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.
Where the Words Fall in the Chapter
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.
Three Different Words
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".
Why the Rise Is Needed
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."
Asking That Is Real
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 Argument From a Father's Heart
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!
Whether Persistence Moves God
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.
Summary
- 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.