Ask, and it will be given to you;
seek, and you will find;
knock, and it will be opened to you:
Aiteite,
(2PPAM) kai dothesetai (3SFPI) humin; zeteite, (2PPAM) kai euresete;
(2PFAI) krouete, (2PPAM) kai anoigesetai (3SFPI) humin.
(Mt
7:11;
21:22;
1 Kings 3:5;
Psalms 10:17;
50:15;
86:5;
145:18,19;
Isaiah 55:6,7;
Jeremiah 29:12,13;
33:3;
Mark 11:24;
Luke 11:9,10,13;
18:1;
John 4:10;
John 14:13,14;
15:7,16;
16:23,24;
James 1:5,6;
5:15;
1 John 3:22;
5:14,15;
Revelation 3:17,18)
(6:33;
Psalms 10:4;
27:8;
69:32;
70:4;
105:3,4;
119:12;
Proverbs 8:17;
Song of Solomon 3:2;
Amos 5:4;
Romans 2:7;
3:11;
Hebrews 11:6)
(Luke
13:25)
See Related Resources on Prayer...
Gems on Prayer by C H Spurgeon
Prayer Resources
Global Prayer Digest
Operation World
Praying for Your Missionaries Guide
to specific daily prayers:
Prayer for Deeper Understanding - Wayne Barber:
Prayer for Fullness - Wayne Barber
Notes on the "Disciple's Prayer"
Matthew 6:9ff
Notes on praying for hope, joy, peace
Romans 15:13
Notes on praying for enlightenment,
etc
Ephesians 1:18,
19,
20
Notes on praying for inner
strength
Ephesians 3:14,
15,
16,
17,
18
Notes on Paul's "complete" prayer
Colossians 1:9,
10,
11,
12ff
Notes on
praying when anxious
Philippians 4:6,
Philippians 4:7
Notes on prayer for loving
discernment
Philippians 1:9,
10,
11,
12
Notes on praying without ceasing
1Thessalonians 5:17
Spurgeon wrote that...
Faith asks, hope seeks,
and love knocks.
***
Here is a three-fold encouragement to
us to pray. When we cannot use one style of prayer, let us use another,
for each shall be successful at the right time. O child of God, let
nothing keep thee from prayer! It has been well said that a Christian
may be hedged in, but he cannot be roofed in; there is always a passage
way upwards to the throne of the great Father; and asking, knocking,
seeking, he shall be sure to be successful with his suit.
***
To men you may not always speak of
heavenly things, but to God you may.
“Ask, seek, knock”; let your
prayer be adapted to the case; let it increase in intensity, let it
advance in the largeness of its object. To receive a gift is simple, to
find a treasure is more enriching, to enter into a palace is best of
all. Each form of prayer is prescribed, accepted, and rewarded in a
manner suitable to its character. The promise is universal to all who
obey the precept. The commands are in opposition to the methods of
carking care which have been denounced in the former chapter; and they
are encouragements to the precepts of giving and non-recessional set
forth previously, since he that can have of God for the asking may well
give to men who ask, and even yield to those who unjustly demand. With
such boundless stores at command, we should not be either niggardly or
litigious. Lord, help me to have done with fretting, and to abound in
asking, seeking, knocking; so shall I soon overflow with thanksgiving.
Kent Hughes gives an important
caveat regarding this well known verse warning that...
The instruction in this text
should not be lifted from its context (Ed note" see importance of
context
in accurate interpretation and valid application) in the Sermon and
abused. All of us have heard this done. "The Bible says, 'Ask, and it
shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be
opened to you.' Therefore, all we have to do is ask for it with faith
and persistence, and we will get it. 'You do not have because you do not
ask' (James 4:2). So go for it! Name it and claim it!" This view sees
God as a celestial slot machine. Pull the handle enough times in prayer,
be persistent, and you will get what you want! Such thinking is entirely
wrong! A text without a context is a pretext. Isolating this text
from its setting in the Sermon on the Mount is deadly. The broad
context of the Sermon sets down the surpassing righteousness,
humility, sincerity, purity, and love expected of those who are members
of the kingdom of God. These virtues are beyond human attainment apart
from God's grace. The broad context underscores our need.
In the immediately preceding context (vv. 1-6)
Jesus has shown us the danger of condemning other people as if we were
judges. He also has told us to get the plank out of our own eye before
we attempt to remove a speck from someone else's. His warning is, "For
in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the
measure you use, it will be measured to you" (v. 2). This standard is
terrifying. Who is adequate for such things? How can we live up to such
a high standard? We need to be cleansed. We need help and grace, but
from where? Jesus answers, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and
you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you" (v. 7). This
famous text is not carte blanche for our material desires. Rather, it
tells us how to pray for the character of the kingdom in our lives.
(Hughes, R. K.
Sermon on the Mount: The Message of
the Kingdom. Crossway Books)
(Bolding added)
Ray Pritchard feels that...
There are at least three things that
hinder us from going deeper in prayer. The first is the sneaking
suspicion that prayer doesn’t matter. It’s easy to fall into a kind of
fatalism that says “God’s gonna do what God’s gonna do.” So we stop
praying because we think nothing will change. Then there is the fear
that we won’t pray in the “right” way, that we won’t use the correct
words or we won’t use the right formula and that God therefore won’t
even bother to hear what we say. Finally most of us struggle with the
little voice inside that tells us we’ve got more important things to do.
Prayer is good but we need to get on with the “real business” of the
day. So we don’t pray as we ought or as we would like. (Matthew 7:7-11 Three
Levels of Prayer)
Ask (154)
(aiteo) means to ask for with urgency, even to the point of
demanding. Aiteo more frequently suggests attitude of a suppliant
(one who supplicates [supplicate is from Latin supplex = bowed] means to
makes a humble, earnest plea or entreaty), the petitioning of one who is
lesser in position than he to whom the petition is made. To ask means to
to call on for an answer, which indicates that we believe there is
someone (our Father) listening. It also implies that we expect Him to
answer or otherwise why ask? The self-righteous person does not ask but
tells God how good he is (see parable Luke 18:10-13).
Spurgeon in his book Power
in Prayer notes that...
It may be a revealing exercise for
some of you to find out how often in Scripture you are told to pray. You
will be surprised to find how many times such words as these are given:
“Call upon Me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee” (Psalm
50:15). “Ye people, pour out your heart before Him” (Psalm 62:8).
“Seek ye the LORD while He may be found; call ye upon Him while He is
near” (Isaiah 55:6). “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye
shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (see note
Matthew 7:7).
“Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation” (Mark 14:38).
“Pray without ceasing” (see note
1Thessalonians 5:12).
“Come boldly unto the throne of grace” (see note
Hebrews 4:16).
“Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you” (James 4:8).
“Continue in prayer” (see notes
Colossians 4:2).
I need not multiply what I could not possibly exhaust. I pick two or
three out of this great bag of pearls.
Asking is what beggars do and
that is exactly what those who are "poor in spirit" (see notes
Matthew 5:3)
are! In poor countries beggars unashamedly stand by the road with their
hands held out, asking alms for the poor. Sometimes they can be quite
bold about it and even irritating to passers by. In those moments it
helps to remember that you would be bold too if you were in their
position. And in a spiritual sense we are in their position for we have
brought nothing into the world and can take nothing out. We are totally
dependent on God the Father of lights from Whom every good thing
bestowed and every perfect gift comes (cf James 1:17). But unlike
beggars on the streets, citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven have access
through Jesus to our Father Who art in heaven!
Jesus has already explained that in
His omniscience, our...
Father knows what you need, before
you ask Him. (notes
Matthew 6:8)
By asking we nurture our
relationship with our Father. He delights to hear and to answer His
children as Jesus explains in the following verses.
We need to be more like apostle James
of whom Eusebius wrote that his...
knees grew hard like a camel’s
because of his constant worship of God, kneeling and asking forgiveness
for the people.
Edward Payson said
Prayer is the first thing, the second
thing, the third thing necessary to minister. Pray, therefore, my dear
brother, pray, pray, pray.”
Seek (2212)
(zeteo) means to attempt to learn something by careful
investigation or searching, to desire to have or experience
something or to try to obtain something from someone. Seeking is asking
plus acting, implying earnest petitioning coupled with an active
endeavoring to fulfill needs. When you seek
something, you rearrange your priorities so that you can search for what
you desire until you find it. Do you prioritize prayer?
Seeking implies a desire for
something of great value. A good illustration of this is Jesus' analogy
that...
the kingdom of heaven is like a
merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great
value, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it. (Mt 13:45-46)
Or think about Jesus’ story of the
woman searching for a lost coin...
"Or what woman, if she has ten silver
coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and
search carefully until she finds it?' (Luke 15:8)
or the shepherd with 100 sheep who,
having lost one, left the 99 and went searching for the one sheep that
had gone astray. It is like a man seeking a pearl of great price, who
having found it, gives all that he has in order to purchase it.
Puritan Thomas Manton wrote that "If
we don’t receive by asking, then let us seek; if we don’t receive by
seeking, then let us knock."
Spurgeon notes that...
This is the simplest form of prayer.
Follow up your prayer by the effort. “Knock, and it shall be opened
unto you.” Add force to your petitions and to your prayers. If the door
blocks the way, knock until it is opened...
Prayer knocks till the door opens.
Open it will, for so runs the promise of our faithful God, "To him that
knocketh it shall be opened." "If the angel opened the door of the
prison to let Peter out, it was prayer that opened the door of heaven to
let the angel out."
Knock (2925)
(krouo) means to rap at a door for entrance and thus implies an
even greater and more repetitive intensity than either asking or
seeking. The English word "knock" comes from German word meaning to
press! “Knock” means to
stand at a door and repeatedly rap it with your knuckles. You knock and
wait, then you knock again, then you say, “I know you’re in there,” then
you knock again and say, “I can hear your voice. Come on, open the
door.” Then you knock again. If you’re on the other side, you know how
annoying it can be to listen as someone knocks and knocks and keeps on
knocking. But that’s precisely the picture behind Jesus' command to keep
on knocking! The idea might imply praying in the face of difficulty and
even resistance. If you knock like this, your desire for entrance must
be very great indeed.
Note the ascending degree of
intensity from asking then to seeking and finally to
overtly knocking! Each of these verbs is in the
present imperative,
which is a command to do each of these activities continually. Jesus is
calling for persistence in prayer. Prayer is as necessary to us as
oxygen to our life. Prayer is the lifeline for citizens
of the Kingdom of heaven who are still on earth and as such it expresses
our continued dependence on Him as we beseech Him for the grace and
power to live the supernatural life of surpassing
righteousness that Jesus has described in this Sermon. In order to live out
the righteousness we must ask and keep asking, seek and keep seeking and
knock and keep knocking.
Spurgeon wrote that...
There was a nailhead for the knocker
to drop on, and people used to smite it so heavily that some remarked
that such blows on the head were killing. Hence arose the mirthful
proverb, "as dead as a doornail." It betokens a hearty kind of knocking,
which I would have you imitate in prayer. Knock at heaven's gate as
earnestly as people knocked at doors in the olden time
Hughes observes that...
Ask implies asking for a
conscious need. The word also suggests humility in asking, for it is
commonly used of one asking a superior. The next step, seek,
involves asking but adds action. The idea is not merely to express one's
need, but to get up and look around for help. It involves effort. Knock
includes asking plus acting plus persevering - like someone who keeps
pounding on a closed door!
The stacking of these words is extremely
forceful, but the fact that they are
present imperatives
gives them even more punch... Jesus is driving his point home, and the
point is this: We are to passionately persist in prayer. We
naturally persevere in our prayers when someone close to us is sick. If
one of our children becomes ill, we pray without ceasing. Likewise, if
we are in financial trouble or if we are hoping for a promotion or if we
have a frightening or dangerous task ahead of us, we generally find it
easy to pray. But do we persist in our prayers for spiritual growth for
ourselves and others? Do we "ask . . . seek . . . knock" for a pure
mind? Do we keep on knocking for a forgiving spirit or for the removal
of an angry or critical spirit?
(Hughes, R. K.
Sermon on the Mount: The Message of
the Kingdom. Crossway Books)
(Bolding added)
Keep in mind that this charge to a
lifestyle of prayer is situated at the end of the description of a
kingdom citizen that began in
Matthew 5:20 (note) and immediately precedes
Jesus' call to enter the narrow gate, the gate of divine righteousness
(ultimately the righteousness of Christ Himself, cp 1 Cor 1:30) that
surpasses that of the man-made righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.
Supernatural righteousness is not reckoned on
the basis of works but only on the basis of faith in the finished work
of the Messiah on the Cross. But to continue to live this righteousness
in our daily walk necessitates faith and continued dependence upon God's
grace and His Spirit. In this context Jesus inserts this powerful
command to persistent prayer that is to be part of the righteous
lifestyle of Kingdom citizens and is fact critical for us to be enabled
to continually walk worthy of the gospel to which we were called. Jesus
is not saying prayer is an after thought but in fact is to be our first
thought and our continual thought.
William MacDonald agrees with
this analysis writing that...
If we think that we can live out the
teachings of the Sermon on the Mount by our own strength, we have failed
to realize the supernatural character of the life to which the Savior
calls us. The wisdom or power for such a life must be given to us from
above. So here we have an invitation to ask and keep on asking;
to seek and keep on seeking; to knock and keep on
knocking. Wisdom and power for the Christian life will be given to all
who earnestly and persistently pray for it. Taken out of
context (Ed note: see critical role of
context in accurate
interpretation), verses 7 and 8 might seem like a blank check for
believers, i.e., we can get anything we ask for. But this is simply
not true. The verses must be understood in their immediate context and
in light of the whole Bible’s teaching on prayer. Therefore, what seems
like unqualified promises here are actually restricted by other
passages. For example, from Psalm 66:18 we learn that the person praying
must have no unconfessed sin in his life. The Christian must pray in
faith (Ja. 1:6-8) and in conformity with the will of God (1Jn. 5:14).
Prayer must be offered persistently (Luke 18:1-8) and sincerely (Heb
10:22a)
(MacDonald, W., & Farstad,
A.
Believer's Bible Commentary: Old and
New Testaments. Nashville: Thomas Nelson)
(Bolding added)
Phil Newton explains it this
way...
How often have we heard the command
of verse 7 to be a carte blanche confirmation to ask God for
anything we desire? It seems that this is most often the application of
the well-known asking, seeking, knocking command of
prayer. But I would insist that this is an improper use of this prayer.
In this Sermon we do not have a string of random thoughts and sayings of
Jesus collated by Matthew into a single literary format – which would
legitimize carte blanche use of this command. Instead we have a
consistent picture of the character and demands upon kingdom citizens.
The command to pray in verse 7 has everything to do with fulfilling
kingdom demands....
(Jesus) is calling for a lifestyle of
persistent prayer. That stands in sharp contrast to the flash-in-the-pan
style of Christianity so popular in our day that calls for nothing but a
profession (and maybe baptism) and lacks perseverance. Kingdom
citizens persist in desiring that the character, ambitions, attitudes,
and behavior that Jesus called for be shown consistently in our lives.
Yet we realize how impossible this is given our weaknesses, our
propensity for sin, and our lack of power to obey (we have not forgotten
the first Beatitude – “blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven”). So our Lord tells us to call upon the God of the
impossible! In other words, what Jesus has commanded in attitude,
ambition, behavior, and deed cannot be done apart from persistent,
ongoing, regular, faithful prayer. You can attend dozens of seminars
on Christian living, participate in discipleship groups, and read all
the good books on the subject including the Puritans. But if you are not
regular in praying about your own spiritual needs and development, and
persistently looking to the Lord for grace to follow Christ, then you
will be sorely lacking in the practice of kingdom citizenship.
Persistent prayer does at least three things in our lives.
First, it reminds us of our
weakness apart from God’s grace. If we ever get away from this we
are destined for a great fall.
“Therefore, let him who thinks he
stands take heed that he does not fall” (1 Cor 10:12 – and that stated
in the context of temptation).
We are reminded of our inadequacies
in the face of Christ’s demands. We think upon the desperate condition
of our hearts, and our helplessness to stand against the “schemes of the
devil” that are daily aimed our way (see note
Ephesians 6:11).
As we are honest before the Lord we come face to face with our
sinfulness, and desperate need for the gospel to be daily applied to our
lives.
Second, it reminds us to look to God as our Father. Perhaps
nothing is more lacking in our lives than this very thing. We know the
confessions, creeds, and hymns that affirm that God is our Father. But
do we look to Him persistently as our Father that loves and cherishes
us? Martyn Lloyd-Jones commented,
“If you should ask me to state in
one phrase what I regard as the greatest defect in most Christian lives
I would say that it is our failure to know God as our Father as we
should know Him” [The Sermon on the Mount, II, 202].
And I would add, the most prominent
reason for this defect is our neglect and inconsistency in prayer. In
effect, by neglecting prayer, we treat God as a casual friend and not as
“Our Father who is in heaven” (6:9). Yet the Father promises to “give
what is good to those who ask Him!”
Third, it disciplines and humbles us to receive the Father’s gracious
provisions so that we might live as kingdom citizens. We are
affected by dispositions of heart and the influences around us. So often
we think that we have the “stuff” to do whatever God commands if we make
our mind up to do it. And so we get a bit cocky and arrogant, while
growing in self-centeredness as the natural course of human existence.
We are also influenced by what we see and hear in the world to be
selfish. But prayer brings us back to reality: we are inadequate in
ourselves to live the Christian life apart from God’s grace. So we ask
and go on asking, seek and go on seeking, and knock and go on knocking
so that we might receive from the Father what we need to live like
kingdom citizens. And in persistent prayer the Lord develops in us a
dependency and submission to Him. (Matthew
7:7-12 Prayer and Practice)
(Bolding added)
The Disciple's Study Bible
comments that...
Asking suggests dependence;
seeking suggests yearning; knocking suggests persistence.
Jesus wanted to encourage faith. These verses should not be applied out
of the context of the Sermon on the Mount; they are intended for those
asking within the "narrow gate'' of Jesus' followers. Prayer is to
accomplish God's purposes. (Disciple's
Study Bible)
The Wycliffe Bible Commentary
offers another explanation for Jesus' introduction of prayer at this point.
This explanation addresses the
more immediate context of necessary judging (but by no means excludes
need for prayer brought out by interpreting it in the larger context
discussed above)...
(these) verses on prayer (cf. Lk
11:9-13) answer the believer’s problems arising from the instructions on
judging. The need of discerning between dogs and swine while avoiding
the beam in the eye demands wisdom from above. Hence Jesus encourages
his followers to ask, seek, and knock, that their deficiencies may be
met from the divine supply. The three imperatives are in climactic
order, and their durative forms suggest not only perseverance but
frequent prayer for any and all needs. (Wycliffe
Commentary)
Arthur Pink has a well
reasoned explanation of why Jesus mentions prayer at this point and note
that his analysis also relies heavily on the
context...
What has been suggested above
concerning the scope of our present passage will be the more apparent by
viewing it in relation to its whole context. From Mt 5:20,
onwards, Christ had presented a standard of moral excellence which is
utterly unattainable by mere flesh and blood. He had inculcated one
requirement after another, which it lies not in the power of fallen
human nature to meet. He had forbidden an opprobrious word, a malignant
wish, an impure desire, a revengeful thought. He had enjoined the most
unsparing mortification of our dearest members (Mt 5:29, 5:30). He had
commanded the loving of our enemies, the blessing of those who curse us,
the doing good unto those who hate us, and the praying for those who
despitefully use and persecute us (Mt 5:44). In view of which the
Christian may well exclaim, “Who is sufficient for these things?” Such
demands of holiness are beyond my feeble strength: yet the Lord has made
them—what then am I to do?
Coming nearer still to our passage we
find that in the opening verses of chapter 7 Christ gave two apparently
contradictory commands. First, He says, “Judge not, that ye be not
judged:” abstain from forming harsh estimates and passing censorious
censures on your fellows. Second, “Give not that which is holy unto the
dogs:” discriminate sharply between the clean and the unclean, that you
may not be guilty of obliterating the line which God has drawn between
the righteous and the wicked. But to steer safely between such rocks as
these requires not only spiritual strength but spiritual wisdom,
such wisdom as the natural man possesses not. What then is the poor
believer to do? The Lord here anticipates this difficulty and meets this
perplexity. He is well aware that, in our own wisdom and strength, we
are incapable of keeping His commands, but He at once reminds us that
the things which are ordinarily impossible to men can be made possible
to them by God.
(Ed note: But if any of you
lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and
without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith
without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea
driven and tossed by the wind. James 1:5-6)
Divine assistance is imperative if
we are to meet the Divine requirements. The Divine assistance is
to be sought prayerfully, believingly, diligently and persistently, and
if it be thus sought it will not be sought in vain. It was then for the
obtaining of supplies of Divine grace and heavenly strength that our
Lord now exhorted and encouraged His disciples. “Ask, and it shall be
given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto
you” (Mt 7:7).
In the foregoing chapter Christ had
touched upon the subject of prayer in a way of warning, but here He
refers to it as the appointed channel for obtaining supplies of grace to
obey those precepts which are so contrary to flesh and blood. First He
had given instructions concerning the duty of prayer, but now He
supplies gracious encouragements for the exercise of it. Nevertheless,
it is clear from the general tenor of scripture that every other
legitimate means must be employed if we are to obtain the strength and
help we so much need. (Matthew 7:7-8: Seeking Grace)
Spurgeon in his sermon Knock writes...
I Have no doubt that, taken very
strictly, the three exhortations of this verse-which, indeed, are but
one-were first of alt intended for God’s believing people. It was to his
disciples that the Lord said, “Cast not your pearls before swine;” and
perhaps certain of them who were poor in spirit might turn round and
say, “Lord, we have few pearls; we are too poor to have the treasures
of thy grace so plentifully. Thou hast bidden us not to give that which
is holy unto dogs; but holiness is rather a thing we seek after than
possess.” “Well,” saith the Lord, “you have only to ask and have; ye
have not because ye ask not; you have only to seek and you will be sure
to find, for holy things, like rare pearls, are to be discovered if you
look for them you have only to knock and spiritual secrets shall open to
you, even the innermost truth of God.” In each exhortation our Lord
bids us pray. Beloved, let us abound in supplication. depend upon it
that failure in prayer will undermine the foundation of our peace and
sap the strength of our confidence; but if we abound in pleading with
God we shall grow strong in the Lord, and we shall be happy in his love,
we shall become a blessing to those around us. Need I commend the
mercy-seat to you who wait before it? Surely prayer must have become
such a joy to you, such a necessity of your being, such an element of
your life, that I hardly need press it upon you as a duty, or invite you
to it as a privilege. Yet still I do so, because the Master does it by a
triple exhortation. A threefold cord is not easily broken-let not my
text be neglected by you. Let me urge you to repeated, varied, ever
intensifying prayer: ask! seek! knock! Cease not to ask till you
receive; cease nor to seek till you find; cease not to knock till the
door is opened unto you.
In these three exhortations there
would appear to be a gradation: it is the same thought put into
another shape, and made more forcible.
Ask-that is, in the quiet of
your spirit, speak with God concerning your need, and humbly beg him to
grant your desires: this is a good and acceptable form of prayer.
If, however, asking should not appear
to succeed, the Lord would arouse you to a more concentrated and active
longing; therefore let your desires call in the aid of knowledge,
thought, consideration, meditation, and practical action, and learn to
seek for the blessings you desire as men seek for hid treasures.
These good things are laid up in store, and they are accessible to
fervent minds. See how you can reach them. Add to asking the study of
the promises of God, a diligent hearing of his word, a devout meditation
upon the way of salvation, and all such means of grace as may bring you
the blessing. Advance from king into seeking.
And if after all it should still seem
that you have not obtained your desire, then knock and so come to
closer and more agonizing work; use not alone the voice, but the whole
soul; exercise yourself unto godliness to obtain the boon; use every
effort to win that which you seek after; for remember that doing is
praying; living to God is a high form of seeking, and the bent of the
entire mind is knocking. God often giveth to his people when they keep
his commandments that which he denies to them if they walk carelessly.
Remember the words of the Lord Jesus,
how he said, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall
ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”
Holiness is essential to power in
prayer: the life must knock while the lips ask and the heart seeks.
I will change my line of exposition
and say: ask as a beggar petitions for aims. They say that
begging is a poor trade, but when you ply it well with God no other
trade is so profitable. Men get more by asking than by working without
prayer. Though I do not discommend working, yet I most highly commend
praying. Nothing under heaven pays like prevailing prayer. He that has
power in prayer has all things at his call. Ask as a poor mendicant who
is hungry and pleads for bread. Then seek as a merchant who hunts for
goodly pearls, looking up and down, anxious to give all that he has that
he may win a matchless treasure.
Seek as a servant carefully
looking after his master’s interests and laboring to promote them. Seek
with all diligence, adding to the earnestness of the beggar the careful
watchfulness of the jeweler who is seeking for a gem.
Conclude all by knocking at
mercy’s door as a lost traveler caught out on a cold night in a
blinding sleet knocks for shelter that he may not perish in the storm.
When you have reached the gate of salvation ask to be admitted by the
great love of God, then look well to see the way of entering, seeking to
enter in; and if still the door seem shut against you, knock right
heavily, and continue knocking till you are safely lodged within the
home of love.
Once again, ask for what you want,
seek for what you have lost, knock for that from which you are excluded.
Perhaps this last arrangement best
indicates the shades of meaning, and brings out the distinctions.
Ask for everything you need,
whatever it may be: if it be a right and good thing, it is promised to
the sincere asker.
Seek for what you have lost;
for what Adam lost you by the Fall, for what you have lost yourself by
your neglect, by your backsliding, by your want of prayer: seek till you
find the grace you need.
Then knock. If you seem shut
out from comfort, from knowledge, from hope, from God, from heaven, then
knock, for the Lord will open unto you. Here you need the Lord’s own
interference: you can ask and receive, you can seek and find; but you
cannot knock and open,-the Lord must himself open the door, or you are
shut out for ever.
God is ready to open the door.
Remember, there is no cherub with fiery sword to guard this gate, but,
on the contrary, the Lord Jesus himself openeth, and no man shutteth.
(Read the full text
Matthew 7:7 Knock! - Pdf)
D A Carson comments on why
prayer is mentioned at this point in the Sermon explaining that...
the Sermon on the Mount lays down the
righteousness, sincerity, humility, purity, and love expected of Jesus'
followers; and now it assures them such gifts are theirs if sought
through prayer.
The sermon has begun with acknowledgment of personal bankruptcy (notes
Matthew 5:3)
and has already provided a model prayer (notes
Mt 6:9-10,
6:11-12,
6:13).
Now (Mt 7:7) in three imperatives (ask, seek, knock) symmetrically
repeated (Mt 7:8) and in the present tense to stress the persistence and
sincerity required (cf. Jer 29:13 God to Judah "And you will seek Me
and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.&qu