7. Your friend inside the house answers, ‘Go away! Don’t bother me! The door is already locked. My children and I are in bed. I cannot get up and give you the bread now.’
8. I tell you, maybe friendship is not enough to make him get up to give you the bread. But he will surely get up to give you what you need if you continue to ask.
9. So I tell you, continue to ask, and God will give to you. Continue to search, and you will find. Continue to knock, and the door will open for you.
10. Yes, whoever continues to ask will receive. Whoever continues to look will find. And whoever continues to knock will have the door opened for them.
11. Do any of you have a son? What would you do if your son asked you for a fish? Would any father give him a snake?
12. Or, if he asked for an egg, would you give him a scorpion? Of course not!
13. Even you who are bad know how to give good things to your children. So surely your heavenly Father knows how to give the Holy Spirit to the people who ask him.”
14. One time Jesus was sending a demon out of a man who could not talk. When the demon came out, the man was able to speak. The crowds were amazed.
15. But some of the people said, “He uses the power of Satan to force demons out of people. Satan is the ruler of demons.”
16. Some others there wanted to test Jesus. They asked him to do a miracle as a sign from God.
17. But he knew what they were thinking. So he said to them, “Every kingdom that fights against itself will be destroyed. And a family that fights against itself will break apart.
18. So if Satan is fighting against himself, how will his kingdom survive? You say that I use the power of Satan to force out demons.
19. But if I use Satan’s power to force out demons, then what power do your people use when they force out demons? So your own people will prove that you are wrong.
20. But I use the power of God to force out demons. This shows that God’s kingdom has now come to you.