“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 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!” Matthew 7:7-11
A text taken out of context is a pretext. Taking a passage of Scripture as a proof text can often result in an abuse of Scripture and a false teaching. This passage of Scripture is quite often used to teach that God is some sort of cosmic Santa who is waiting to give gifts to those who ask. It is as if He will give us everything we want, if we merely ask. In the context of this chapter and the entire Sermon on the Mount, we must see that our Lord is teaching something different, here.
In the preceding six verses, Jesus teaches His disciples (and us) to judge, but not to be overly judgmental; to be critical, but not hypercritical; to be humble and patient, but not overly patient with those who abuse the things of God. As with all the other things commanded in this sermon, our first question is, “How can we possibly do this?” And, the answer, as in all the other cases is, “Ask God for help, faith, wisdom, and strength to do what He commands.”
In this passage, Jesus teaches us to be humble, active, and persistent in our prayers. Asking implies humility and a recognition of need. Asking is often associated with an inferior’s request to a superior, which is most definitely the case with our asking something of God. We see this in the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18:10-13. The Pharisee does not ask anything in his prayer. He stands before God and tells how good he is. The tax collector, on the other hand, asks and pleads for God to forgive him, a sinner. He recognizes his need for mercy and grace, and he asks the only One who can give it.
Seeking takes asking a step farther, with the addition of action. One commentator used a desire for a deeper knowledge and closer communion with God as an example. Simply asking for such a thing will not go as far as actually doing something about it. To obtain such a knowledge and relationship, we would pray to that end, spend time in the Word to learn about Him, attend services where the Word is preached, and spend time in fellowship with others who know God. This is the idea of Isaiah’s statement, “Seek the Lord while He may be found” (Isaiah 55:6).
Knocking indicates perseverance. This is seen in Jesus’ teaching on prayer in the parable of the persistent neighbor in Luke 11 and the persistent widow in Luke 18.
The basic teaching in this passage is that God will give us the strength, grace, and wisdom to face anything, and everything, we face in our daily lives. As Jesus says, those who ask receive; those who seek find; and it is opened to those who knock As the giver of all good gifts, God “rewards those who seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).
