How to Pray
1One day Jesus was somewhere praying. When he got done, one of his disciples went up to him and asked him, “Please, sir, would you teach us to pray? John taught his disciples how to pray.”2Jesus said, “Pray like this:
“‘Father, I wish that everyone would respect your name and who it represents.
I want you to lead us as our king now.
4And forgive us for sinning,
because we forgive people sinning against us.
Don’t test us with temptations.’” [1]
Why Pray?
5Then Jesus said, “Let’s say you go to your friend’s house at midnight. Standing outside the door you say, ‘Buddy, can you spare three loaves of bread? 6A friend of mine on a trip has stopped by, and I don’t have any food to serve him.’7“So your friend calls out from inside the house, ‘What are you doing bothering me this late? My door is already barred up for the night and my children are settled into bed with me. I can’t get up now to get you anything.’ 8Listen, I’m telling you that even though this man won’t get up and help his friend at first, he will eventually. He’ll do it because he doesn’t want to get publicly embarrassed by his friend’s shameless persistence. 9So I’m telling you this about prayer: ask if you want to get something, and you’ll get it. Look if you want to find something, and you’ll find it. Knock if you want someone to open a door for you, and the door will open.
10“Everyone who asks will receive. Everyone who looks will find. Everyone who knocks will see a door open up.
11“Let me put it this way, suppose you ask your dad for a fish. Do any of you have a father so miserable that he would give you a snake instead?
12“And what if you asked for an egg? Would he give you a scorpion? 13Come on, now, compared to God you people are downright wicked. But if wicked humans can give wonderful gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give you? He will even give you the Holy Spirit if you ask him.”
Accusing Jesus of Being a Demon
14One day Jesus performed an exorcism. He cast out the demon of a man who couldn’t talk. When the demon came out, suddenly the man could talk. People were astonished. 15But some of the people in the crowd said, “Beelzebub, the prince of demons, [2] gives him the power to cast out demons.” 16Others wanted to test his power, so they started badgering him—insisting that he call down some kind of miracle from heaven.17He knew what they were thinking. He said, “A nation split in two can’t survive when one side fights the other. Feuds do the same thing to families, absolutely destroying them. 18So what sense would it make for Satan to fight against himself? If demon fought demon, how could Satan possibly keep his kingdom from collapsing? 19And oh, by the way, if it’s the prince of demons who gives me the power to perform exorcisms, who gives your people the power to do it? Those exorcists are going to condemn what you said about me. 20But if the hand of God himself is giving me the power to exorcise demons, you can count on this: the kingdom of God has come—and it’s right here, now. 21A strong man bulked up with weapons can guard his palace and protect everything he owns. 22But when someone stronger comes along, attacking and defeating him, the man loses everything to the intruder—including the weapons that gave him so much confidence.
23“Either you’re for me, or you’re against me. Either you’re rallying around me, or you’re blocking my way. 24When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert looking for a place to rest. When it doesn’t find one, it says, ‘I’ll go back to where I came from.’ 25When the demon returns, it finds the house cleaned up with everything nicely reorganized. 26So when it moves back in, it takes seven other roommates with it—demons even more evil than the first one. When they all get in there, they just settle down and take over. Now all of a sudden the demon-possessed man is worse off than he was before.”
27Jesus was still talking when a woman in the crowd interrupted him. She cried out, “Happy is the mother who brought you into this world and who nursed you through your childhood.”
28Jesus answered, “Actually, the people who are happy are the ones who hear the message God is sending them, and then obey the message.”
Jesus Takes a Page from Jonah’s Book
29The crowds got bigger. Jesus told the people, “What an awful generation this is. It wants to see a sign, but I’m telling you the only real sign they’re going to get from me is what I’m calling the sign of Jonah. [3] 30Jonah’s story and ministry convinced the people of Nineveh [4] that God sent him. I’m going to do that for this generation.31“The queen of the southern kingdom [5] will stand up on Judgment Day and condemn the people of this generation. She came a good long way from a distant land to find out for herself if King Solomon was as wise as people claimed. [6] Look, I’m telling you that something far greater than Solomon is here right now.
32“The men of Nineveh will condemn this generation too. They repented when they heard the preaching of Jonah. Yet today, someone greater than Jonah is here.
Let the Light In
33“People, no one lights a lamp and then stuffs it in a hole in the ground or under a basket. We raise the lamp high, on top of a lampstand. We do this so people can see the light and find us. 34Open your eyes. They are your lamp. If your eyes are working right, your life [7] is full of light. But if your eyes are sick, your life is full of darkness.35“Make sure your life is filled with light, and not with darkness that you only think is light. 36If you do this, your whole life is filled with light. There is no darkness in you. There is nothing but light like the glow of a lamp.”
Jesus Gets Tough on Religion Leaders
37When Jesus got done talking, a Pharisee invited him to a meal. So Jesus went to his home and sat [8] at the table. 38Something surprised the Pharisee; Jesus didn’t baptize [9] his hands in a ceremonial washing before sitting down to eat.39The Lord told him, “I’ve noticed that you Pharisees are good about washing the outside—like washing only the outside of a dirty cup or a dirty bowl. But you don’t do anything about the dirt on the inside. On the inside, you’re filthy with greed and meanness. 40This is nonsense. Don’t you know that God made the inside too? 41If you want to clean the inside, try giving some money to help the poor. That way you’ll be clean inside and out.
42“I’ve got some bad news for you Pharisees. You give a 10 percent tithe on the tiniest of things you own—mint and rue and all of your little garden herbs. Big deal. You ignore justice and the love God wants us to show one another. You should have done all these things. 43I’ve got more bad news for you Pharisees. You love the seats reserved for dignitaries in synagogues. And you sure do like the attention you get when you’re out in public. 44Here’s the bad news. You are like unmarked graves. You contaminate people because they trust the ground they walk on, but it’s polluted.” [10]
45One of the scholars—an expert in Jewish law—told Jesus, “Teacher, you just insulted us too.”
46Jesus said, “Yeah? Well, I’ve got bad news for you scholars too. You crush the people with oppressive rules, and you do nothing to help them deal with it. 47Bad news. You build monuments to the prophets your fathers killed.
48“That makes you an accomplice. You see what has happened and you approve. You show your approval by building monuments, which are like trophies of the prophets your fathers killed. 49No doubt, this is the very reason God in his wisdom said: ‘I’ll send them prophets and apostles—but the people will persecute and kill some of them.’ [11]
50“So here it is. This generation, here and now, is being charged with the murder of every prophet since the beginning of time. 51It starts with the murder of Abel [12] and goes all the way to the murder of Zechariah, [13] who was killed at the Temple, between the altar and the sanctuary. Count on it, this generation will be held responsible for all of these murders.
52“Bad news for you scholars, you experts in the Jewish law. You have the key to knowledge. But you don’t use it for yourself, and you don’t let others use it either. And others certainly want to use it.” 53As Jesus began to leave, the scholars and Pharisees assaulted him with hostile questions on lots of different subjects. 54By ganging up on him like this, they hoped to catch him saying something they could use against him.
