Ask, Seek, Knock^(A)

⁷ “Ask and it will be given to you;^(B) seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds;^(C) and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

⁹ “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰ Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? ¹¹ If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts^(D) to those who ask him!

The Parable of the Persistent Widow

18 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.^{(A) 2} He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. ³ And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice^(B) against my adversary.’

⁴ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, ⁵ yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”^(C)

⁶ And the Lord^(D) said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. ⁷ And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out^(E) to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? ⁸ I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man^(F) comes,^(G) will he find faith on the earth?”

²³ Then some boats from Tiberias^(A) landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.^{(B) 24} Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.

Jesus the Bread of Life

²⁵ When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi,^(C) when did you get here?”

²⁶ Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me,^(D) not because you saw the signs^(E) I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. ²⁷ Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures^(F) to eternal life,^(G) which the Son of Man^(H) will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal^(I) of approval.”

¹⁴ This is the confidence^(A) we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.^{(B) 15} And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know^(C) that we have what we asked of him.^(D)