it over and over again in times of great distress or fear. I have recited it when I was on the treadmill until I reached my 5-mile mark. I raised my children with the same lessons my grandmother and Bethel church taught me so that they could recite the Lord’s Prayer at a very young age. I once taught a Bible study class that used each phrase of the prayer as a full weekly lesson. I have no less than 6 books in my personal library written about this prayer and though it is a fundamental part of my faith, I am still awed, comforted and inspired by the message it gives.

The last line which Pastor Adam calls our pledge of allegiance of faith declares that our mighty God is THE kingdom, THE glory and THE power FOREVER—there is no other above our God who is the true king of the entire universe; he is the glory that is all of earth and heaven; and he is the power that is supreme above all others! This was true yesterday, is true today and will be true forever! Write this on your heart!