Prayer and the Golden Rule

⁷ “^[a](A)Ask, and ^(B)it will be given to you; ^[b]seek, and you will find; ^[c]knock, and it will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. ⁹ Or what person is there among you ^[d]who, when his son asks for a loaf of bread, ^[e]will give him a stone? ¹⁰ Or ^[f]if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? ¹¹ So if you, despite being ^[g]evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, ^(C)how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

Parables on Prayer

18 Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ^(A)ought to pray and not ^(B)become discouraged, ² saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not ^(C)respect any person. ³ Now there was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me justice against my ^[a]opponent.’ ⁴ For a while he was unwilling; but later he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor ^(D)respect any person, ⁵ yet ^(E)because this widow is bothering me, I will give her justice; otherwise ^[b]by continually coming she will ^(F)wear me out.’” ⁶ And ^(G)the Lord said, “Listen to what the unrighteous judge *said; ⁷ now, will God not ^(H)bring about justice for His ^(I)elect who cry out to Him day ^[c]and night, and will He ^(J)delay long for them? ⁸ I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, ^(K)will He find ^[d]faith on the earth?”

²³ Other small boats came from ^(A)Tiberias near to the place where they ate the bread after the ^(B)Lord ^(C)had given thanks. ²⁴ So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they themselves got into the small boats and ^(D)came to Capernaum, looking for Jesus. ²⁵ And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “^(E)Rabbi, when did You get here?”

Words to the People

²⁶ Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you ^(F)seek Me, not because you saw ^[a](G)signs, but because you ate some of the loaves and were filled. ²⁷ Do not ^(H)work for the food that perishes, but for the food that lasts for ^(I)eternal life, which ^(J)the Son of Man will give you, for on Him the Father, God, ^(K)has set His ^[b]seal.”

¹⁴ This is ^(A)the confidence which we have ^[a]before Him, that, ^(B)if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, ^(C)we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.