09 · Words of Jesus

Ask, Seek, and Knock

Matthew 7:7–11

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Jesus teaches about prayer and God's goodness while people listen in a biblical setting.

Jesus tells his hearers to ask, seek, and knock.

Does Jesus promise everything we ask God for?

Choose a perspective

There is no score – choose the perspective you find closest and discuss why.

Discuss: What does it mean when a good prayer is not answered as we hoped?

After your discussion: compare with our assessment

Our assessment

We consider options A and C together to be closest to the main sense of the passage. A takes seriously the repeated commands to ask, seek, and knock. Jesus encourages his hearers to turn to God with expectation and trust. C also takes Jesus' own explanation in verses 9–11 seriously. The Father is described as one who gives good gifts, and Matthew ends by saying that he gives “what is good” to those who ask him. Together, A and C preserve both the strength of the promise and its grounding in the Father's goodness.

09 · Matthew 7:7–11

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Text & context

Full translation

7 Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 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 what is good to those who ask him!

Translated from the Greek text – SBLGNT

What is happening here?
Jesus begins with three short commands: ask, seek, and knock. In the next verse the same three movements are repeated and connected with receiving, finding, and having the door opened. Jesus then explains his reasoning through a family image. A father who receives a reasonable request from his child does not answer with something harmful: bread is not replaced by a stone, nor fish by a snake. Jesus then argues from the lesser to the greater. If flawed human beings still know how to give good gifts to their children, how much more will the Father in heaven give what is good to those who ask him. The passage therefore concerns both boldness in asking and the character of the God to whom prayer is directed.
Notice this

Jesus does not compare God with a parent who gives a child exactly everything the child asks for. His examples concern a parent who knows the difference between something good and something harmful: bread and stone, fish and snake. Jesus then concludes that the Father gives “what is good” to those who ask him. Also notice the parallel in Luke 11:9–13. There the corresponding teaching ends more specifically with the Father giving the Holy Spirit to those who ask him, while Matthew says “what is good.”

Language & translation

From the Greek

αἰτεῖτε – aiteite

ask / request An imperative from aiteō, to ask for or request something. It is the first of three parallel commands.

ζητεῖτε – zēteite

seek An imperative from zēteō, to seek or strive to find.

κρούετε – krouete

knock An imperative from krouō, to knock. The image suggests someone standing at a closed door seeking entrance.

λήμψεται – lēmpsetai

will receive In verse 8, the one who asks is connected with receiving. The same parallel structure continues with seeking and knocking.

ἀγαθὰ – agatha

good things / what is good In verse 11 this is important for understanding the promise. Jesus says that the Father gives agatha – what is good – to those who ask him.

πονηροὶ ὄντες – ponēroi ontes

though you are evil Jesus uses a sharp contrast. Even people whom he describes as evil can give good gifts to their children. From there he argues “how much more” concerning the Father's goodness.

Translation note

Independent English translation from the Greek text, using SBLGNT as the primary Greek edition.

Compare for yourself

Read Matthew 7:7–11 and Luke 11:9–13 in another Bible translation. Pay particular attention to:

  • aiteite
  • zēteite
  • krouete
  • “the one who asks receives”
  • agatha in Matthew 7:11
  • how Luke 11:13 ends the parallel

Consider how verse 11 affects the way you understand the strong promise in verses 7–8.

Continue the conversation

Discuss further
  1. What does persistent prayer look like without treating prayer as a method for getting exactly what we want?
  2. Can an unanswered or differently answered prayer still be consistent with Jesus' words here?
  3. How does the image of God as Father shape your understanding of “ask, seek, and knock”?
  4. Why do you think Jesus uses bread, stone, fish, and snake in his comparison?
Parallel passages
  • Luke 11:9–13
  • Matthew 6:7–13
  • Matthew 21:21–22
Sources
  • The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition (SBLGNT), Matthew 7:7–11
  • Luke 11:9–13
  • Standard Greek lexical resources for aiteō, zēteō, krouō, lambanō, agathos, and ponēros