Ask, and it shall be given to you. Seek, and ye shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened to you.
Three short commands, each with a promise attached, tell the Lord's disciples how to deal with God. The words rise in force. But the reason given in the verses that follow is not our persistence. It is the character of the Father who hears.
The verse just before this one spoke of holy things and pearls, and of people who cannot value them. One writer draws the contrast directly, and lets it shape what we should be asking for.
Verse 6 shows the ungodly in no state to receive the things of God, since they do not ask. We, on the other hand, are invited to ask and receive. This dependent, earnest state of soul is what the Father delights to answer... But let us remember that the "holy things" and "pearls" should be what we want most.
Each verb describes a different situation, and the effort rises with each one.
"Ask" means something I want to have. "Seek" means something I have lost. "Knock" means I want to be let in. Each step presses harder than the last. There is more intensity in "seeking" than in "asking", and more again in "knocking" than in "seeking".
The ladder from asking to knocking makes room for something we all meet — the answer that has not yet come.
Asking reveals the desire of the one praying. Seeking and knocking, however, show that God will not always answer prayer at once. We are all in danger of becoming tired and weary in our prayers.
The original wording carries this sense in the form of the verbs themselves, as one note on the tenses brings out:
Matt. 7:7. "Keep asking, and it shall be given you; seek again and again, and you shall find; knock persistently, and it shall be opened to you."
Scripture records people who asked, sought and knocked, yet went away empty. The promise does not cover every kind of request.
Some asked wrongly, meaning to spend what they got on their own pleasures (James 4:3). Others sought, but not in faith (John 6:34). And some will knock only to be shut out (Matt. 25:11). But the Lord encourages His own to deal simply and directly with their Father in heaven. This is the opposite of all empty repetition.
The Lord grounds the promise in something every hearer already knows — how a parent treats a child.
His love goes out to His children in every request that is for their good. He holds back only what they foolishly asked for that would harm them... If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
Commentators differ here. Some read the rising words as a call to press on until the answer comes. Kelly calls them "a clear climax, all leading to urgent prayer before God." Others say the increase is on our side only, never on God's.
In our judgment, it would be a mistake to use this Scripture as a call to persistence in prayer... It expresses instead a growing, energetic confidence in the Father for the blessings the heart is set on, through grace.
Another writer puts the same caution more sharply.
See how ready God is to answer human need. Never say that persistence moves God... You may have been praying for a long time with no answer. Be sure the waiting has not been wasted. If the work was not done in heaven, it was done in the training of your spirit.
- Ask — the invitation follows a warning about people who cannot receive holy things. The one who asks is in the very state the Father delights to answer.
- Seek — the second word assumes a gap between the request and the reply. Seeking and knocking exist because answers are not always instant.
- Knock — the third word presses hardest. The danger is that we grow tired before the answer comes.
- Rightly — asking for pleasure, seeking without faith and knocking too late all fail. The promise is for simple, direct dealing with the Father.
- Given — the guarantee rests on His heart, not our effort. If evil parents give good gifts, how much more will He? He holds back only what would harm us.
For every one that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened.
Having told His disciples to ask, seek and knock, the Lord now gives His reason — the same promise again, this time with "everyone" attached. Why repeat it, why three words instead of one, and does it hold without exception?
Verse 8 gives no new command. It fastens a guarantee onto verse 7, and behind that guarantee stands the character of the Giver:
Now the heart of God comes into view as the ready and generous Giver. His fullness can never run dry. His word to His people is always, "Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it." There is only one limit: the limit that little faith may set. On God's side there is a safeguard, which is no limit at all — that the gift be good. And the Lord clasps His commands shut with a double assurance: everyone who asks receives, the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What a door is opened for us here, and what possibility of blessing! How rich we may all be, if we only will be!
Ask, seek and knock are not three words for one thing. Each names a different need:
"Ask" implies something I desire to have; "seek" something I have missed; and "knock" wanting an entrance. It means increased urgency. There is more intensity in "seeking" than in "asking", and again more in "knocking" than in seeking.
These words address people already in God's family, not a sinner seeking pardon. That is also why a shut door can be part of the answer:
This is not a sinner needing life and forgiveness of his sins. These are saints told to appeal to God, sure of their Father's answer of love, whatever their needs may be… So they must persevere and be earnest. Asking will secure receiving — yes, for everyone who asks. Seeking will not be fruitless; it will find. And to the one who keeps on, God will open the door — a door He shuts only to exercise faith.
The same writer points to a foreign mother who lived through a shut door:
There may be something important for the person asking to learn before the request can be granted. So it was with the Syrophoenician woman. She begged the Lord to pity her, for her daughter was badly possessed by a demon. At first the Lord did not answer her a word. She pleaded as if she were one of the lost sheep of Israel's house. In fact she was a Greek, with no claim on the promises made to the Messiah… But she drops the title Son of David. She sees from His answer where her mistake lay, and she bows before Him, saying, "Lord, help me."… This did help her soul, for it led her to the secret of sovereign grace, and she threw herself upon it at once… The door opened to her knock. She was deepened and made clearer in her faith, as her daughter was healed from that hour.
The verse says "everyone", and one writer presses how wide that word runs:
The heart can spring upward to the throne in prayer and supplication at any time. Our Father's ear is always open, His reception room always accessible. Come when we may and with what we may, He is always ready to hear, ready to answer. He is the Hearer, the Answerer, and the Lover of persistent prayer… These words apply to everyone. They are meant for all God's children. The feeblest child of God can pray, can watch, can get an answer, and return thanks.
Another writer applies the promise to knowing the Bible itself:
God never intended theology to be for a class of men called theologians. Instead, all the treasures of His Word are for all His people. Nothing is hidden, except from the careless and the indifferent… Teachers are only God's pledge of how eager He is to have everyone know His Word.
Some people in Scripture asked and received nothing. So the promise assumes honest dealing with God:
Some asked with wrong motives, wanting to spend it on their pleasures (James 4:3). Others sought, but not in faith (John 6:34). And some will knock, only to be turned away (Matthew 25:11). But the Lord encourages His own to deal simply and directly with their Father in heaven. This is the opposite of empty repetition… His disciples were free to voice the deep feelings of their souls to God and to bring their needs to Him.
- Doubled — verse 8 repeats verse 7 as a guarantee: the same three promises, clasped shut on God's side.
- Rising — asking wants what it lacks. Seeking hunts what it missed. Knocking presses for entry. The urgency climbs.
- Delayed — a shut door is not a refusal. God shuts it to exercise faith, as with the foreign mother who saw her mistake before she got her answer.
- Everyone — no exceptions and no experts. The feeblest child of God can ask, and the treasures of His Word are open to all His people.
- Real — the promise covers honest need, not requests aimed at our own pleasures (James 4:3).