Introduction
‘Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. ‘Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!’ Matthew 7:7-11
There is a progression here of one’s intensity by which we seek God’s help. By faith, one must seek God according to His will. As opposed to the self-righteous hearts of dogs who continually reject all righteousness, the humble-hearted must intensify their dependence on God for direction in life. We need to believe that God will provide.
Our Lord is again teaching on the subject of prayer in this context. Asking is making a request with our voice, seeking is the act of pursuing someone or something, and knocking is an effort to open and pass through an obstacle.
All three of these verbs are continuous in Greek, i.e., one must continue to ask, seek, and knock, and they seem to be communicating the same basic idea in a progressive manner.
When we pray to the heavenly Father, we must do so seriously, not vainly. Prayer is not to be an empty ritual. To pray correctly, we must not only ‘ask’ for a blessing, but we must also faithfully ‘knock’ and ‘seek’ for the fulfilment of our request, Luke 18:1-8.
Prayer isn’t an opportunity to make requests for things we aren’t willing to work for or are too lazy to sincerely pray for again if the petition is not immediately answered in the affirmative!
Prayers that are pleasing to God are offered from the heart zealously. When a person puts little heart or passion into their prayers, should they really expect God to put much heart into answering them?
We must continue to ask, seek, and knock according to the Lord’s will, and He will bless us. This is a promise of God, and He is faithful to keep His word!
Let me hasten to state that although there are no explicit restrictions placed upon this teaching here, the rest of the New Testament does establish some parameters, Matthew 6:14-15 / James 1:6-7 / James 4:3 / 1 Peter 3:7 / 1 John 3:22 / 1 John 5:14.
I believe one proper application of this verse is that those who are genuinely seeking the truth are going to find it. I do not believe that there is anyone who has lived or will live, who sincerely desired to know the truth, who did not have an opportunity to come in contact with it, Acts 10. No one can truly believe in this promise unless they have great faith in the providence of God.
Jesus illustrates the willingness of God to care for His children. An earthly father wouldn’t mock his son’s request for help by giving a stone or a serpent, Matthew 7:9-10, neither would God do such a thing in the spiritual realm, Matthew 7:11.
It’s the rule with God to answer prayer but how and when He answers is His choice. His wise answers are often not the answers we feel we should have.
Bread and fish were common foods for the peasants of Galilee. Human parents ‘give good gifts’ to their children to the best of their ability because they love them, that is, they wouldn’t give them a stone instead of bread or a serpent instead of fish, Matthew 7:11.
But, how much more will God the Creator, whose love and ability to give are infinitely beyond any earthly parent, ‘give good things to those who ask Him!’. Matthew 7:11.
Jesus is comparing human parents, who are ‘evil’, with God Almighty who is perfectly good and righteous in every way. Have you considered that God’s love for you is even greater than your parents’ love for you? This truth must be remembered when petitions are offered to the Lord and not answered as we think they should be.
Our prayers should always centre around the fact that God knows best and He has our best interests in mind, regardless of how He answers.
To illustrate that God can be trusted to respond to our prayers, Jesus tells the parable of the friend who calls at midnight, Luke 11:5-13.
Hospitality was of paramount importance in the biblical world, and when a guest arrived, even unexpected, even at midnight, there was no question that hospitality must be extended.
So, when the man in the story finds himself without enough bread for his guest, he goes to a friend and asks to borrow some, even though he must wake up his friend’s entire household.
Hearers today might empathize with the woken-up friend and think that the midnight caller is pushing the limits of friendship, Luke 11:7.
But in the culture of the biblical world, it is the woken-up friend who is behaving badly. The ability of his friend to provide hospitality, and thus his honour, is at stake.
Jesus says that the man will eventually respond to his friend’s request, not because he is a friend, but because of his friend’s shamelessness, Luke 11:8.
His friend displays no shame in asking for help to meet the requirements of hospitality. The woken-up friend would incur dishonour if he failed to help his neighbour in this essential obligation. So, he will respond because of social pressure at the very least.
Jesus’ parable implies that if it is so among friends with their mixed motives and self-interest, how much more so with God who wants to give us what is good and life-giving, and who is invested in keeping God’s name holy.
The discourse in Luke comes later in Jesus’ ministry and nearer to Pentecost than does the Sermon on the Mount, recorded in Matthew occurs. Therefore, Jesus can be more specific with reference to the needs of His disciples.
From the passage here, it’s clear that God’s children shouldn’t hesitate to pray to the Father for the measure of the Holy Spirit which has been promised to baptised believers, Acts 2:38, and who is a guarantee of our inheritance, Ephesians 1:13.
Luke says that God gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask, Luke 11:13. When this statement in Matthew it is to be considered with Luke 11:13, as both Matthew and Luke are stating that one receives the good things that result from the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the Father’s very best gift. He’s the gift of Himself to dwell with us and within us forever, Acts 2:38.
The Lord doesn’t just give good gifts, He gives the greatest gifts, James 1:17. As we ask, seek, and knock, let us never view prayer as striving to conquer God’s reluctance but rather as the act of laying hold of His willingness, Ephesians 3:20-21.
‘Do also to them’ is often referred to as the Golden Rule, Matthew 7:12 / Luke 6:31. This is the principle of loving our neighbour as ourselves.
Jesus shows that this simple principle which summarises all the Law and the Prophets say about how we should treat others, Matthew 7:12. This is a fundamental principle of the Christian life that manifests one’s relationship both with his fellow brother in Christ, as well as non-Christians.
This isn’t a selfish motivation for being kind to others, but a mental check by which we can continually guard our behaviour in relation to others. This fundamental principle is the foundation upon which is built all that God would have us do in our relationships with others, Romans 13:8-10 / Galatians 5:14.
If the way, we go about sharing the Gospel with others is a reflection of what God has done in our lives, what does this tell us about how we should share the Gospel with others?
We need to remember how the Gospel was shared with us, with love, patience, compassion and understanding of where the other person is at, 2 Timothy 2:23-26.
