3. Give us each day the food we need,
4. and forgive us our sins,as we forgive those who sin against us.And don’t let us yield to temptation.”
5. Then, teaching them more about prayer, he used this story: “Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him,
6. ‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’
7. And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you.’
8. But I tell you this—though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence.
9. “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.
10. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
11. “You fathers—if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead?
12. Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not!
13. So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”
14. One day Jesus cast out a demon from a man who couldn’t speak, and when the demon was gone, the man began to speak. The crowds were amazed,
15. but some of them said, “No wonder he can cast out demons. He gets his power from Satan, the prince of demons.”
16. Others, trying to test Jesus, demanded that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority.