Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible




And I will bring that surviving third through, testing them as if through fire, purifying them like silver, assaying them like gold. They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say, "This is my people,' and they will say, "The LORD is my God.'"


"As for the poor, the needy, those seeking water when there is none and their tongues are parched from thirst I, the LORD, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, won't abandon them.

Then you'll call, and the LORD will answer; you'll cry for help, and he'll respond, "Here I am.' "If you do away with the yoke among you, and pointing fingers and malicious talk;



So I say to you: Keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened for you,






So I say to you: Keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened for you,

The LORD appeared to Solomon one night in a dream and told him, "Ask me for whatever you want and I'll give it to you."

"Ask the LORD for rain in the spring the LORD who fashions lightning thunderstorms, giving rain showers to mankind along with grain in the fields.

Because everyone who keeps asking will receive, and the person who keeps searching will find, and the person who keeps knocking will have the door opened.






Abraham approached and asked, "Will you actually destroy the righteous along with the wicked? Perhaps there are 50 righteous ones within the city. Will you actually destroy it and not forgive the place for the sake of the 50 righteous that are found there? Far be it from you to do such a thing to kill the righteous along with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike! The Judge of all the earth will do what is right, won't he?" read more.
The LORD said, "If I find 50 righteous people within Sodom, I'll forgive the whole place for their sake." Abraham answered, "Look, even though I am only dust and ashes, I've ventured to speak to my LORD. What if there are five less than 50 righteous ones? Will you bring destruction upon the city because of those five?" The LORD said, "I won't destroy it if I find 45 there." Abraham continued to speak to him, asking, "What if 40 are found there?" The LORD replied, "I won't do it for the sake of those 40." Abraham then asked, "I hope my LORD will not be angry if I speak. What if 30 are found there?" The LORD answered, "I won't do it for the sake of those 30." "Look," Abraham said, "I've presumed to speak to my LORD" so what if 20 are found there?" "For the sake of those 20," the LORD responded, "I won't destroy it." Finally, Abraham inquired, "I hope my LORD will not be angry if I speak only once more. What if ten are found there?" He replied, "For the sake of those ten I won't destroy it."

And so Jacob was left alone, and he struggled with a man until daybreak. When the man realized that he hadn't yet won the struggle, he injured the socket of Jacob's thigh, dislocating it as he wrestled with him, and said, "Let me go, because the dawn has come." "I won't let you go," Jacob replied, "unless you bless me." read more.
Then the man asked him, "What's your name?" "Jacob," he responded "Your name won't be Jacob anymore," the man replied, "but Israel, because you exerted yourself against both God and men, and you've emerged victorious." "Please," Jacob inquired, "Tell me your name." But he asked, "Why are you asking about my name?" And he blessed Jacob there. Jacob would later call that place Peniel, because "I saw God face to face, but my life was spared."

Then King David went in to the presence of the LORD, sat down, and said: "Who am I, Lord GOD, and what is my family, that you have brought me to this? And this is still a small thing to you, Lord GOD you also have spoken about the future of your servant's house, and this is the charter for mankind, O Lord GOD! "What more can David say to you, and you surely know your servant, Lord GOD. read more.
For the sake of your word and consistent with your desire, you have done all of these great things, informing your servant. And therefore you are great, Lord GOD, there is no one like you, there is no God except for you, just as we've heard with our own ears. "And who is like your people, like Israel, the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for himself, to make a name for himself, and to carry out for them great and awe-inspiring accomplishments, driving out nations and their gods in front of your people, whom you redeemed to yourself from Egypt? You have prepared your people Israel to be your very own people for ever, and you, LORD, have become their God! "And now, LORD God, let what you have spoken concerning your servant and his household be done and let it be done just as you've promised. May your name be made great forever with the result that it is said that the LORD of the Heavenly Armies is God over Israel, and that the household of your servant David may be established before you. For you, LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, have revealed this to your servant, telling him, "I will build a dynasty for you,' so that your servant has found fortitude to pray this prayer to you. "Now therefore, Lord GOD, you are God, and your words are true, and you have spoken to your servant these good things. So may it please you to bless the household of your servant, so that it might remain forever in your presence, because you, Lord GOD, have spoken, and from your blessing may the household of your servant be blessed forever."

Then Solomon took his place in front of the LORD's altar in the presence of the entire congregation of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven, and said: "LORD God of Israel, there is no one like you, God in heaven above or on the earth below, who watches over his covenant, showing gracious love to your servants who live their lives in your presence with all their hearts. It is you, LORD God, who have kept your promise to my father, your servant David, that you made to him. Indeed, you made a commitment to my father David and then personally fulfilled what you had promised today. read more.
"Now therefore, LORD God of Israel, keep your promise that you made to my father, your servant David, when you said, "You will not lack a man to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants will watch their lives, to live in my presence just as you have lived in my presence.' "Now therefore, God of Israel, may your promise that you made to your servant David my father be fulfilled" and yet, will God truly reside on earth? Look! Neither the sky nor the highest heaven can contain you! How much less this Temple that I have built! Pay attention to the prayer of your servant and to his request, LORD my God, and listen to the cry and prayer that your servant is praying in your presence today. Let your eyes always look toward this Temple night and day, toward the location where you have said "My name will reside there.' Listen to the prayer that your servant prays in this direction. Listen to the requests from your servant and from your people Israel as they pray in this direction, listen from the place where you reside in heaven, then hear and forgive. "If a man should sin against his neighbor and he is required to take an oath, and he then comes to take an oath in front of your altar in this Temple, then listen in heaven, act, and judge your servants, condemning the wicked by bringing back to him the consequences of his choices and by justifying the righteous by recompensing him according to his righteousness. "If your people Israel are defeated in a battle with their enemy because they have sinned against you, when they return to you and confess to you, pray, and in this Temple they ask you to show grace to them, then hear in heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and return them to the soil that you gave to their ancestors. "When heaven remains closed, and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, and they pray in the direction of this place, confessing your name and turning from their sin when you afflict them, then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants and of your people Israel. Indeed, teach them the best way to live and send rain on your land that you have given to your people as an inheritance. "If a famine comes to the land, or if plant diseases, mildew, locust, or grasshoppers appear, or if their enemies attack them in their settlements of the land, no matter what the epidemic or illness is, whatever prayer or request is made, no matter whether it's made by a single man or by all of your people Israel, each praying out of his own hurting heart and anguish and stretching out his hands toward this Temple, then hear from heaven, the place where you reside, and forgive, repaying each person according to all of his ways, since you know their hearts for you alone know the hearts of all human beings so they will fear you every day and live on the surface of the land that you have given to our ancestors. "Now concerning the foreigner who is not from your people Israel, when he comes from a land far away for the sake of your name (for people will hear of your great name, your mighty acts, and your obvious power), when he comes and prays facing this Temple, then hear in heaven where you reside, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the people of the earth may know your name, fear you as do your people Israel, and so they may know that this Temple that I have built is called by your name. "When your people go out to war against their enemies, no matter what way you send them, and they pray to the LORD in the direction of the city that you have chosen and in the direction of the Temple that I have built for your name, then hear their prayer and their request in heaven, and fight for their cause. "When they sin against you because there isn't a single human being who doesn't sin and you become angry with them and deliver them over to their enemy, who takes them away captive to the land that belongs to their enemy, whether near or far away, if they turn their hearts back to you in the land where they have been taken captive, repent, and pray to you even if they do so in the land of their captivity confessing, "We have sinned, we have committed abominations, and practiced wickedness,' if they return to you with all of their heart and with all of their soul in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive, as they pray to you in the direction of their land that you have given to their ancestors and to the city that you have chosen, and to the Temple that I have built for your name, then hear their prayer and requests in heaven, where you reside, and fight for their cause, forgiving your people who have sinned against you, along with their transgressions by which they have transgressed against you. "Show your compassion in the presence of those who have taken them captive, so they may show compassion on them, since they are your people and your heritage, which you brought out of Egypt, from an iron fire furnace. Do this so your eyes may remain open to the requests of your servant and to the requests of your people's prayers, to listen to them whenever they call out to you, because you have separated them to yourself as your heritage from all the people of the earth, as you spoke through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt, Lord GOD. When Solomon had completed saying this entire prayer to the LORD, he got up from kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven in the presence of the LORD's altar, stood up, and blessed all of the assembly of Israel in a loud voice. He said: "Blessed is the LORD, who has given security to his people Israel, just as he promised. Not one of his promises has failed to come about that he gave through his servant Moses. May the LORD our God be with us, just as he was with our ancestors. May he never leave us or abandon us, so that he may turn our hearts toward him, so that we may live life his way, keeping his commands, statutes, and ordinances that he gave to our ancestors. And may what I've had to say to the LORD remain with the LORD our God both day and night, so that he may defend the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as the need of the day may require it, so that, in turn, all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God there is no one else. Now let your heart be completely devoted to the LORD our God, to live according to his statutes and to keep his commands, as we are doing today."

Once Jesus was praying in a certain place. After he had finished, one of his disciples told him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." So he told them, "Whenever you pray you are to say, "Father, may your name be kept holy. May your kingdom come. Keep giving us every day our daily bread, read more.
and forgive us our sins, as we forgive everyone who sins against us. And never bring us into temptation.'" Then he told them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, "Friend, let me borrow three loaves of bread. A friend of mine on a trip has dropped in on me, and I don't have anything to serve him.' Suppose he answers from inside, "Stop bothering me! The door is already locked, and my children are here with us in the bedroom. I can't get up and give you anything!' I tell you, even though that man doesn't want to get up and give him anything because he is his friend, he will get up and give him whatever he needs because of his persistence. So I say to you: Keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened for you, because everyone who keeps asking will receive, and the person who keeps searching will find, and the person who keeps knocking will have the door opened. What father among you, if his son asks for bread, would give him a stone, or if he asks for a fish, would give him a snake instead of the fish? Or if he asks for an egg, would he give him a scorpion? So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who keep asking him!"

Jesus told his disciples a parable about their need to pray all the time and never give up. He said, "In a city there was a judge who didn't fear God or respect people. In that city there was also a widow who kept coming to him and saying, "Grant me justice against my adversary.' read more.
For a while the judge refused. But later, he told himself, "I don't fear God or respect people, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice. Otherwise, she will keep coming and wear me out.'" Then the Lord added, "Listen to what the unrighteous judge says. Won't God grant his chosen people justice when they cry out to him day and night? Is he slow to help them? I tell you, he will give them justice quickly. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"


Abraham approached and asked, "Will you actually destroy the righteous along with the wicked? Perhaps there are 50 righteous ones within the city. Will you actually destroy it and not forgive the place for the sake of the 50 righteous that are found there? Far be it from you to do such a thing to kill the righteous along with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike! The Judge of all the earth will do what is right, won't he?" read more.
The LORD said, "If I find 50 righteous people within Sodom, I'll forgive the whole place for their sake." Abraham answered, "Look, even though I am only dust and ashes, I've ventured to speak to my LORD. What if there are five less than 50 righteous ones? Will you bring destruction upon the city because of those five?" The LORD said, "I won't destroy it if I find 45 there." Abraham continued to speak to him, asking, "What if 40 are found there?" The LORD replied, "I won't do it for the sake of those 40." Abraham then asked, "I hope my LORD will not be angry if I speak. What if 30 are found there?" The LORD answered, "I won't do it for the sake of those 30." "Look," Abraham said, "I've presumed to speak to my LORD" so what if 20 are found there?" "For the sake of those 20," the LORD responded, "I won't destroy it." Finally, Abraham inquired, "I hope my LORD will not be angry if I speak only once more. What if ten are found there?" He replied, "For the sake of those ten I won't destroy it."

And so Jacob was left alone, and he struggled with a man until daybreak. When the man realized that he hadn't yet won the struggle, he injured the socket of Jacob's thigh, dislocating it as he wrestled with him, and said, "Let me go, because the dawn has come." "I won't let you go," Jacob replied, "unless you bless me." read more.
Then the man asked him, "What's your name?" "Jacob," he responded "Your name won't be Jacob anymore," the man replied, "but Israel, because you exerted yourself against both God and men, and you've emerged victorious." "Please," Jacob inquired, "Tell me your name." But he asked, "Why are you asking about my name?" And he blessed Jacob there. Jacob would later call that place Peniel, because "I saw God face to face, but my life was spared."

Then King David went in to the presence of the LORD, sat down, and said: "Who am I, Lord GOD, and what is my family, that you have brought me to this? And this is still a small thing to you, Lord GOD you also have spoken about the future of your servant's house, and this is the charter for mankind, O Lord GOD! "What more can David say to you, and you surely know your servant, Lord GOD. read more.
For the sake of your word and consistent with your desire, you have done all of these great things, informing your servant. And therefore you are great, Lord GOD, there is no one like you, there is no God except for you, just as we've heard with our own ears. "And who is like your people, like Israel, the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for himself, to make a name for himself, and to carry out for them great and awe-inspiring accomplishments, driving out nations and their gods in front of your people, whom you redeemed to yourself from Egypt? You have prepared your people Israel to be your very own people for ever, and you, LORD, have become their God! "And now, LORD God, let what you have spoken concerning your servant and his household be done and let it be done just as you've promised. May your name be made great forever with the result that it is said that the LORD of the Heavenly Armies is God over Israel, and that the household of your servant David may be established before you. For you, LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, have revealed this to your servant, telling him, "I will build a dynasty for you,' so that your servant has found fortitude to pray this prayer to you. "Now therefore, Lord GOD, you are God, and your words are true, and you have spoken to your servant these good things. So may it please you to bless the household of your servant, so that it might remain forever in your presence, because you, Lord GOD, have spoken, and from your blessing may the household of your servant be blessed forever."

Then Solomon took his place in front of the LORD's altar in the presence of the entire congregation of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven, and said: "LORD God of Israel, there is no one like you, God in heaven above or on the earth below, who watches over his covenant, showing gracious love to your servants who live their lives in your presence with all their hearts. It is you, LORD God, who have kept your promise to my father, your servant David, that you made to him. Indeed, you made a commitment to my father David and then personally fulfilled what you had promised today. read more.
"Now therefore, LORD God of Israel, keep your promise that you made to my father, your servant David, when you said, "You will not lack a man to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants will watch their lives, to live in my presence just as you have lived in my presence.' "Now therefore, God of Israel, may your promise that you made to your servant David my father be fulfilled" and yet, will God truly reside on earth? Look! Neither the sky nor the highest heaven can contain you! How much less this Temple that I have built! Pay attention to the prayer of your servant and to his request, LORD my God, and listen to the cry and prayer that your servant is praying in your presence today. Let your eyes always look toward this Temple night and day, toward the location where you have said "My name will reside there.' Listen to the prayer that your servant prays in this direction. Listen to the requests from your servant and from your people Israel as they pray in this direction, listen from the place where you reside in heaven, then hear and forgive. "If a man should sin against his neighbor and he is required to take an oath, and he then comes to take an oath in front of your altar in this Temple, then listen in heaven, act, and judge your servants, condemning the wicked by bringing back to him the consequences of his choices and by justifying the righteous by recompensing him according to his righteousness. "If your people Israel are defeated in a battle with their enemy because they have sinned against you, when they return to you and confess to you, pray, and in this Temple they ask you to show grace to them, then hear in heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and return them to the soil that you gave to their ancestors. "When heaven remains closed, and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, and they pray in the direction of this place, confessing your name and turning from their sin when you afflict them, then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants and of your people Israel. Indeed, teach them the best way to live and send rain on your land that you have given to your people as an inheritance. "If a famine comes to the land, or if plant diseases, mildew, locust, or grasshoppers appear, or if their enemies attack them in their settlements of the land, no matter what the epidemic or illness is, whatever prayer or request is made, no matter whether it's made by a single man or by all of your people Israel, each praying out of his own hurting heart and anguish and stretching out his hands toward this Temple, then hear from heaven, the place where you reside, and forgive, repaying each person according to all of his ways, since you know their hearts for you alone know the hearts of all human beings so they will fear you every day and live on the surface of the land that you have given to our ancestors. "Now concerning the foreigner who is not from your people Israel, when he comes from a land far away for the sake of your name (for people will hear of your great name, your mighty acts, and your obvious power), when he comes and prays facing this Temple, then hear in heaven where you reside, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the people of the earth may know your name, fear you as do your people Israel, and so they may know that this Temple that I have built is called by your name. "When your people go out to war against their enemies, no matter what way you send them, and they pray to the LORD in the direction of the city that you have chosen and in the direction of the Temple that I have built for your name, then hear their prayer and their request in heaven, and fight for their cause. "When they sin against you because there isn't a single human being who doesn't sin and you become angry with them and deliver them over to their enemy, who takes them away captive to the land that belongs to their enemy, whether near or far away, if they turn their hearts back to you in the land where they have been taken captive, repent, and pray to you even if they do so in the land of their captivity confessing, "We have sinned, we have committed abominations, and practiced wickedness,' if they return to you with all of their heart and with all of their soul in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive, as they pray to you in the direction of their land that you have given to their ancestors and to the city that you have chosen, and to the Temple that I have built for your name, then hear their prayer and requests in heaven, where you reside, and fight for their cause, forgiving your people who have sinned against you, along with their transgressions by which they have transgressed against you. "Show your compassion in the presence of those who have taken them captive, so they may show compassion on them, since they are your people and your heritage, which you brought out of Egypt, from an iron fire furnace. Do this so your eyes may remain open to the requests of your servant and to the requests of your people's prayers, to listen to them whenever they call out to you, because you have separated them to yourself as your heritage from all the people of the earth, as you spoke through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt, Lord GOD. When Solomon had completed saying this entire prayer to the LORD, he got up from kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven in the presence of the LORD's altar, stood up, and blessed all of the assembly of Israel in a loud voice. He said: "Blessed is the LORD, who has given security to his people Israel, just as he promised. Not one of his promises has failed to come about that he gave through his servant Moses. May the LORD our God be with us, just as he was with our ancestors. May he never leave us or abandon us, so that he may turn our hearts toward him, so that we may live life his way, keeping his commands, statutes, and ordinances that he gave to our ancestors. And may what I've had to say to the LORD remain with the LORD our God both day and night, so that he may defend the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as the need of the day may require it, so that, in turn, all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God there is no one else. Now let your heart be completely devoted to the LORD our God, to live according to his statutes and to keep his commands, as we are doing today."

Once Jesus was praying in a certain place. After he had finished, one of his disciples told him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." So he told them, "Whenever you pray you are to say, "Father, may your name be kept holy. May your kingdom come. Keep giving us every day our daily bread, read more.
and forgive us our sins, as we forgive everyone who sins against us. And never bring us into temptation.'" Then he told them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, "Friend, let me borrow three loaves of bread. A friend of mine on a trip has dropped in on me, and I don't have anything to serve him.' Suppose he answers from inside, "Stop bothering me! The door is already locked, and my children are here with us in the bedroom. I can't get up and give you anything!' I tell you, even though that man doesn't want to get up and give him anything because he is his friend, he will get up and give him whatever he needs because of his persistence. So I say to you: Keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened for you, because everyone who keeps asking will receive, and the person who keeps searching will find, and the person who keeps knocking will have the door opened. What father among you, if his son asks for bread, would give him a stone, or if he asks for a fish, would give him a snake instead of the fish? Or if he asks for an egg, would he give him a scorpion? So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who keep asking him!"

Jesus told his disciples a parable about their need to pray all the time and never give up. He said, "In a city there was a judge who didn't fear God or respect people. In that city there was also a widow who kept coming to him and saying, "Grant me justice against my adversary.' read more.
For a while the judge refused. But later, he told himself, "I don't fear God or respect people, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice. Otherwise, she will keep coming and wear me out.'" Then the Lord added, "Listen to what the unrighteous judge says. Won't God grant his chosen people justice when they cry out to him day and night? Is he slow to help them? I tell you, he will give them justice quickly. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"


Abraham approached and asked, "Will you actually destroy the righteous along with the wicked? Perhaps there are 50 righteous ones within the city. Will you actually destroy it and not forgive the place for the sake of the 50 righteous that are found there? Far be it from you to do such a thing to kill the righteous along with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike! The Judge of all the earth will do what is right, won't he?" read more.
The LORD said, "If I find 50 righteous people within Sodom, I'll forgive the whole place for their sake." Abraham answered, "Look, even though I am only dust and ashes, I've ventured to speak to my LORD. What if there are five less than 50 righteous ones? Will you bring destruction upon the city because of those five?" The LORD said, "I won't destroy it if I find 45 there." Abraham continued to speak to him, asking, "What if 40 are found there?" The LORD replied, "I won't do it for the sake of those 40." Abraham then asked, "I hope my LORD will not be angry if I speak. What if 30 are found there?" The LORD answered, "I won't do it for the sake of those 30." "Look," Abraham said, "I've presumed to speak to my LORD" so what if 20 are found there?" "For the sake of those 20," the LORD responded, "I won't destroy it." Finally, Abraham inquired, "I hope my LORD will not be angry if I speak only once more. What if ten are found there?" He replied, "For the sake of those ten I won't destroy it."

And so Jacob was left alone, and he struggled with a man until daybreak. When the man realized that he hadn't yet won the struggle, he injured the socket of Jacob's thigh, dislocating it as he wrestled with him, and said, "Let me go, because the dawn has come." "I won't let you go," Jacob replied, "unless you bless me." read more.
Then the man asked him, "What's your name?" "Jacob," he responded "Your name won't be Jacob anymore," the man replied, "but Israel, because you exerted yourself against both God and men, and you've emerged victorious." "Please," Jacob inquired, "Tell me your name." But he asked, "Why are you asking about my name?" And he blessed Jacob there. Jacob would later call that place Peniel, because "I saw God face to face, but my life was spared."

Then King David went in to the presence of the LORD, sat down, and said: "Who am I, Lord GOD, and what is my family, that you have brought me to this? And this is still a small thing to you, Lord GOD you also have spoken about the future of your servant's house, and this is the charter for mankind, O Lord GOD! "What more can David say to you, and you surely know your servant, Lord GOD. read more.
For the sake of your word and consistent with your desire, you have done all of these great things, informing your servant. And therefore you are great, Lord GOD, there is no one like you, there is no God except for you, just as we've heard with our own ears. "And who is like your people, like Israel, the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for himself, to make a name for himself, and to carry out for them great and awe-inspiring accomplishments, driving out nations and their gods in front of your people, whom you redeemed to yourself from Egypt? You have prepared your people Israel to be your very own people for ever, and you, LORD, have become their God! "And now, LORD God, let what you have spoken concerning your servant and his household be done and let it be done just as you've promised. May your name be made great forever with the result that it is said that the LORD of the Heavenly Armies is God over Israel, and that the household of your servant David may be established before you. For you, LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, have revealed this to your servant, telling him, "I will build a dynasty for you,' so that your servant has found fortitude to pray this prayer to you. "Now therefore, Lord GOD, you are God, and your words are true, and you have spoken to your servant these good things. So may it please you to bless the household of your servant, so that it might remain forever in your presence, because you, Lord GOD, have spoken, and from your blessing may the household of your servant be blessed forever."

Then Solomon took his place in front of the LORD's altar in the presence of the entire congregation of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven, and said: "LORD God of Israel, there is no one like you, God in heaven above or on the earth below, who watches over his covenant, showing gracious love to your servants who live their lives in your presence with all their hearts. It is you, LORD God, who have kept your promise to my father, your servant David, that you made to him. Indeed, you made a commitment to my father David and then personally fulfilled what you had promised today. read more.
"Now therefore, LORD God of Israel, keep your promise that you made to my father, your servant David, when you said, "You will not lack a man to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants will watch their lives, to live in my presence just as you have lived in my presence.' "Now therefore, God of Israel, may your promise that you made to your servant David my father be fulfilled" and yet, will God truly reside on earth? Look! Neither the sky nor the highest heaven can contain you! How much less this Temple that I have built! Pay attention to the prayer of your servant and to his request, LORD my God, and listen to the cry and prayer that your servant is praying in your presence today. Let your eyes always look toward this Temple night and day, toward the location where you have said "My name will reside there.' Listen to the prayer that your servant prays in this direction. Listen to the requests from your servant and from your people Israel as they pray in this direction, listen from the place where you reside in heaven, then hear and forgive. "If a man should sin against his neighbor and he is required to take an oath, and he then comes to take an oath in front of your altar in this Temple, then listen in heaven, act, and judge your servants, condemning the wicked by bringing back to him the consequences of his choices and by justifying the righteous by recompensing him according to his righteousness. "If your people Israel are defeated in a battle with their enemy because they have sinned against you, when they return to you and confess to you, pray, and in this Temple they ask you to show grace to them, then hear in heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and return them to the soil that you gave to their ancestors. "When heaven remains closed, and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, and they pray in the direction of this place, confessing your name and turning from their sin when you afflict them, then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants and of your people Israel. Indeed, teach them the best way to live and send rain on your land that you have given to your people as an inheritance. "If a famine comes to the land, or if plant diseases, mildew, locust, or grasshoppers appear, or if their enemies attack them in their settlements of the land, no matter what the epidemic or illness is, whatever prayer or request is made, no matter whether it's made by a single man or by all of your people Israel, each praying out of his own hurting heart and anguish and stretching out his hands toward this Temple, then hear from heaven, the place where you reside, and forgive, repaying each person according to all of his ways, since you know their hearts for you alone know the hearts of all human beings so they will fear you every day and live on the surface of the land that you have given to our ancestors. "Now concerning the foreigner who is not from your people Israel, when he comes from a land far away for the sake of your name (for people will hear of your great name, your mighty acts, and your obvious power), when he comes and prays facing this Temple, then hear in heaven where you reside, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the people of the earth may know your name, fear you as do your people Israel, and so they may know that this Temple that I have built is called by your name. "When your people go out to war against their enemies, no matter what way you send them, and they pray to the LORD in the direction of the city that you have chosen and in the direction of the Temple that I have built for your name, then hear their prayer and their request in heaven, and fight for their cause. "When they sin against you because there isn't a single human being who doesn't sin and you become angry with them and deliver them over to their enemy, who takes them away captive to the land that belongs to their enemy, whether near or far away, if they turn their hearts back to you in the land where they have been taken captive, repent, and pray to you even if they do so in the land of their captivity confessing, "We have sinned, we have committed abominations, and practiced wickedness,' if they return to you with all of their heart and with all of their soul in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive, as they pray to you in the direction of their land that you have given to their ancestors and to the city that you have chosen, and to the Temple that I have built for your name, then hear their prayer and requests in heaven, where you reside, and fight for their cause, forgiving your people who have sinned against you, along with their transgressions by which they have transgressed against you. "Show your compassion in the presence of those who have taken them captive, so they may show compassion on them, since they are your people and your heritage, which you brought out of Egypt, from an iron fire furnace. Do this so your eyes may remain open to the requests of your servant and to the requests of your people's prayers, to listen to them whenever they call out to you, because you have separated them to yourself as your heritage from all the people of the earth, as you spoke through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt, Lord GOD. When Solomon had completed saying this entire prayer to the LORD, he got up from kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven in the presence of the LORD's altar, stood up, and blessed all of the assembly of Israel in a loud voice. He said: "Blessed is the LORD, who has given security to his people Israel, just as he promised. Not one of his promises has failed to come about that he gave through his servant Moses. May the LORD our God be with us, just as he was with our ancestors. May he never leave us or abandon us, so that he may turn our hearts toward him, so that we may live life his way, keeping his commands, statutes, and ordinances that he gave to our ancestors. And may what I've had to say to the LORD remain with the LORD our God both day and night, so that he may defend the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as the need of the day may require it, so that, in turn, all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God there is no one else. Now let your heart be completely devoted to the LORD our God, to live according to his statutes and to keep his commands, as we are doing today."

Once Jesus was praying in a certain place. After he had finished, one of his disciples told him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." So he told them, "Whenever you pray you are to say, "Father, may your name be kept holy. May your kingdom come. Keep giving us every day our daily bread, read more.
and forgive us our sins, as we forgive everyone who sins against us. And never bring us into temptation.'" Then he told them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, "Friend, let me borrow three loaves of bread. A friend of mine on a trip has dropped in on me, and I don't have anything to serve him.' Suppose he answers from inside, "Stop bothering me! The door is already locked, and my children are here with us in the bedroom. I can't get up and give you anything!' I tell you, even though that man doesn't want to get up and give him anything because he is his friend, he will get up and give him whatever he needs because of his persistence. So I say to you: Keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened for you, because everyone who keeps asking will receive, and the person who keeps searching will find, and the person who keeps knocking will have the door opened. What father among you, if his son asks for bread, would give him a stone, or if he asks for a fish, would give him a snake instead of the fish? Or if he asks for an egg, would he give him a scorpion? So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who keep asking him!"

Jesus told his disciples a parable about their need to pray all the time and never give up. He said, "In a city there was a judge who didn't fear God or respect people. In that city there was also a widow who kept coming to him and saying, "Grant me justice against my adversary.' read more.
For a while the judge refused. But later, he told himself, "I don't fear God or respect people, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice. Otherwise, she will keep coming and wear me out.'" Then the Lord added, "Listen to what the unrighteous judge says. Won't God grant his chosen people justice when they cry out to him day and night? Is he slow to help them? I tell you, he will give them justice quickly. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"


Abraham approached and asked, "Will you actually destroy the righteous along with the wicked? Perhaps there are 50 righteous ones within the city. Will you actually destroy it and not forgive the place for the sake of the 50 righteous that are found there? Far be it from you to do such a thing to kill the righteous along with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike! The Judge of all the earth will do what is right, won't he?" read more.
The LORD said, "If I find 50 righteous people within Sodom, I'll forgive the whole place for their sake." Abraham answered, "Look, even though I am only dust and ashes, I've ventured to speak to my LORD. What if there are five less than 50 righteous ones? Will you bring destruction upon the city because of those five?" The LORD said, "I won't destroy it if I find 45 there." Abraham continued to speak to him, asking, "What if 40 are found there?" The LORD replied, "I won't do it for the sake of those 40." Abraham then asked, "I hope my LORD will not be angry if I speak. What if 30 are found there?" The LORD answered, "I won't do it for the sake of those 30." "Look," Abraham said, "I've presumed to speak to my LORD" so what if 20 are found there?" "For the sake of those 20," the LORD responded, "I won't destroy it." Finally, Abraham inquired, "I hope my LORD will not be angry if I speak only once more. What if ten are found there?" He replied, "For the sake of those ten I won't destroy it."

And so Jacob was left alone, and he struggled with a man until daybreak. When the man realized that he hadn't yet won the struggle, he injured the socket of Jacob's thigh, dislocating it as he wrestled with him, and said, "Let me go, because the dawn has come." "I won't let you go," Jacob replied, "unless you bless me." read more.
Then the man asked him, "What's your name?" "Jacob," he responded "Your name won't be Jacob anymore," the man replied, "but Israel, because you exerted yourself against both God and men, and you've emerged victorious." "Please," Jacob inquired, "Tell me your name." But he asked, "Why are you asking about my name?" And he blessed Jacob there. Jacob would later call that place Peniel, because "I saw God face to face, but my life was spared."

Then King David went in to the presence of the LORD, sat down, and said: "Who am I, Lord GOD, and what is my family, that you have brought me to this? And this is still a small thing to you, Lord GOD you also have spoken about the future of your servant's house, and this is the charter for mankind, O Lord GOD! "What more can David say to you, and you surely know your servant, Lord GOD. read more.
For the sake of your word and consistent with your desire, you have done all of these great things, informing your servant. And therefore you are great, Lord GOD, there is no one like you, there is no God except for you, just as we've heard with our own ears. "And who is like your people, like Israel, the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for himself, to make a name for himself, and to carry out for them great and awe-inspiring accomplishments, driving out nations and their gods in front of your people, whom you redeemed to yourself from Egypt? You have prepared your people Israel to be your very own people for ever, and you, LORD, have become their God! "And now, LORD God, let what you have spoken concerning your servant and his household be done and let it be done just as you've promised. May your name be made great forever with the result that it is said that the LORD of the Heavenly Armies is God over Israel, and that the household of your servant David may be established before you. For you, LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, have revealed this to your servant, telling him, "I will build a dynasty for you,' so that your servant has found fortitude to pray this prayer to you. "Now therefore, Lord GOD, you are God, and your words are true, and you have spoken to your servant these good things. So may it please you to bless the household of your servant, so that it might remain forever in your presence, because you, Lord GOD, have spoken, and from your blessing may the household of your servant be blessed forever."

Then Solomon took his place in front of the LORD's altar in the presence of the entire congregation of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven, and said: "LORD God of Israel, there is no one like you, God in heaven above or on the earth below, who watches over his covenant, showing gracious love to your servants who live their lives in your presence with all their hearts. It is you, LORD God, who have kept your promise to my father, your servant David, that you made to him. Indeed, you made a commitment to my father David and then personally fulfilled what you had promised today. read more.
"Now therefore, LORD God of Israel, keep your promise that you made to my father, your servant David, when you said, "You will not lack a man to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants will watch their lives, to live in my presence just as you have lived in my presence.' "Now therefore, God of Israel, may your promise that you made to your servant David my father be fulfilled" and yet, will God truly reside on earth? Look! Neither the sky nor the highest heaven can contain you! How much less this Temple that I have built! Pay attention to the prayer of your servant and to his request, LORD my God, and listen to the cry and prayer that your servant is praying in your presence today. Let your eyes always look toward this Temple night and day, toward the location where you have said "My name will reside there.' Listen to the prayer that your servant prays in this direction. Listen to the requests from your servant and from your people Israel as they pray in this direction, listen from the place where you reside in heaven, then hear and forgive. "If a man should sin against his neighbor and he is required to take an oath, and he then comes to take an oath in front of your altar in this Temple, then listen in heaven, act, and judge your servants, condemning the wicked by bringing back to him the consequences of his choices and by justifying the righteous by recompensing him according to his righteousness. "If your people Israel are defeated in a battle with their enemy because they have sinned against you, when they return to you and confess to you, pray, and in this Temple they ask you to show grace to them, then hear in heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and return them to the soil that you gave to their ancestors. "When heaven remains closed, and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, and they pray in the direction of this place, confessing your name and turning from their sin when you afflict them, then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants and of your people Israel. Indeed, teach them the best way to live and send rain on your land that you have given to your people as an inheritance. "If a famine comes to the land, or if plant diseases, mildew, locust, or grasshoppers appear, or if their enemies attack them in their settlements of the land, no matter what the epidemic or illness is, whatever prayer or request is made, no matter whether it's made by a single man or by all of your people Israel, each praying out of his own hurting heart and anguish and stretching out his hands toward this Temple, then hear from heaven, the place where you reside, and forgive, repaying each person according to all of his ways, since you know their hearts for you alone know the hearts of all human beings so they will fear you every day and live on the surface of the land that you have given to our ancestors. "Now concerning the foreigner who is not from your people Israel, when he comes from a land far away for the sake of your name (for people will hear of your great name, your mighty acts, and your obvious power), when he comes and prays facing this Temple, then hear in heaven where you reside, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the people of the earth may know your name, fear you as do your people Israel, and so they may know that this Temple that I have built is called by your name. "When your people go out to war against their enemies, no matter what way you send them, and they pray to the LORD in the direction of the city that you have chosen and in the direction of the Temple that I have built for your name, then hear their prayer and their request in heaven, and fight for their cause. "When they sin against you because there isn't a single human being who doesn't sin and you become angry with them and deliver them over to their enemy, who takes them away captive to the land that belongs to their enemy, whether near or far away, if they turn their hearts back to you in the land where they have been taken captive, repent, and pray to you even if they do so in the land of their captivity confessing, "We have sinned, we have committed abominations, and practiced wickedness,' if they return to you with all of their heart and with all of their soul in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive, as they pray to you in the direction of their land that you have given to their ancestors and to the city that you have chosen, and to the Temple that I have built for your name, then hear their prayer and requests in heaven, where you reside, and fight for their cause, forgiving your people who have sinned against you, along with their transgressions by which they have transgressed against you. "Show your compassion in the presence of those who have taken them captive, so they may show compassion on them, since they are your people and your heritage, which you brought out of Egypt, from an iron fire furnace. Do this so your eyes may remain open to the requests of your servant and to the requests of your people's prayers, to listen to them whenever they call out to you, because you have separated them to yourself as your heritage from all the people of the earth, as you spoke through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt, Lord GOD. When Solomon had completed saying this entire prayer to the LORD, he got up from kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven in the presence of the LORD's altar, stood up, and blessed all of the assembly of Israel in a loud voice. He said: "Blessed is the LORD, who has given security to his people Israel, just as he promised. Not one of his promises has failed to come about that he gave through his servant Moses. May the LORD our God be with us, just as he was with our ancestors. May he never leave us or abandon us, so that he may turn our hearts toward him, so that we may live life his way, keeping his commands, statutes, and ordinances that he gave to our ancestors. And may what I've had to say to the LORD remain with the LORD our God both day and night, so that he may defend the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as the need of the day may require it, so that, in turn, all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God there is no one else. Now let your heart be completely devoted to the LORD our God, to live according to his statutes and to keep his commands, as we are doing today."

Once Jesus was praying in a certain place. After he had finished, one of his disciples told him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." So he told them, "Whenever you pray you are to say, "Father, may your name be kept holy. May your kingdom come. Keep giving us every day our daily bread, read more.
and forgive us our sins, as we forgive everyone who sins against us. And never bring us into temptation.'" Then he told them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, "Friend, let me borrow three loaves of bread. A friend of mine on a trip has dropped in on me, and I don't have anything to serve him.' Suppose he answers from inside, "Stop bothering me! The door is already locked, and my children are here with us in the bedroom. I can't get up and give you anything!' I tell you, even though that man doesn't want to get up and give him anything because he is his friend, he will get up and give him whatever he needs because of his persistence. So I say to you: Keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened for you, because everyone who keeps asking will receive, and the person who keeps searching will find, and the person who keeps knocking will have the door opened. What father among you, if his son asks for bread, would give him a stone, or if he asks for a fish, would give him a snake instead of the fish? Or if he asks for an egg, would he give him a scorpion? So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who keep asking him!"

Jesus told his disciples a parable about their need to pray all the time and never give up. He said, "In a city there was a judge who didn't fear God or respect people. In that city there was also a widow who kept coming to him and saying, "Grant me justice against my adversary.' read more.
For a while the judge refused. But later, he told himself, "I don't fear God or respect people, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice. Otherwise, she will keep coming and wear me out.'" Then the Lord added, "Listen to what the unrighteous judge says. Won't God grant his chosen people justice when they cry out to him day and night? Is he slow to help them? I tell you, he will give them justice quickly. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"


Abraham approached and asked, "Will you actually destroy the righteous along with the wicked? Perhaps there are 50 righteous ones within the city. Will you actually destroy it and not forgive the place for the sake of the 50 righteous that are found there? Far be it from you to do such a thing to kill the righteous along with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike! The Judge of all the earth will do what is right, won't he?" read more.
The LORD said, "If I find 50 righteous people within Sodom, I'll forgive the whole place for their sake." Abraham answered, "Look, even though I am only dust and ashes, I've ventured to speak to my LORD. What if there are five less than 50 righteous ones? Will you bring destruction upon the city because of those five?" The LORD said, "I won't destroy it if I find 45 there." Abraham continued to speak to him, asking, "What if 40 are found there?" The LORD replied, "I won't do it for the sake of those 40." Abraham then asked, "I hope my LORD will not be angry if I speak. What if 30 are found there?" The LORD answered, "I won't do it for the sake of those 30." "Look," Abraham said, "I've presumed to speak to my LORD" so what if 20 are found there?" "For the sake of those 20," the LORD responded, "I won't destroy it." Finally, Abraham inquired, "I hope my LORD will not be angry if I speak only once more. What if ten are found there?" He replied, "For the sake of those ten I won't destroy it."

And so Jacob was left alone, and he struggled with a man until daybreak. When the man realized that he hadn't yet won the struggle, he injured the socket of Jacob's thigh, dislocating it as he wrestled with him, and said, "Let me go, because the dawn has come." "I won't let you go," Jacob replied, "unless you bless me." read more.
Then the man asked him, "What's your name?" "Jacob," he responded "Your name won't be Jacob anymore," the man replied, "but Israel, because you exerted yourself against both God and men, and you've emerged victorious." "Please," Jacob inquired, "Tell me your name." But he asked, "Why are you asking about my name?" And he blessed Jacob there. Jacob would later call that place Peniel, because "I saw God face to face, but my life was spared."

Then King David went in to the presence of the LORD, sat down, and said: "Who am I, Lord GOD, and what is my family, that you have brought me to this? And this is still a small thing to you, Lord GOD you also have spoken about the future of your servant's house, and this is the charter for mankind, O Lord GOD! "What more can David say to you, and you surely know your servant, Lord GOD. read more.
For the sake of your word and consistent with your desire, you have done all of these great things, informing your servant. And therefore you are great, Lord GOD, there is no one like you, there is no God except for you, just as we've heard with our own ears. "And who is like your people, like Israel, the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for himself, to make a name for himself, and to carry out for them great and awe-inspiring accomplishments, driving out nations and their gods in front of your people, whom you redeemed to yourself from Egypt? You have prepared your people Israel to be your very own people for ever, and you, LORD, have become their God! "And now, LORD God, let what you have spoken concerning your servant and his household be done and let it be done just as you've promised. May your name be made great forever with the result that it is said that the LORD of the Heavenly Armies is God over Israel, and that the household of your servant David may be established before you. For you, LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, have revealed this to your servant, telling him, "I will build a dynasty for you,' so that your servant has found fortitude to pray this prayer to you. "Now therefore, Lord GOD, you are God, and your words are true, and you have spoken to your servant these good things. So may it please you to bless the household of your servant, so that it might remain forever in your presence, because you, Lord GOD, have spoken, and from your blessing may the household of your servant be blessed forever."

Then Solomon took his place in front of the LORD's altar in the presence of the entire congregation of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven, and said: "LORD God of Israel, there is no one like you, God in heaven above or on the earth below, who watches over his covenant, showing gracious love to your servants who live their lives in your presence with all their hearts. It is you, LORD God, who have kept your promise to my father, your servant David, that you made to him. Indeed, you made a commitment to my father David and then personally fulfilled what you had promised today. read more.
"Now therefore, LORD God of Israel, keep your promise that you made to my father, your servant David, when you said, "You will not lack a man to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants will watch their lives, to live in my presence just as you have lived in my presence.' "Now therefore, God of Israel, may your promise that you made to your servant David my father be fulfilled" and yet, will God truly reside on earth? Look! Neither the sky nor the highest heaven can contain you! How much less this Temple that I have built! Pay attention to the prayer of your servant and to his request, LORD my God, and listen to the cry and prayer that your servant is praying in your presence today. Let your eyes always look toward this Temple night and day, toward the location where you have said "My name will reside there.' Listen to the prayer that your servant prays in this direction. Listen to the requests from your servant and from your people Israel as they pray in this direction, listen from the place where you reside in heaven, then hear and forgive. "If a man should sin against his neighbor and he is required to take an oath, and he then comes to take an oath in front of your altar in this Temple, then listen in heaven, act, and judge your servants, condemning the wicked by bringing back to him the consequences of his choices and by justifying the righteous by recompensing him according to his righteousness. "If your people Israel are defeated in a battle with their enemy because they have sinned against you, when they return to you and confess to you, pray, and in this Temple they ask you to show grace to them, then hear in heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and return them to the soil that you gave to their ancestors. "When heaven remains closed, and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, and they pray in the direction of this place, confessing your name and turning from their sin when you afflict them, then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants and of your people Israel. Indeed, teach them the best way to live and send rain on your land that you have given to your people as an inheritance. "If a famine comes to the land, or if plant diseases, mildew, locust, or grasshoppers appear, or if their enemies attack them in their settlements of the land, no matter what the epidemic or illness is, whatever prayer or request is made, no matter whether it's made by a single man or by all of your people Israel, each praying out of his own hurting heart and anguish and stretching out his hands toward this Temple, then hear from heaven, the place where you reside, and forgive, repaying each person according to all of his ways, since you know their hearts for you alone know the hearts of all human beings so they will fear you every day and live on the surface of the land that you have given to our ancestors. "Now concerning the foreigner who is not from your people Israel, when he comes from a land far away for the sake of your name (for people will hear of your great name, your mighty acts, and your obvious power), when he comes and prays facing this Temple, then hear in heaven where you reside, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the people of the earth may know your name, fear you as do your people Israel, and so they may know that this Temple that I have built is called by your name. "When your people go out to war against their enemies, no matter what way you send them, and they pray to the LORD in the direction of the city that you have chosen and in the direction of the Temple that I have built for your name, then hear their prayer and their request in heaven, and fight for their cause. "When they sin against you because there isn't a single human being who doesn't sin and you become angry with them and deliver them over to their enemy, who takes them away captive to the land that belongs to their enemy, whether near or far away, if they turn their hearts back to you in the land where they have been taken captive, repent, and pray to you even if they do so in the land of their captivity confessing, "We have sinned, we have committed abominations, and practiced wickedness,' if they return to you with all of their heart and with all of their soul in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive, as they pray to you in the direction of their land that you have given to their ancestors and to the city that you have chosen, and to the Temple that I have built for your name, then hear their prayer and requests in heaven, where you reside, and fight for their cause, forgiving your people who have sinned against you, along with their transgressions by which they have transgressed against you. "Show your compassion in the presence of those who have taken them captive, so they may show compassion on them, since they are your people and your heritage, which you brought out of Egypt, from an iron fire furnace. Do this so your eyes may remain open to the requests of your servant and to the requests of your people's prayers, to listen to them whenever they call out to you, because you have separated them to yourself as your heritage from all the people of the earth, as you spoke through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt, Lord GOD. When Solomon had completed saying this entire prayer to the LORD, he got up from kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven in the presence of the LORD's altar, stood up, and blessed all of the assembly of Israel in a loud voice. He said: "Blessed is the LORD, who has given security to his people Israel, just as he promised. Not one of his promises has failed to come about that he gave through his servant Moses. May the LORD our God be with us, just as he was with our ancestors. May he never leave us or abandon us, so that he may turn our hearts toward him, so that we may live life his way, keeping his commands, statutes, and ordinances that he gave to our ancestors. And may what I've had to say to the LORD remain with the LORD our God both day and night, so that he may defend the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as the need of the day may require it, so that, in turn, all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God there is no one else. Now let your heart be completely devoted to the LORD our God, to live according to his statutes and to keep his commands, as we are doing today."

Once Jesus was praying in a certain place. After he had finished, one of his disciples told him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." So he told them, "Whenever you pray you are to say, "Father, may your name be kept holy. May your kingdom come. Keep giving us every day our daily bread, read more.
and forgive us our sins, as we forgive everyone who sins against us. And never bring us into temptation.'" Then he told them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, "Friend, let me borrow three loaves of bread. A friend of mine on a trip has dropped in on me, and I don't have anything to serve him.' Suppose he answers from inside, "Stop bothering me! The door is already locked, and my children are here with us in the bedroom. I can't get up and give you anything!' I tell you, even though that man doesn't want to get up and give him anything because he is his friend, he will get up and give him whatever he needs because of his persistence. So I say to you: Keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened for you, because everyone who keeps asking will receive, and the person who keeps searching will find, and the person who keeps knocking will have the door opened. What father among you, if his son asks for bread, would give him a stone, or if he asks for a fish, would give him a snake instead of the fish? Or if he asks for an egg, would he give him a scorpion? So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who keep asking him!"

Jesus told his disciples a parable about their need to pray all the time and never give up. He said, "In a city there was a judge who didn't fear God or respect people. In that city there was also a widow who kept coming to him and saying, "Grant me justice against my adversary.' read more.
For a while the judge refused. But later, he told himself, "I don't fear God or respect people, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice. Otherwise, she will keep coming and wear me out.'" Then the Lord added, "Listen to what the unrighteous judge says. Won't God grant his chosen people justice when they cry out to him day and night? Is he slow to help them? I tell you, he will give them justice quickly. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"



My son, if you accept my words, and treasure my instructions making your ear attentive to wisdom, and turning your heart to understanding if, indeed, you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, read more.
if you seek it like silver and search for it like hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and learn to know God.

If from there you will seek the LORD your God, then you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and soul.

so he went out to meet Asa and rebuked him:

"For this is what the LORD says: "When Babylon's seventy years are completed, I'll take note of you and will fulfill my good promises to you by bringing you back to this place. For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, "plans for well-being, and not for calamity, in order to give you a future and a hope. When you call out to me and come and pray to me, I'll hear you. read more.
You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. I'll be found by you,' declares the LORD, "and I'll restore your security and gather you from all the nations and all the places to which I've driven you,' declares the LORD. "I'll bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.'

So I say to you: Keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened for you, because everyone who keeps asking will receive, and the person who keeps searching will find, and the person who keeps knocking will have the door opened.


So I say to you: Keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened for you, because everyone who keeps asking will receive, and the person who keeps searching will find, and the person who keeps knocking will have the door opened.

"Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened for you. Because everyone who keeps asking will receive, and the person who keeps searching will find, and the person who keeps knocking will have the door opened.


So I say to you: Keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened for you,


So I say to you: Keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened for you,






If from there you will seek the LORD your God, then you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and soul.



And I will bring that surviving third through, testing them as if through fire, purifying them like silver, assaying them like gold. They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say, "This is my people,' and they will say, "The LORD is my God.'"


"As for the poor, the needy, those seeking water when there is none and their tongues are parched from thirst I, the LORD, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, won't abandon them.

Then you'll call, and the LORD will answer; you'll cry for help, and he'll respond, "Here I am.' "If you do away with the yoke among you, and pointing fingers and malicious talk;



So I say to you: Keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened for you,





And I will bring that surviving third through, testing them as if through fire, purifying them like silver, assaying them like gold. They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say, "This is my people,' and they will say, "The LORD is my God.'"


"As for the poor, the needy, those seeking water when there is none and their tongues are parched from thirst I, the LORD, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, won't abandon them.

Then you'll call, and the LORD will answer; you'll cry for help, and he'll respond, "Here I am.' "If you do away with the yoke among you, and pointing fingers and malicious talk;



So I say to you: Keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened for you,




So I say to you: Keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened for you,






If from there you will seek the LORD your God, then you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and soul.



On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and shouted, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink! The one who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, will have rivers of living water flowing from his heart." Now he said this about the Spirit, whom those who were believing in him were to receive, because the Spirit was not yet present and Jesus had not yet been glorified.

The God of our ancestors raised Jesus to life after you killed him by hanging him on a tree. God has exalted to his right hand this very man as our Leader and Savior in order to extend repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who keep on obeying him."

So I say to you: Keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened for you, because everyone who keeps asking will receive, and the person who keeps searching will find, and the person who keeps knocking will have the door opened. What father among you, if his son asks for bread, would give him a stone, or if he asks for a fish, would give him a snake instead of the fish? read more.
Or if he asks for an egg, would he give him a scorpion? So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who keep asking him!"

So the apostles and the elders met to look into this claim. After a lengthy debate, Peter stood up and told them, "Brothers, you know that in the early days, God chose me to be the one among you through whom the gentiles would hear the message of the gospel and believe. God, who knows everyone's heart, showed them he approved by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us.


Abraham approached and asked, "Will you actually destroy the righteous along with the wicked? Perhaps there are 50 righteous ones within the city. Will you actually destroy it and not forgive the place for the sake of the 50 righteous that are found there? Far be it from you to do such a thing to kill the righteous along with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike! The Judge of all the earth will do what is right, won't he?" read more.
The LORD said, "If I find 50 righteous people within Sodom, I'll forgive the whole place for their sake." Abraham answered, "Look, even though I am only dust and ashes, I've ventured to speak to my LORD. What if there are five less than 50 righteous ones? Will you bring destruction upon the city because of those five?" The LORD said, "I won't destroy it if I find 45 there." Abraham continued to speak to him, asking, "What if 40 are found there?" The LORD replied, "I won't do it for the sake of those 40." Abraham then asked, "I hope my LORD will not be angry if I speak. What if 30 are found there?" The LORD answered, "I won't do it for the sake of those 30." "Look," Abraham said, "I've presumed to speak to my LORD" so what if 20 are found there?" "For the sake of those 20," the LORD responded, "I won't destroy it." Finally, Abraham inquired, "I hope my LORD will not be angry if I speak only once more. What if ten are found there?" He replied, "For the sake of those ten I won't destroy it."

And so Jacob was left alone, and he struggled with a man until daybreak. When the man realized that he hadn't yet won the struggle, he injured the socket of Jacob's thigh, dislocating it as he wrestled with him, and said, "Let me go, because the dawn has come." "I won't let you go," Jacob replied, "unless you bless me." read more.
Then the man asked him, "What's your name?" "Jacob," he responded "Your name won't be Jacob anymore," the man replied, "but Israel, because you exerted yourself against both God and men, and you've emerged victorious." "Please," Jacob inquired, "Tell me your name." But he asked, "Why are you asking about my name?" And he blessed Jacob there. Jacob would later call that place Peniel, because "I saw God face to face, but my life was spared."

Then King David went in to the presence of the LORD, sat down, and said: "Who am I, Lord GOD, and what is my family, that you have brought me to this? And this is still a small thing to you, Lord GOD you also have spoken about the future of your servant's house, and this is the charter for mankind, O Lord GOD! "What more can David say to you, and you surely know your servant, Lord GOD. read more.
For the sake of your word and consistent with your desire, you have done all of these great things, informing your servant. And therefore you are great, Lord GOD, there is no one like you, there is no God except for you, just as we've heard with our own ears. "And who is like your people, like Israel, the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for himself, to make a name for himself, and to carry out for them great and awe-inspiring accomplishments, driving out nations and their gods in front of your people, whom you redeemed to yourself from Egypt? You have prepared your people Israel to be your very own people for ever, and you, LORD, have become their God! "And now, LORD God, let what you have spoken concerning your servant and his household be done and let it be done just as you've promised. May your name be made great forever with the result that it is said that the LORD of the Heavenly Armies is God over Israel, and that the household of your servant David may be established before you. For you, LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, have revealed this to your servant, telling him, "I will build a dynasty for you,' so that your servant has found fortitude to pray this prayer to you. "Now therefore, Lord GOD, you are God, and your words are true, and you have spoken to your servant these good things. So may it please you to bless the household of your servant, so that it might remain forever in your presence, because you, Lord GOD, have spoken, and from your blessing may the household of your servant be blessed forever."

Then Solomon took his place in front of the LORD's altar in the presence of the entire congregation of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven, and said: "LORD God of Israel, there is no one like you, God in heaven above or on the earth below, who watches over his covenant, showing gracious love to your servants who live their lives in your presence with all their hearts. It is you, LORD God, who have kept your promise to my father, your servant David, that you made to him. Indeed, you made a commitment to my father David and then personally fulfilled what you had promised today. read more.
"Now therefore, LORD God of Israel, keep your promise that you made to my father, your servant David, when you said, "You will not lack a man to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants will watch their lives, to live in my presence just as you have lived in my presence.' "Now therefore, God of Israel, may your promise that you made to your servant David my father be fulfilled" and yet, will God truly reside on earth? Look! Neither the sky nor the highest heaven can contain you! How much less this Temple that I have built! Pay attention to the prayer of your servant and to his request, LORD my God, and listen to the cry and prayer that your servant is praying in your presence today. Let your eyes always look toward this Temple night and day, toward the location where you have said "My name will reside there.' Listen to the prayer that your servant prays in this direction. Listen to the requests from your servant and from your people Israel as they pray in this direction, listen from the place where you reside in heaven, then hear and forgive. "If a man should sin against his neighbor and he is required to take an oath, and he then comes to take an oath in front of your altar in this Temple, then listen in heaven, act, and judge your servants, condemning the wicked by bringing back to him the consequences of his choices and by justifying the righteous by recompensing him according to his righteousness. "If your people Israel are defeated in a battle with their enemy because they have sinned against you, when they return to you and confess to you, pray, and in this Temple they ask you to show grace to them, then hear in heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and return them to the soil that you gave to their ancestors. "When heaven remains closed, and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, and they pray in the direction of this place, confessing your name and turning from their sin when you afflict them, then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants and of your people Israel. Indeed, teach them the best way to live and send rain on your land that you have given to your people as an inheritance. "If a famine comes to the land, or if plant diseases, mildew, locust, or grasshoppers appear, or if their enemies attack them in their settlements of the land, no matter what the epidemic or illness is, whatever prayer or request is made, no matter whether it's made by a single man or by all of your people Israel, each praying out of his own hurting heart and anguish and stretching out his hands toward this Temple, then hear from heaven, the place where you reside, and forgive, repaying each person according to all of his ways, since you know their hearts for you alone know the hearts of all human beings so they will fear you every day and live on the surface of the land that you have given to our ancestors. "Now concerning the foreigner who is not from your people Israel, when he comes from a land far away for the sake of your name (for people will hear of your great name, your mighty acts, and your obvious power), when he comes and prays facing this Temple, then hear in heaven where you reside, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the people of the earth may know your name, fear you as do your people Israel, and so they may know that this Temple that I have built is called by your name. "When your people go out to war against their enemies, no matter what way you send them, and they pray to the LORD in the direction of the city that you have chosen and in the direction of the Temple that I have built for your name, then hear their prayer and their request in heaven, and fight for their cause. "When they sin against you because there isn't a single human being who doesn't sin and you become angry with them and deliver them over to their enemy, who takes them away captive to the land that belongs to their enemy, whether near or far away, if they turn their hearts back to you in the land where they have been taken captive, repent, and pray to you even if they do so in the land of their captivity confessing, "We have sinned, we have committed abominations, and practiced wickedness,' if they return to you with all of their heart and with all of their soul in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive, as they pray to you in the direction of their land that you have given to their ancestors and to the city that you have chosen, and to the Temple that I have built for your name, then hear their prayer and requests in heaven, where you reside, and fight for their cause, forgiving your people who have sinned against you, along with their transgressions by which they have transgressed against you. "Show your compassion in the presence of those who have taken them captive, so they may show compassion on them, since they are your people and your heritage, which you brought out of Egypt, from an iron fire furnace. Do this so your eyes may remain open to the requests of your servant and to the requests of your people's prayers, to listen to them whenever they call out to you, because you have separated them to yourself as your heritage from all the people of the earth, as you spoke through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt, Lord GOD. When Solomon had completed saying this entire prayer to the LORD, he got up from kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven in the presence of the LORD's altar, stood up, and blessed all of the assembly of Israel in a loud voice. He said: "Blessed is the LORD, who has given security to his people Israel, just as he promised. Not one of his promises has failed to come about that he gave through his servant Moses. May the LORD our God be with us, just as he was with our ancestors. May he never leave us or abandon us, so that he may turn our hearts toward him, so that we may live life his way, keeping his commands, statutes, and ordinances that he gave to our ancestors. And may what I've had to say to the LORD remain with the LORD our God both day and night, so that he may defend the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as the need of the day may require it, so that, in turn, all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God there is no one else. Now let your heart be completely devoted to the LORD our God, to live according to his statutes and to keep his commands, as we are doing today."

Once Jesus was praying in a certain place. After he had finished, one of his disciples told him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." So he told them, "Whenever you pray you are to say, "Father, may your name be kept holy. May your kingdom come. Keep giving us every day our daily bread, read more.
and forgive us our sins, as we forgive everyone who sins against us. And never bring us into temptation.'" Then he told them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, "Friend, let me borrow three loaves of bread. A friend of mine on a trip has dropped in on me, and I don't have anything to serve him.' Suppose he answers from inside, "Stop bothering me! The door is already locked, and my children are here with us in the bedroom. I can't get up and give you anything!' I tell you, even though that man doesn't want to get up and give him anything because he is his friend, he will get up and give him whatever he needs because of his persistence. So I say to you: Keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened for you, because everyone who keeps asking will receive, and the person who keeps searching will find, and the person who keeps knocking will have the door opened. What father among you, if his son asks for bread, would give him a stone, or if he asks for a fish, would give him a snake instead of the fish? Or if he asks for an egg, would he give him a scorpion? So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who keep asking him!"

Jesus told his disciples a parable about their need to pray all the time and never give up. He said, "In a city there was a judge who didn't fear God or respect people. In that city there was also a widow who kept coming to him and saying, "Grant me justice against my adversary.' read more.
For a while the judge refused. But later, he told himself, "I don't fear God or respect people, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice. Otherwise, she will keep coming and wear me out.'" Then the Lord added, "Listen to what the unrighteous judge says. Won't God grant his chosen people justice when they cry out to him day and night? Is he slow to help them? I tell you, he will give them justice quickly. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"


Once Jesus was praying in a certain place. After he had finished, one of his disciples told him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." So he told them, "Whenever you pray you are to say, "Father, may your name be kept holy. May your kingdom come. Keep giving us every day our daily bread, read more.
and forgive us our sins, as we forgive everyone who sins against us. And never bring us into temptation.'" Then he told them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, "Friend, let me borrow three loaves of bread. A friend of mine on a trip has dropped in on me, and I don't have anything to serve him.' Suppose he answers from inside, "Stop bothering me! The door is already locked, and my children are here with us in the bedroom. I can't get up and give you anything!' I tell you, even though that man doesn't want to get up and give him anything because he is his friend, he will get up and give him whatever he needs because of his persistence. So I say to you: Keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened for you, because everyone who keeps asking will receive, and the person who keeps searching will find, and the person who keeps knocking will have the door opened. What father among you, if his son asks for bread, would give him a stone, or if he asks for a fish, would give him a snake instead of the fish? Or if he asks for an egg, would he give him a scorpion? So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who keep asking him!"


Then he told them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, "Friend, let me borrow three loaves of bread. A friend of mine on a trip has dropped in on me, and I don't have anything to serve him.' Suppose he answers from inside, "Stop bothering me! The door is already locked, and my children are here with us in the bedroom. I can't get up and give you anything!' read more.
I tell you, even though that man doesn't want to get up and give him anything because he is his friend, he will get up and give him whatever he needs because of his persistence. So I say to you: Keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened for you,



And I will bring that surviving third through, testing them as if through fire, purifying them like silver, assaying them like gold. They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say, "This is my people,' and they will say, "The LORD is my God.'"


"As for the poor, the needy, those seeking water when there is none and their tongues are parched from thirst I, the LORD, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, won't abandon them.

Then you'll call, and the LORD will answer; you'll cry for help, and he'll respond, "Here I am.' "If you do away with the yoke among you, and pointing fingers and malicious talk;



So I say to you: Keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened for you,





And I will bring that surviving third through, testing them as if through fire, purifying them like silver, assaying them like gold. They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say, "This is my people,' and they will say, "The LORD is my God.'"


"As for the poor, the needy, those seeking water when there is none and their tongues are parched from thirst I, the LORD, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, won't abandon them.

Then you'll call, and the LORD will answer; you'll cry for help, and he'll respond, "Here I am.' "If you do away with the yoke among you, and pointing fingers and malicious talk;



So I say to you: Keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened for you,






So I say to you: Keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened for you,

The LORD appeared to Solomon one night in a dream and told him, "Ask me for whatever you want and I'll give it to you."

"Ask the LORD for rain in the spring the LORD who fashions lightning thunderstorms, giving rain showers to mankind along with grain in the fields.

Because everyone who keeps asking will receive, and the person who keeps searching will find, and the person who keeps knocking will have the door opened.






Abraham approached and asked, "Will you actually destroy the righteous along with the wicked? Perhaps there are 50 righteous ones within the city. Will you actually destroy it and not forgive the place for the sake of the 50 righteous that are found there? Far be it from you to do such a thing to kill the righteous along with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike! The Judge of all the earth will do what is right, won't he?" read more.
The LORD said, "If I find 50 righteous people within Sodom, I'll forgive the whole place for their sake." Abraham answered, "Look, even though I am only dust and ashes, I've ventured to speak to my LORD. What if there are five less than 50 righteous ones? Will you bring destruction upon the city because of those five?" The LORD said, "I won't destroy it if I find 45 there." Abraham continued to speak to him, asking, "What if 40 are found there?" The LORD replied, "I won't do it for the sake of those 40." Abraham then asked, "I hope my LORD will not be angry if I speak. What if 30 are found there?" The LORD answered, "I won't do it for the sake of those 30." "Look," Abraham said, "I've presumed to speak to my LORD" so what if 20 are found there?" "For the sake of those 20," the LORD responded, "I won't destroy it." Finally, Abraham inquired, "I hope my LORD will not be angry if I speak only once more. What if ten are found there?" He replied, "For the sake of those ten I won't destroy it."

And so Jacob was left alone, and he struggled with a man until daybreak. When the man realized that he hadn't yet won the struggle, he injured the socket of Jacob's thigh, dislocating it as he wrestled with him, and said, "Let me go, because the dawn has come." "I won't let you go," Jacob replied, "unless you bless me." read more.
Then the man asked him, "What's your name?" "Jacob," he responded "Your name won't be Jacob anymore," the man replied, "but Israel, because you exerted yourself against both God and men, and you've emerged victorious." "Please," Jacob inquired, "Tell me your name." But he asked, "Why are you asking about my name?" And he blessed Jacob there. Jacob would later call that place Peniel, because "I saw God face to face, but my life was spared."

Then King David went in to the presence of the LORD, sat down, and said: "Who am I, Lord GOD, and what is my family, that you have brought me to this? And this is still a small thing to you, Lord GOD you also have spoken about the future of your servant's house, and this is the charter for mankind, O Lord GOD! "What more can David say to you, and you surely know your servant, Lord GOD. read more.
For the sake of your word and consistent with your desire, you have done all of these great things, informing your servant. And therefore you are great, Lord GOD, there is no one like you, there is no God except for you, just as we've heard with our own ears. "And who is like your people, like Israel, the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for himself, to make a name for himself, and to carry out for them great and awe-inspiring accomplishments, driving out nations and their gods in front of your people, whom you redeemed to yourself from Egypt? You have prepared your people Israel to be your very own people for ever, and you, LORD, have become their God! "And now, LORD God, let what you have spoken concerning your servant and his household be done and let it be done just as you've promised. May your name be made great forever with the result that it is said that the LORD of the Heavenly Armies is God over Israel, and that the household of your servant David may be established before you. For you, LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, have revealed this to your servant, telling him, "I will build a dynasty for you,' so that your servant has found fortitude to pray this prayer to you. "Now therefore, Lord GOD, you are God, and your words are true, and you have spoken to your servant these good things. So may it please you to bless the household of your servant, so that it might remain forever in your presence, because you, Lord GOD, have spoken, and from your blessing may the household of your servant be blessed forever."

Then Solomon took his place in front of the LORD's altar in the presence of the entire congregation of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven, and said: "LORD God of Israel, there is no one like you, God in heaven above or on the earth below, who watches over his covenant, showing gracious love to your servants who live their lives in your presence with all their hearts. It is you, LORD God, who have kept your promise to my father, your servant David, that you made to him. Indeed, you made a commitment to my father David and then personally fulfilled what you had promised today. read more.
"Now therefore, LORD God of Israel, keep your promise that you made to my father, your servant David, when you said, "You will not lack a man to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants will watch their lives, to live in my presence just as you have lived in my presence.' "Now therefore, God of Israel, may your promise that you made to your servant David my father be fulfilled" and yet, will God truly reside on earth? Look! Neither the sky nor the highest heaven can contain you! How much less this Temple that I have built! Pay attention to the prayer of your servant and to his request, LORD my God, and listen to the cry and prayer that your servant is praying in your presence today. Let your eyes always look toward this Temple night and day, toward the location where you have said "My name will reside there.' Listen to the prayer that your servant prays in this direction. Listen to the requests from your servant and from your people Israel as they pray in this direction, listen from the place where you reside in heaven, then hear and forgive. "If a man should sin against his neighbor and he is required to take an oath, and he then comes to take an oath in front of your altar in this Temple, then listen in heaven, act, and judge your servants, condemning the wicked by bringing back to him the consequences of his choices and by justifying the righteous by recompensing him according to his righteousness. "If your people Israel are defeated in a battle with their enemy because they have sinned against you, when they return to you and confess to you, pray, and in this Temple they ask you to show grace to them, then hear in heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and return them to the soil that you gave to their ancestors. "When heaven remains closed, and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, and they pray in the direction of this place, confessing your name and turning from their sin when you afflict them, then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants and of your people Israel. Indeed, teach them the best way to live and send rain on your land that you have given to your people as an inheritance. "If a famine comes to the land, or if plant diseases, mildew, locust, or grasshoppers appear, or if their enemies attack them in their settlements of the land, no matter what the epidemic or illness is, whatever prayer or request is made, no matter whether it's made by a single man or by all of your people Israel, each praying out of his own hurting heart and anguish and stretching out his hands toward this Temple, then hear from heaven, the place where you reside, and forgive, repaying each person according to all of his ways, since you know their hearts for you alone know the hearts of all human beings so they will fear you every day and live on the surface of the land that you have given to our ancestors. "Now concerning the foreigner who is not from your people Israel, when he comes from a land far away for the sake of your name (for people will hear of your great name, your mighty acts, and your obvious power), when he comes and prays facing this Temple, then hear in heaven where you reside, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the people of the earth may know your name, fear you as do your people Israel, and so they may know that this Temple that I have built is called by your name. "When your people go out to war against their enemies, no matter what way you send them, and they pray to the LORD in the direction of the city that you have chosen and in the direction of the Temple that I have built for your name, then hear their prayer and their request in heaven, and fight for their cause. "When they sin against you because there isn't a single human being who doesn't sin and you become angry with them and deliver them over to their enemy, who takes them away captive to the land that belongs to their enemy, whether near or far away, if they turn their hearts back to you in the land where they have been taken captive, repent, and pray to you even if they do so in the land of their captivity confessing, "We have sinned, we have committed abominations, and practiced wickedness,' if they return to you with all of their heart and with all of their soul in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive, as they pray to you in the direction of their land that you have given to their ancestors and to the city that you have chosen, and to the Temple that I have built for your name, then hear their prayer and requests in heaven, where you reside, and fight for their cause, forgiving your people who have sinned against you, along with their transgressions by which they have transgressed against you. "Show your compassion in the presence of those who have taken them captive, so they may show compassion on them, since they are your people and your heritage, which you brought out of Egypt, from an iron fire furnace. Do this so your eyes may remain open to the requests of your servant and to the requests of your people's prayers, to listen to them whenever they call out to you, because you have separated them to yourself as your heritage from all the people of the earth, as you spoke through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt, Lord GOD. When Solomon had completed saying this entire prayer to the LORD, he got up from kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven in the presence of the LORD's altar, stood up, and blessed all of the assembly of Israel in a loud voice. He said: "Blessed is the LORD, who has given security to his people Israel, just as he promised. Not one of his promises has failed to come about that he gave through his servant Moses. May the LORD our God be with us, just as he was with our ancestors. May he never leave us or abandon us, so that he may turn our hearts toward him, so that we may live life his way, keeping his commands, statutes, and ordinances that he gave to our ancestors. And may what I've had to say to the LORD remain with the LORD our God both day and night, so that he may defend the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as the need of the day may require it, so that, in turn, all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God there is no one else. Now let your heart be completely devoted to the LORD our God, to live according to his statutes and to keep his commands, as we are doing today."

Once Jesus was praying in a certain place. After he had finished, one of his disciples told him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." So he told them, "Whenever you pray you are to say, "Father, may your name be kept holy. May your kingdom come. Keep giving us every day our daily bread, read more.
and forgive us our sins, as we forgive everyone who sins against us. And never bring us into temptation.'" Then he told them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, "Friend, let me borrow three loaves of bread. A friend of mine on a trip has dropped in on me, and I don't have anything to serve him.' Suppose he answers from inside, "Stop bothering me! The door is already locked, and my children are here with us in the bedroom. I can't get up and give you anything!' I tell you, even though that man doesn't want to get up and give him anything because he is his friend, he will get up and give him whatever he needs because of his persistence. So I say to you: Keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened for you, because everyone who keeps asking will receive, and the person who keeps searching will find, and the person who keeps knocking will have the door opened. What father among you, if his son asks for bread, would give him a stone, or if he asks for a fish, would give him a snake instead of the fish? Or if he asks for an egg, would he give him a scorpion? So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who keep asking him!"

Jesus told his disciples a parable about their need to pray all the time and never give up. He said, "In a city there was a judge who didn't fear God or respect people. In that city there was also a widow who kept coming to him and saying, "Grant me justice against my adversary.' read more.
For a while the judge refused. But later, he told himself, "I don't fear God or respect people, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice. Otherwise, she will keep coming and wear me out.'" Then the Lord added, "Listen to what the unrighteous judge says. Won't God grant his chosen people justice when they cry out to him day and night? Is he slow to help them? I tell you, he will give them justice quickly. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"


So I say to you: Keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened for you, because everyone who keeps asking will receive, and the person who keeps searching will find, and the person who keeps knocking will have the door opened.


I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence that we have in him: if we ask for anything according to his will, he listens to us. And if we know that he listens to our requests, we can be sure that we have what we ask him for.

Jesus answered them, "I tell all of you with certainty, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you be able to do what has been done to the fig tree, but you will also say to this mountain, "Be removed and thrown into the sea,' and it will happen. You will receive whatever you ask for in prayer, if you believe."

So I say to you: Keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened for you, because everyone who keeps asking will receive, and the person who keeps searching will find, and the person who keeps knocking will have the door opened.

"Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened for you. Because everyone who keeps asking will receive, and the person who keeps searching will find, and the person who keeps knocking will have the door opened.

I tell all of you with certainty, if anyone says to this mountain, "Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' if he doesn't doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. That is why I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours.

Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence in the presence of God. Whatever we request we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.


Abraham approached and asked, "Will you actually destroy the righteous along with the wicked? Perhaps there are 50 righteous ones within the city. Will you actually destroy it and not forgive the place for the sake of the 50 righteous that are found there? Far be it from you to do such a thing to kill the righteous along with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike! The Judge of all the earth will do what is right, won't he?" read more.
The LORD said, "If I find 50 righteous people within Sodom, I'll forgive the whole place for their sake." Abraham answered, "Look, even though I am only dust and ashes, I've ventured to speak to my LORD. What if there are five less than 50 righteous ones? Will you bring destruction upon the city because of those five?" The LORD said, "I won't destroy it if I find 45 there." Abraham continued to speak to him, asking, "What if 40 are found there?" The LORD replied, "I won't do it for the sake of those 40." Abraham then asked, "I hope my LORD will not be angry if I speak. What if 30 are found there?" The LORD answered, "I won't do it for the sake of those 30." "Look," Abraham said, "I've presumed to speak to my LORD" so what if 20 are found there?" "For the sake of those 20," the LORD responded, "I won't destroy it." Finally, Abraham inquired, "I hope my LORD will not be angry if I speak only once more. What if ten are found there?" He replied, "For the sake of those ten I won't destroy it."

And so Jacob was left alone, and he struggled with a man until daybreak. When the man realized that he hadn't yet won the struggle, he injured the socket of Jacob's thigh, dislocating it as he wrestled with him, and said, "Let me go, because the dawn has come." "I won't let you go," Jacob replied, "unless you bless me." read more.
Then the man asked him, "What's your name?" "Jacob," he responded "Your name won't be Jacob anymore," the man replied, "but Israel, because you exerted yourself against both God and men, and you've emerged victorious." "Please," Jacob inquired, "Tell me your name." But he asked, "Why are you asking about my name?" And he blessed Jacob there. Jacob would later call that place Peniel, because "I saw God face to face, but my life was spared."

Then King David went in to the presence of the LORD, sat down, and said: "Who am I, Lord GOD, and what is my family, that you have brought me to this? And this is still a small thing to you, Lord GOD you also have spoken about the future of your servant's house, and this is the charter for mankind, O Lord GOD! "What more can David say to you, and you surely know your servant, Lord GOD. read more.
For the sake of your word and consistent with your desire, you have done all of these great things, informing your servant. And therefore you are great, Lord GOD, there is no one like you, there is no God except for you, just as we've heard with our own ears. "And who is like your people, like Israel, the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for himself, to make a name for himself, and to carry out for them great and awe-inspiring accomplishments, driving out nations and their gods in front of your people, whom you redeemed to yourself from Egypt? You have prepared your people Israel to be your very own people for ever, and you, LORD, have become their God! "And now, LORD God, let what you have spoken concerning your servant and his household be done and let it be done just as you've promised. May your name be made great forever with the result that it is said that the LORD of the Heavenly Armies is God over Israel, and that the household of your servant David may be established before you. For you, LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, have revealed this to your servant, telling him, "I will build a dynasty for you,' so that your servant has found fortitude to pray this prayer to you. "Now therefore, Lord GOD, you are God, and your words are true, and you have spoken to your servant these good things. So may it please you to bless the household of your servant, so that it might remain forever in your presence, because you, Lord GOD, have spoken, and from your blessing may the household of your servant be blessed forever."

Then Solomon took his place in front of the LORD's altar in the presence of the entire congregation of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven, and said: "LORD God of Israel, there is no one like you, God in heaven above or on the earth below, who watches over his covenant, showing gracious love to your servants who live their lives in your presence with all their hearts. It is you, LORD God, who have kept your promise to my father, your servant David, that you made to him. Indeed, you made a commitment to my father David and then personally fulfilled what you had promised today. read more.
"Now therefore, LORD God of Israel, keep your promise that you made to my father, your servant David, when you said, "You will not lack a man to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants will watch their lives, to live in my presence just as you have lived in my presence.' "Now therefore, God of Israel, may your promise that you made to your servant David my father be fulfilled" and yet, will God truly reside on earth? Look! Neither the sky nor the highest heaven can contain you! How much less this Temple that I have built! Pay attention to the prayer of your servant and to his request, LORD my God, and listen to the cry and prayer that your servant is praying in your presence today. Let your eyes always look toward this Temple night and day, toward the location where you have said "My name will reside there.' Listen to the prayer that your servant prays in this direction. Listen to the requests from your servant and from your people Israel as they pray in this direction, listen from the place where you reside in heaven, then hear and forgive. "If a man should sin against his neighbor and he is required to take an oath, and he then comes to take an oath in front of your altar in this Temple, then listen in heaven, act, and judge your servants, condemning the wicked by bringing back to him the consequences of his choices and by justifying the righteous by recompensing him according to his righteousness. "If your people Israel are defeated in a battle with their enemy because they have sinned against you, when they return to you and confess to you, pray, and in this Temple they ask you to show grace to them, then hear in heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and return them to the soil that you gave to their ancestors. "When heaven remains closed, and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, and they pray in the direction of this place, confessing your name and turning from their sin when you afflict them, then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants and of your people Israel. Indeed, teach them the best way to live and send rain on your land that you have given to your people as an inheritance. "If a famine comes to the land, or if plant diseases, mildew, locust, or grasshoppers appear, or if their enemies attack them in their settlements of the land, no matter what the epidemic or illness is, whatever prayer or request is made, no matter whether it's made by a single man or by all of your people Israel, each praying out of his own hurting heart and anguish and stretching out his hands toward this Temple, then hear from heaven, the place where you reside, and forgive, repaying each person according to all of his ways, since you know their hearts for you alone know the hearts of all human beings so they will fear you every day and live on the surface of the land that you have given to our ancestors. "Now concerning the foreigner who is not from your people Israel, when he comes from a land far away for the sake of your name (for people will hear of your great name, your mighty acts, and your obvious power), when he comes and prays facing this Temple, then hear in heaven where you reside, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the people of the earth may know your name, fear you as do your people Israel, and so they may know that this Temple that I have built is called by your name. "When your people go out to war against their enemies, no matter what way you send them, and they pray to the LORD in the direction of the city that you have chosen and in the direction of the Temple that I have built for your name, then hear their prayer and their request in heaven, and fight for their cause. "When they sin against you because there isn't a single human being who doesn't sin and you become angry with them and deliver them over to their enemy, who takes them away captive to the land that belongs to their enemy, whether near or far away, if they turn their hearts back to you in the land where they have been taken captive, repent, and pray to you even if they do so in the land of their captivity confessing, "We have sinned, we have committed abominations, and practiced wickedness,' if they return to you with all of their heart and with all of their soul in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive, as they pray to you in the direction of their land that you have given to their ancestors and to the city that you have chosen, and to the Temple that I have built for your name, then hear their prayer and requests in heaven, where you reside, and fight for their cause, forgiving your people who have sinned against you, along with their transgressions by which they have transgressed against you. "Show your compassion in the presence of those who have taken them captive, so they may show compassion on them, since they are your people and your heritage, which you brought out of Egypt, from an iron fire furnace. Do this so your eyes may remain open to the requests of your servant and to the requests of your people's prayers, to listen to them whenever they call out to you, because you have separated them to yourself as your heritage from all the people of the earth, as you spoke through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt, Lord GOD. When Solomon had completed saying this entire prayer to the LORD, he got up from kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven in the presence of the LORD's altar, stood up, and blessed all of the assembly of Israel in a loud voice. He said: "Blessed is the LORD, who has given security to his people Israel, just as he promised. Not one of his promises has failed to come about that he gave through his servant Moses. May the LORD our God be with us, just as he was with our ancestors. May he never leave us or abandon us, so that he may turn our hearts toward him, so that we may live life his way, keeping his commands, statutes, and ordinances that he gave to our ancestors. And may what I've had to say to the LORD remain with the LORD our God both day and night, so that he may defend the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as the need of the day may require it, so that, in turn, all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God there is no one else. Now let your heart be completely devoted to the LORD our God, to live according to his statutes and to keep his commands, as we are doing today."

Once Jesus was praying in a certain place. After he had finished, one of his disciples told him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." So he told them, "Whenever you pray you are to say, "Father, may your name be kept holy. May your kingdom come. Keep giving us every day our daily bread, read more.
and forgive us our sins, as we forgive everyone who sins against us. And never bring us into temptation.'" Then he told them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, "Friend, let me borrow three loaves of bread. A friend of mine on a trip has dropped in on me, and I don't have anything to serve him.' Suppose he answers from inside, "Stop bothering me! The door is already locked, and my children are here with us in the bedroom. I can't get up and give you anything!' I tell you, even though that man doesn't want to get up and give him anything because he is his friend, he will get up and give him whatever he needs because of his persistence. So I say to you: Keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened for you, because everyone who keeps asking will receive, and the person who keeps searching will find, and the person who keeps knocking will have the door opened. What father among you, if his son asks for bread, would give him a stone, or if he asks for a fish, would give him a snake instead of the fish? Or if he asks for an egg, would he give him a scorpion? So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who keep asking him!"

Jesus told his disciples a parable about their need to pray all the time and never give up. He said, "In a city there was a judge who didn't fear God or respect people. In that city there was also a widow who kept coming to him and saying, "Grant me justice against my adversary.' read more.
For a while the judge refused. But later, he told himself, "I don't fear God or respect people, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice. Otherwise, she will keep coming and wear me out.'" Then the Lord added, "Listen to what the unrighteous judge says. Won't God grant his chosen people justice when they cry out to him day and night? Is he slow to help them? I tell you, he will give them justice quickly. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"


So I say to you: Keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened for you,






If from there you will seek the LORD your God, then you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and soul.


Abraham approached and asked, "Will you actually destroy the righteous along with the wicked? Perhaps there are 50 righteous ones within the city. Will you actually destroy it and not forgive the place for the sake of the 50 righteous that are found there? Far be it from you to do such a thing to kill the righteous along with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike! The Judge of all the earth will do what is right, won't he?" read more.
The LORD said, "If I find 50 righteous people within Sodom, I'll forgive the whole place for their sake." Abraham answered, "Look, even though I am only dust and ashes, I've ventured to speak to my LORD. What if there are five less than 50 righteous ones? Will you bring destruction upon the city because of those five?" The LORD said, "I won't destroy it if I find 45 there." Abraham continued to speak to him, asking, "What if 40 are found there?" The LORD replied, "I won't do it for the sake of those 40." Abraham then asked, "I hope my LORD will not be angry if I speak. What if 30 are found there?" The LORD answered, "I won't do it for the sake of those 30." "Look," Abraham said, "I've presumed to speak to my LORD" so what if 20 are found there?" "For the sake of those 20," the LORD responded, "I won't destroy it." Finally, Abraham inquired, "I hope my LORD will not be angry if I speak only once more. What if ten are found there?" He replied, "For the sake of those ten I won't destroy it."

And so Jacob was left alone, and he struggled with a man until daybreak. When the man realized that he hadn't yet won the struggle, he injured the socket of Jacob's thigh, dislocating it as he wrestled with him, and said, "Let me go, because the dawn has come." "I won't let you go," Jacob replied, "unless you bless me." read more.
Then the man asked him, "What's your name?" "Jacob," he responded "Your name won't be Jacob anymore," the man replied, "but Israel, because you exerted yourself against both God and men, and you've emerged victorious." "Please," Jacob inquired, "Tell me your name." But he asked, "Why are you asking about my name?" And he blessed Jacob there. Jacob would later call that place Peniel, because "I saw God face to face, but my life was spared."

Then King David went in to the presence of the LORD, sat down, and said: "Who am I, Lord GOD, and what is my family, that you have brought me to this? And this is still a small thing to you, Lord GOD you also have spoken about the future of your servant's house, and this is the charter for mankind, O Lord GOD! "What more can David say to you, and you surely know your servant, Lord GOD. read more.
For the sake of your word and consistent with your desire, you have done all of these great things, informing your servant. And therefore you are great, Lord GOD, there is no one like you, there is no God except for you, just as we've heard with our own ears. "And who is like your people, like Israel, the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for himself, to make a name for himself, and to carry out for them great and awe-inspiring accomplishments, driving out nations and their gods in front of your people, whom you redeemed to yourself from Egypt? You have prepared your people Israel to be your very own people for ever, and you, LORD, have become their God! "And now, LORD God, let what you have spoken concerning your servant and his household be done and let it be done just as you've promised. May your name be made great forever with the result that it is said that the LORD of the Heavenly Armies is God over Israel, and that the household of your servant David may be established before you. For you, LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, have revealed this to your servant, telling him, "I will build a dynasty for you,' so that your servant has found fortitude to pray this prayer to you. "Now therefore, Lord GOD, you are God, and your words are true, and you have spoken to your servant these good things. So may it please you to bless the household of your servant, so that it might remain forever in your presence, because you, Lord GOD, have spoken, and from your blessing may the household of your servant be blessed forever."

Then Solomon took his place in front of the LORD's altar in the presence of the entire congregation of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven, and said: "LORD God of Israel, there is no one like you, God in heaven above or on the earth below, who watches over his covenant, showing gracious love to your servants who live their lives in your presence with all their hearts. It is you, LORD God, who have kept your promise to my father, your servant David, that you made to him. Indeed, you made a commitment to my father David and then personally fulfilled what you had promised today. read more.
"Now therefore, LORD God of Israel, keep your promise that you made to my father, your servant David, when you said, "You will not lack a man to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants will watch their lives, to live in my presence just as you have lived in my presence.' "Now therefore, God of Israel, may your promise that you made to your servant David my father be fulfilled" and yet, will God truly reside on earth? Look! Neither the sky nor the highest heaven can contain you! How much less this Temple that I have built! Pay attention to the prayer of your servant and to his request, LORD my God, and listen to the cry and prayer that your servant is praying in your presence today. Let your eyes always look toward this Temple night and day, toward the location where you have said "My name will reside there.' Listen to the prayer that your servant prays in this direction. Listen to the requests from your servant and from your people Israel as they pray in this direction, listen from the place where you reside in heaven, then hear and forgive. "If a man should sin against his neighbor and he is required to take an oath, and he then comes to take an oath in front of your altar in this Temple, then listen in heaven, act, and judge your servants, condemning the wicked by bringing back to him the consequences of his choices and by justifying the righteous by recompensing him according to his righteousness. "If your people Israel are defeated in a battle with their enemy because they have sinned against you, when they return to you and confess to you, pray, and in this Temple they ask you to show grace to them, then hear in heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and return them to the soil that you gave to their ancestors. "When heaven remains closed, and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, and they pray in the direction of this place, confessing your name and turning from their sin when you afflict them, then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants and of your people Israel. Indeed, teach them the best way to live and send rain on your land that you have given to your people as an inheritance. "If a famine comes to the land, or if plant diseases, mildew, locust, or grasshoppers appear, or if their enemies attack them in their settlements of the land, no matter what the epidemic or illness is, whatever prayer or request is made, no matter whether it's made by a single man or by all of your people Israel, each praying out of his own hurting heart and anguish and stretching out his hands toward this Temple, then hear from heaven, the place where you reside, and forgive, repaying each person according to all of his ways, since you know their hearts for you alone know the hearts of all human beings so they will fear you every day and live on the surface of the land that you have given to our ancestors. "Now concerning the foreigner who is not from your people Israel, when he comes from a land far away for the sake of your name (for people will hear of your great name, your mighty acts, and your obvious power), when he comes and prays facing this Temple, then hear in heaven where you reside, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the people of the earth may know your name, fear you as do your people Israel, and so they may know that this Temple that I have built is called by your name. "When your people go out to war against their enemies, no matter what way you send them, and they pray to the LORD in the direction of the city that you have chosen and in the direction of the Temple that I have built for your name, then hear their prayer and their request in heaven, and fight for their cause. "When they sin against you because there isn't a single human being who doesn't sin and you become angry with them and deliver them over to their enemy, who takes them away captive to the land that belongs to their enemy, whether near or far away, if they turn their hearts back to you in the land where they have been taken captive, repent, and pray to you even if they do so in the land of their captivity confessing, "We have sinned, we have committed abominations, and practiced wickedness,' if they return to you with all of their heart and with all of their soul in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive, as they pray to you in the direction of their land that you have given to their ancestors and to the city that you have chosen, and to the Temple that I have built for your name, then hear their prayer and requests in heaven, where you reside, and fight for their cause, forgiving your people who have sinned against you, along with their transgressions by which they have transgressed against you. "Show your compassion in the presence of those who have taken them captive, so they may show compassion on them, since they are your people and your heritage, which you brought out of Egypt, from an iron fire furnace. Do this so your eyes may remain open to the requests of your servant and to the requests of your people's prayers, to listen to them whenever they call out to you, because you have separated them to yourself as your heritage from all the people of the earth, as you spoke through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt, Lord GOD. When Solomon had completed saying this entire prayer to the LORD, he got up from kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven in the presence of the LORD's altar, stood up, and blessed all of the assembly of Israel in a loud voice. He said: "Blessed is the LORD, who has given security to his people Israel, just as he promised. Not one of his promises has failed to come about that he gave through his servant Moses. May the LORD our God be with us, just as he was with our ancestors. May he never leave us or abandon us, so that he may turn our hearts toward him, so that we may live life his way, keeping his commands, statutes, and ordinances that he gave to our ancestors. And may what I've had to say to the LORD remain with the LORD our God both day and night, so that he may defend the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as the need of the day may require it, so that, in turn, all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God there is no one else. Now let your heart be completely devoted to the LORD our God, to live according to his statutes and to keep his commands, as we are doing today."

Once Jesus was praying in a certain place. After he had finished, one of his disciples told him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." So he told them, "Whenever you pray you are to say, "Father, may your name be kept holy. May your kingdom come. Keep giving us every day our daily bread, read more.
and forgive us our sins, as we forgive everyone who sins against us. And never bring us into temptation.'" Then he told them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, "Friend, let me borrow three loaves of bread. A friend of mine on a trip has dropped in on me, and I don't have anything to serve him.' Suppose he answers from inside, "Stop bothering me! The door is already locked, and my children are here with us in the bedroom. I can't get up and give you anything!' I tell you, even though that man doesn't want to get up and give him anything because he is his friend, he will get up and give him whatever he needs because of his persistence. So I say to you: Keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened for you, because everyone who keeps asking will receive, and the person who keeps searching will find, and the person who keeps knocking will have the door opened. What father among you, if his son asks for bread, would give him a stone, or if he asks for a fish, would give him a snake instead of the fish? Or if he asks for an egg, would he give him a scorpion? So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who keep asking him!"

Jesus told his disciples a parable about their need to pray all the time and never give up. He said, "In a city there was a judge who didn't fear God or respect people. In that city there was also a widow who kept coming to him and saying, "Grant me justice against my adversary.' read more.
For a while the judge refused. But later, he told himself, "I don't fear God or respect people, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice. Otherwise, she will keep coming and wear me out.'" Then the Lord added, "Listen to what the unrighteous judge says. Won't God grant his chosen people justice when they cry out to him day and night? Is he slow to help them? I tell you, he will give them justice quickly. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"


Abraham approached and asked, "Will you actually destroy the righteous along with the wicked? Perhaps there are 50 righteous ones within the city. Will you actually destroy it and not forgive the place for the sake of the 50 righteous that are found there? Far be it from you to do such a thing to kill the righteous along with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike! The Judge of all the earth will do what is right, won't he?" read more.
The LORD said, "If I find 50 righteous people within Sodom, I'll forgive the whole place for their sake." Abraham answered, "Look, even though I am only dust and ashes, I've ventured to speak to my LORD. What if there are five less than 50 righteous ones? Will you bring destruction upon the city because of those five?" The LORD said, "I won't destroy it if I find 45 there." Abraham continued to speak to him, asking, "What if 40 are found there?" The LORD replied, "I won't do it for the sake of those 40." Abraham then asked, "I hope my LORD will not be angry if I speak. What if 30 are found there?" The LORD answered, "I won't do it for the sake of those 30." "Look," Abraham said, "I've presumed to speak to my LORD" so what if 20 are found there?" "For the sake of those 20," the LORD responded, "I won't destroy it." Finally, Abraham inquired, "I hope my LORD will not be angry if I speak only once more. What if ten are found there?" He replied, "For the sake of those ten I won't destroy it."

And so Jacob was left alone, and he struggled with a man until daybreak. When the man realized that he hadn't yet won the struggle, he injured the socket of Jacob's thigh, dislocating it as he wrestled with him, and said, "Let me go, because the dawn has come." "I won't let you go," Jacob replied, "unless you bless me." read more.
Then the man asked him, "What's your name?" "Jacob," he responded "Your name won't be Jacob anymore," the man replied, "but Israel, because you exerted yourself against both God and men, and you've emerged victorious." "Please," Jacob inquired, "Tell me your name." But he asked, "Why are you asking about my name?" And he blessed Jacob there. Jacob would later call that place Peniel, because "I saw God face to face, but my life was spared."

Then King David went in to the presence of the LORD, sat down, and said: "Who am I, Lord GOD, and what is my family, that you have brought me to this? And this is still a small thing to you, Lord GOD you also have spoken about the future of your servant's house, and this is the charter for mankind, O Lord GOD! "What more can David say to you, and you surely know your servant, Lord GOD. read more.
For the sake of your word and consistent with your desire, you have done all of these great things, informing your servant. And therefore you are great, Lord GOD, there is no one like you, there is no God except for you, just as we've heard with our own ears. "And who is like your people, like Israel, the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for himself, to make a name for himself, and to carry out for them great and awe-inspiring accomplishments, driving out nations and their gods in front of your people, whom you redeemed to yourself from Egypt? You have prepared your people Israel to be your very own people for ever, and you, LORD, have become their God! "And now, LORD God, let what you have spoken concerning your servant and his household be done and let it be done just as you've promised. May your name be made great forever with the result that it is said that the LORD of the Heavenly Armies is God over Israel, and that the household of your servant David may be established before you. For you, LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, have revealed this to your servant, telling him, "I will build a dynasty for you,' so that your servant has found fortitude to pray this prayer to you. "Now therefore, Lord GOD, you are God, and your words are true, and you have spoken to your servant these good things. So may it please you to bless the household of your servant, so that it might remain forever in your presence, because you, Lord GOD, have spoken, and from your blessing may the household of your servant be blessed forever."

Then Solomon took his place in front of the LORD's altar in the presence of the entire congregation of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven, and said: "LORD God of Israel, there is no one like you, God in heaven above or on the earth below, who watches over his covenant, showing gracious love to your servants who live their lives in your presence with all their hearts. It is you, LORD God, who have kept your promise to my father, your servant David, that you made to him. Indeed, you made a commitment to my father David and then personally fulfilled what you had promised today. read more.
"Now therefore, LORD God of Israel, keep your promise that you made to my father, your servant David, when you said, "You will not lack a man to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants will watch their lives, to live in my presence just as you have lived in my presence.' "Now therefore, God of Israel, may your promise that you made to your servant David my father be fulfilled" and yet, will God truly reside on earth? Look! Neither the sky nor the highest heaven can contain you! How much less this Temple that I have built! Pay attention to the prayer of your servant and to his request, LORD my God, and listen to the cry and prayer that your servant is praying in your presence today. Let your eyes always look toward this Temple night and day, toward the location where you have said "My name will reside there.' Listen to the prayer that your servant prays in this direction. Listen to the requests from your servant and from your people Israel as they pray in this direction, listen from the place where you reside in heaven, then hear and forgive. "If a man should sin against his neighbor and he is required to take an oath, and he then comes to take an oath in front of your altar in this Temple, then listen in heaven, act, and judge your servants, condemning the wicked by bringing back to him the consequences of his choices and by justifying the righteous by recompensing him according to his righteousness. "If your people Israel are defeated in a battle with their enemy because they have sinned against you, when they return to you and confess to you, pray, and in this Temple they ask you to show grace to them, then hear in heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and return them to the soil that you gave to their ancestors. "When heaven remains closed, and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, and they pray in the direction of this place, confessing your name and turning from their sin when you afflict them, then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants and of your people Israel. Indeed, teach them the best way to live and send rain on your land that you have given to your people as an inheritance. "If a famine comes to the land, or if plant diseases, mildew, locust, or grasshoppers appear, or if their enemies attack them in their settlements of the land, no matter what the epidemic or illness is, whatever prayer or request is made, no matter whether it's made by a single man or by all of your people Israel, each praying out of his own hurting heart and anguish and stretching out his hands toward this Temple, then hear from heaven, the place where you reside, and forgive, repaying each person according to all of his ways, since you know their hearts for you alone know the hearts of all human beings so they will fear you every day and live on the surface of the land that you have given to our ancestors. "Now concerning the foreigner who is not from your people Israel, when he comes from a land far away for the sake of your name (for people will hear of your great name, your mighty acts, and your obvious power), when he comes and prays facing this Temple, then hear in heaven where you reside, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the people of the earth may know your name, fear you as do your people Israel, and so they may know that this Temple that I have built is called by your name. "When your people go out to war against their enemies, no matter what way you send them, and they pray to the LORD in the direction of the city that you have chosen and in the direction of the Temple that I have built for your name, then hear their prayer and their request in heaven, and fight for their cause. "When they sin against you because there isn't a single human being who doesn't sin and you become angry with them and deliver them over to their enemy, who takes them away captive to the land that belongs to their enemy, whether near or far away, if they turn their hearts back to you in the land where they have been taken captive, repent, and pray to you even if they do so in the land of their captivity confessing, "We have sinned, we have committed abominations, and practiced wickedness,' if they return to you with all of their heart and with all of their soul in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive, as they pray to you in the direction of their land that you have given to their ancestors and to the city that you have chosen, and to the Temple that I have built for your name, then hear their prayer and requests in heaven, where you reside, and fight for their cause, forgiving your people who have sinned against you, along with their transgressions by which they have transgressed against you. "Show your compassion in the presence of those who have taken them captive, so they may show compassion on them, since they are your people and your heritage, which you brought out of Egypt, from an iron fire furnace. Do this so your eyes may remain open to the requests of your servant and to the requests of your people's prayers, to listen to them whenever they call out to you, because you have separated them to yourself as your heritage from all the people of the earth, as you spoke through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt, Lord GOD. When Solomon had completed saying this entire prayer to the LORD, he got up from kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven in the presence of the LORD's altar, stood up, and blessed all of the assembly of Israel in a loud voice. He said: "Blessed is the LORD, who has given security to his people Israel, just as he promised. Not one of his promises has failed to come about that he gave through his servant Moses. May the LORD our God be with us, just as he was with our ancestors. May he never leave us or abandon us, so that he may turn our hearts toward him, so that we may live life his way, keeping his commands, statutes, and ordinances that he gave to our ancestors. And may what I've had to say to the LORD remain with the LORD our God both day and night, so that he may defend the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as the need of the day may require it, so that, in turn, all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God there is no one else. Now let your heart be completely devoted to the LORD our God, to live according to his statutes and to keep his commands, as we are doing today."

Once Jesus was praying in a certain place. After he had finished, one of his disciples told him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." So he told them, "Whenever you pray you are to say, "Father, may your name be kept holy. May your kingdom come. Keep giving us every day our daily bread, read more.
and forgive us our sins, as we forgive everyone who sins against us. And never bring us into temptation.'" Then he told them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, "Friend, let me borrow three loaves of bread. A friend of mine on a trip has dropped in on me, and I don't have anything to serve him.' Suppose he answers from inside, "Stop bothering me! The door is already locked, and my children are here with us in the bedroom. I can't get up and give you anything!' I tell you, even though that man doesn't want to get up and give him anything because he is his friend, he will get up and give him whatever he needs because of his persistence. So I say to you: Keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened for you, because everyone who keeps asking will receive, and the person who keeps searching will find, and the person who keeps knocking will have the door opened. What father among you, if his son asks for bread, would give him a stone, or if he asks for a fish, would give him a snake instead of the fish? Or if he asks for an egg, would he give him a scorpion? So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who keep asking him!"

Jesus told his disciples a parable about their need to pray all the time and never give up. He said, "In a city there was a judge who didn't fear God or respect people. In that city there was also a widow who kept coming to him and saying, "Grant me justice against my adversary.' read more.
For a while the judge refused. But later, he told himself, "I don't fear God or respect people, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice. Otherwise, she will keep coming and wear me out.'" Then the Lord added, "Listen to what the unrighteous judge says. Won't God grant his chosen people justice when they cry out to him day and night? Is he slow to help them? I tell you, he will give them justice quickly. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"


Abraham approached and asked, "Will you actually destroy the righteous along with the wicked? Perhaps there are 50 righteous ones within the city. Will you actually destroy it and not forgive the place for the sake of the 50 righteous that are found there? Far be it from you to do such a thing to kill the righteous along with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike! The Judge of all the earth will do what is right, won't he?" read more.
The LORD said, "If I find 50 righteous people within Sodom, I'll forgive the whole place for their sake." Abraham answered, "Look, even though I am only dust and ashes, I've ventured to speak to my LORD. What if there are five less than 50 righteous ones? Will you bring destruction upon the city because of those five?" The LORD said, "I won't destroy it if I find 45 there." Abraham continued to speak to him, asking, "What if 40 are found there?" The LORD replied, "I won't do it for the sake of those 40." Abraham then asked, "I hope my LORD will not be angry if I speak. What if 30 are found there?" The LORD answered, "I won't do it for the sake of those 30." "Look," Abraham said, "I've presumed to speak to my LORD" so what if 20 are found there?" "For the sake of those 20," the LORD responded, "I won't destroy it." Finally, Abraham inquired, "I hope my LORD will not be angry if I speak only once more. What if ten are found there?" He replied, "For the sake of those ten I won't destroy it."

And so Jacob was left alone, and he struggled with a man until daybreak. When the man realized that he hadn't yet won the struggle, he injured the socket of Jacob's thigh, dislocating it as he wrestled with him, and said, "Let me go, because the dawn has come." "I won't let you go," Jacob replied, "unless you bless me." read more.
Then the man asked him, "What's your name?" "Jacob," he responded "Your name won't be Jacob anymore," the man replied, "but Israel, because you exerted yourself against both God and men, and you've emerged victorious." "Please," Jacob inquired, "Tell me your name." But he asked, "Why are you asking about my name?" And he blessed Jacob there. Jacob would later call that place Peniel, because "I saw God face to face, but my life was spared."

Then King David went in to the presence of the LORD, sat down, and said: "Who am I, Lord GOD, and what is my family, that you have brought me to this? And this is still a small thing to you, Lord GOD you also have spoken about the future of your servant's house, and this is the charter for mankind, O Lord GOD! "What more can David say to you, and you surely know your servant, Lord GOD. read more.
For the sake of your word and consistent with your desire, you have done all of these great things, informing your servant. And therefore you are great, Lord GOD, there is no one like you, there is no God except for you, just as we've heard with our own ears. "And who is like your people, like Israel, the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for himself, to make a name for himself, and to carry out for them great and awe-inspiring accomplishments, driving out nations and their gods in front of your people, whom you redeemed to yourself from Egypt? You have prepared your people Israel to be your very own people for ever, and you, LORD, have become their God! "And now, LORD God, let what you have spoken concerning your servant and his household be done and let it be done just as you've promised. May your name be made great forever with the result that it is said that the LORD of the Heavenly Armies is God over Israel, and that the household of your servant David may be established before you. For you, LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, have revealed this to your servant, telling him, "I will build a dynasty for you,' so that your servant has found fortitude to pray this prayer to you. "Now therefore, Lord GOD, you are God, and your words are true, and you have spoken to your servant these good things. So may it please you to bless the household of your servant, so that it might remain forever in your presence, because you, Lord GOD, have spoken, and from your blessing may the household of your servant be blessed forever."

Then Solomon took his place in front of the LORD's altar in the presence of the entire congregation of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven, and said: "LORD God of Israel, there is no one like you, God in heaven above or on the earth below, who watches over his covenant, showing gracious love to your servants who live their lives in your presence with all their hearts. It is you, LORD God, who have kept your promise to my father, your servant David, that you made to him. Indeed, you made a commitment to my father David and then personally fulfilled what you had promised today. read more.
"Now therefore, LORD God of Israel, keep your promise that you made to my father, your servant David, when you said, "You will not lack a man to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants will watch their lives, to live in my presence just as you have lived in my presence.' "Now therefore, God of Israel, may your promise that you made to your servant David my father be fulfilled" and yet, will God truly reside on earth? Look! Neither the sky nor the highest heaven can contain you! How much less this Temple that I have built! Pay attention to the prayer of your servant and to his request, LORD my God, and listen to the cry and prayer that your servant is praying in your presence today. Let your eyes always look toward this Temple night and day, toward the location where you have said "My name will reside there.' Listen to the prayer that your servant prays in this direction. Listen to the requests from your servant and from your people Israel as they pray in this direction, listen from the place where you reside in heaven, then hear and forgive. "If a man should sin against his neighbor and he is required to take an oath, and he then comes to take an oath in front of your altar in this Temple, then listen in heaven, act, and judge your servants, condemning the wicked by bringing back to him the consequences of his choices and by justifying the righteous by recompensing him according to his righteousness. "If your people Israel are defeated in a battle with their enemy because they have sinned against you, when they return to you and confess to you, pray, and in this Temple they ask you to show grace to them, then hear in heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and return them to the soil that you gave to their ancestors. "When heaven remains closed, and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, and they pray in the direction of this place, confessing your name and turning from their sin when you afflict them, then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants and of your people Israel. Indeed, teach them the best way to live and send rain on your land that you have given to your people as an inheritance. "If a famine comes to the land, or if plant diseases, mildew, locust, or grasshoppers appear, or if their enemies attack them in their settlements of the land, no matter what the epidemic or illness is, whatever prayer or request is made, no matter whether it's made by a single man or by all of your people Israel, each praying out of his own hurting heart and anguish and stretching out his hands toward this Temple, then hear from heaven, the place where you reside, and forgive, repaying each person according to all of his ways, since you know their hearts for you alone know the hearts of all human beings so they will fear you every day and live on the surface of the land that you have given to our ancestors. "Now concerning the foreigner who is not from your people Israel, when he comes from a land far away for the sake of your name (for people will hear of your great name, your mighty acts, and your obvious power), when he comes and prays facing this Temple, then hear in heaven where you reside, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the people of the earth may know your name, fear you as do your people Israel, and so they may know that this Temple that I have built is called by your name. "When your people go out to war against their enemies, no matter what way you send them, and they pray to the LORD in the direction of the city that you have chosen and in the direction of the Temple that I have built for your name, then hear their prayer and their request in heaven, and fight for their cause. "When they sin against you because there isn't a single human being who doesn't sin and you become angry with them and deliver them over to their enemy, who takes them away captive to the land that belongs to their enemy, whether near or far away, if they turn their hearts back to you in the land where they have been taken captive, repent, and pray to you even if they do so in the land of their captivity confessing, "We have sinned, we have committed abominations, and practiced wickedness,' if they return to you with all of their heart and with all of their soul in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive, as they pray to you in the direction of their land that you have given to their ancestors and to the city that you have chosen, and to the Temple that I have built for your name, then hear their prayer and requests in heaven, where you reside, and fight for their cause, forgiving your people who have sinned against you, along with their transgressions by which they have transgressed against you. "Show your compassion in the presence of those who have taken them captive, so they may show compassion on them, since they are your people and your heritage, which you brought out of Egypt, from an iron fire furnace. Do this so your eyes may remain open to the requests of your servant and to the requests of your people's prayers, to listen to them whenever they call out to you, because you have separated them to yourself as your heritage from all the people of the earth, as you spoke through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt, Lord GOD. When Solomon had completed saying this entire prayer to the LORD, he got up from kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven in the presence of the LORD's altar, stood up, and blessed all of the assembly of Israel in a loud voice. He said: "Blessed is the LORD, who has given security to his people Israel, just as he promised. Not one of his promises has failed to come about that he gave through his servant Moses. May the LORD our God be with us, just as he was with our ancestors. May he never leave us or abandon us, so that he may turn our hearts toward him, so that we may live life his way, keeping his commands, statutes, and ordinances that he gave to our ancestors. And may what I've had to say to the LORD remain with the LORD our God both day and night, so that he may defend the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as the need of the day may require it, so that, in turn, all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God there is no one else. Now let your heart be completely devoted to the LORD our God, to live according to his statutes and to keep his commands, as we are doing today."

Once Jesus was praying in a certain place. After he had finished, one of his disciples told him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." So he told them, "Whenever you pray you are to say, "Father, may your name be kept holy. May your kingdom come. Keep giving us every day our daily bread, read more.
and forgive us our sins, as we forgive everyone who sins against us. And never bring us into temptation.'" Then he told them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, "Friend, let me borrow three loaves of bread. A friend of mine on a trip has dropped in on me, and I don't have anything to serve him.' Suppose he answers from inside, "Stop bothering me! The door is already locked, and my children are here with us in the bedroom. I can't get up and give you anything!' I tell you, even though that man doesn't want to get up and give him anything because he is his friend, he will get up and give him whatever he needs because of his persistence. So I say to you: Keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened for you, because everyone who keeps asking will receive, and the person who keeps searching will find, and the person who keeps knocking will have the door opened. What father among you, if his son asks for bread, would give him a stone, or if he asks for a fish, would give him a snake instead of the fish? Or if he asks for an egg, would he give him a scorpion? So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who keep asking him!"

Jesus told his disciples a parable about their need to pray all the time and never give up. He said, "In a city there was a judge who didn't fear God or respect people. In that city there was also a widow who kept coming to him and saying, "Grant me justice against my adversary.' read more.
For a while the judge refused. But later, he told himself, "I don't fear God or respect people, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice. Otherwise, she will keep coming and wear me out.'" Then the Lord added, "Listen to what the unrighteous judge says. Won't God grant his chosen people justice when they cry out to him day and night? Is he slow to help them? I tell you, he will give them justice quickly. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"