New Testament in a Year
Jesus teaches his disciples how to pray
11 One day, Jesus was praying in a certain place. He finished praying. Then, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Master, John taught his disciples how to pray. Please teach us as he did.’
2 Jesus replied, ‘When you pray, you should say this:
“God, our Father, we want people to give honour to you.
We want the day when you rule everyone to come soon.
3 Please give to us the food that we need each day.
4 Forgive us for our sins,
because we also forgive everyone who has done wrong things against us.
And do not let us agree to do wrong things.” ’
5 Jesus then told a story to teach them how to pray. He said, ‘Let me tell you about someone who goes to a friend's home at midnight. “My friend,” he says, “please give me three loaves of bread. 6 A friend of mine is on a journey and he has arrived at my house. But I have no food to give him.” 7 But his friend answers from inside his house. He says, “Do not cause problems for me! I have locked my door. My children and I have gone to bed. So I cannot get up and give you any bread.” ’
8 Then Jesus said, ‘I will tell you what will happen. Perhaps your friend will not give you anything just because you are good friends. But if you continue to knock and ask for bread, your friend will get up. He will give you bread, as much as you need.
9 So I tell you this. Continue to ask God for what you need. Then God will give it to you. Continue to look for what you need. Then you will find it. Continue to knock at the door and God will open it for you. 10 Everyone that asks for something will receive it. Everyone that looks for something will find it. God will open the door for everyone that knocks on it. 11 Some of you are fathers. If your son asks you for a fish, you would not give him a snake instead. 12 If he asks you for an egg, you would not give him something dangerous. 13 You are bad. But even you know how to give good things to your children. Your Father in heaven knows much better than you do how to give good things to his children. So he will give the Holy Spirit to everyone who asks him.’[a]
Jesus teaches about the Devil
14 One day, Jesus was telling a bad spirit to go out of a man. Because of the bad spirit, the man could not speak. But after it had gone out of him, the man could speak again. All the people that were watching were surprised at this. 15 But some people in the crowd were not happy with Jesus and they said, ‘This man can send bad spirits out of people because Beelzebul gives him authority.[b] That is Satan, the one who rules all the bad spirits.’
16 Some other people wanted to test Jesus to see what he would do. So they asked him, ‘Do something powerful for us to see. Then we will know that God has really sent you.’[c]
17 But Jesus knew what those people were thinking. He said to them, ‘If armies in a country start to fight each other, they will destroy their own country. If people in one family fight against each other, they will destroy their own family. 18 So Satan would not fight against himself. If he did that, it would be the end of his kingdom. But you say that Beelzebul helps me to destroy bad spirits. 19 If that is true, what do you say about your own disciples? They also send bad spirits out of people. You would not say that it is Satan's power that helps them. So your own people show that you are wrong about this. 20 When I send bad spirits out of people, I use the power of God. This shows that God has come to rule among you.
21 When a strong man has all the weapons he needs to fight with, he can take care of his own house. Nobody will be able to rob him of the things inside his house. 22 But someone may come who is stronger than he is. That man will attack him and beat him. The strong man believed his weapons would keep him safe. But the stronger man will take his weapons away. He will take the strong man's things and give them to other people.[d]
23 If someone does not agree to help me, he is working against me. You should work with me to bring people to me for help. If you do not do that, you are making people run away from me.’[e]
24 Jesus then said, ‘When a bad spirit goes out of a person, it travels through dry places. It looks for a new place to live. But maybe it does not find anywhere. So it says to itself, “I will return to the place where I lived before.” 25 Then it goes back to that person. It finds that the place is empty. Everything there is now good and clean. 26 So the bad spirit goes out and it brings back seven other spirits. They are even worse than itself. They all go into the person and they live there. Now the person's life is even worse than it was before.’[f]
27 While Jesus was saying this, a woman in the crowd shouted out. ‘How happy is the woman that gave birth to you! How happy is the woman that fed you from her breasts!’
28 Jesus replied, ‘It is the people who hear God's message who are happy. They are happy if they obey it.’
EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.