Book of Common Prayer

¹⁶ Don’t be deceived, my dear family. ¹⁷ Every good gift, every perfect gift, comes down from above, from the father of lights. His steady light doesn’t vary. It doesn’t change and produce shadows. ¹⁸ He became our father by the word of truth; that was his firm decision, and the result is that we are a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

The word that goes to work

¹⁹ So, my dear brothers and sisters, get this straight. Every person should be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger. ²⁰ Human anger, you see, doesn’t produce God’s justice! ²¹ So put away everything that is sordid, all overflowing malice, and humbly receive the word which has been planted within you and which has the power to rescue your lives.

²² But be people who do the word, not merely people who hear it and deceive themselves. ²³ Someone who hears the word but doesn’t do it, you see, is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror. ²⁴ He notices himself, but then he goes away and quickly forgets what he looked like. ²⁵ But the person who looks into the perfect law of freedom, and goes on with it, not being a hearer who forgets but a doer who does the deed—such a person is blessed in their doing.

²⁶ If anyone supposes that they are devout, and does not control their tongue, but rather deceives their heart—such a person’s devotion is futile. ²⁷ As far as God the father is concerned, pure, unsullied devotion works like this: you should visit orphans and widows in their sorrow, and prevent the world leaving its dirty smudge on you.

The Lord’s Prayer

11 Once Jesus was praying in a particular place. When he had finished, one of his disciples approached him.

“Teach us to pray, Master,” he said, “just like John taught his disciples.”

² “When you pray,” replied Jesus, “this is what to say:

“Father, may your name be honored; may your kingdom come; ³ give us each day our daily bread; ⁴ and forgive us our sins, since we too forgive all our debtors; and don’t put us to the test.

⁵ “Suppose one of you has a friend,” he said, “and you go to him in the middle of the night and say, ‘My dear friend, lend me three loaves of bread! ⁶ A friend of mine is on a journey and has arrived at my house, and I have nothing to put in front of him!’ ⁷ He will answer from inside his house, ‘Don’t make life difficult for me! The door is already shut, and my children and I are all in bed! I can’t get up and give you anything.’ ⁸ Let me tell you, even if he won’t get up and give you anything just because you’re his friend, because of your shameless persistence he will get up and give you whatever you need.

⁹ “So this is my word to you: ask and it will be given you; search and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you. ¹⁰ You see, everyone who asks receives! Everyone who searches finds! Everyone who knocks has the door opened for them! ¹¹ If your son asks you for a fish, is there a father among you who will give him a snake? ¹² Or if he asks for an egg, will you give him a scorpion? ¹³ So if you, evil as you are, know how to give good presents to your children, how much more will your heavenly father give the holy spirit to those who ask him!”