|
Teach Us to Pray
Then Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when He stopped, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” And He said to them, “When you pray, say “Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed Be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done - held holy and revered-on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, our food for the morrow. And Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves must also forgive every who is indebted to us - who has offended us or done us wrong; and bring us not into temptation but rescue us from the evil, and the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, Amen. And Jesus said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and will say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, for a friend of mine who is on a journey has just come, and I have nothing to put before him. And he from within will answer, Do not disturb me, the door is now closed, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and supply you with anything. “I tell you, although he will not get up and supply him with anything because he is a friend, yet because of his shameless persistence and insistence, he will get up and give him as much as he needs. So I say to you, Ask and keep on asking, and it shall be given you. Seek and keep on seeking and you will find. Knock and keep on knocking and the door will be opened. “What father among you, if his son asks for a loaf of bread, will give him a stone? Or is he asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? “If you then, evil-minded as you are, know how to give good gifts - gifts that are to advantage - to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask and continue to ask Him! “Therefore, I say to you, What things soever you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them and you will have them.” |
|
The Greatest in the Kingdom
At that time the disciples came up and asked Jesus, “Who then is really the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And He called a little child to Him and put him in the midst of them, and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you repent, change and turn about and become like little children trusting, lowly, loving and forgiving you can never enter the kingdom of heaven at all. |
|
The Lost Sheep
Now the tax collectors and notorious and especially wicked sinners were all coming near to Jesus to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes kept murmuring and indignantly complaining and saying, “This man accepts and receives and welcomes wicked sinners and eats with them.” Jesus hearing their words said to them. “What man of you, if he has a hundred sheep and should lose one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness or desert, and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his own shoulders rejoicing. And when he gets home, he summons together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep which was lost. Thus I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one especially wicked person who repents, that is, changes his mind, abhorring his errors and misdeeds, and determines to enter upon a better course of life-than over ninety-nine righteous persons who have no need of repentance. Or what woman, having ten silver drachmas each being equal to a day’s wages, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and look carefully and diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she summons her women friends and neighbors, saying, Rejoice with me, for I have found the silver coin, which I had lost. Even so, I tell you, there is joy among and in the presence of the angels of God over one especially wicked person who repents-changes his mind for the better, heartily amending his ways with abhorrence for his past sins. |