Asking is verbal Christians are to use their mouths and petition God for their needs and desires. Notice the three different senses being considered here. In the same way, a believer should pray in faith for God’s provision and be persistent in prayer (see Luke 18:1).Īsk, seek, knock. If a person needs something from someone behind a door, the most natural thing to do is knock-and keep knocking until the door is opened and the desire is met. Here, the Lord uses a metaphor for the action a desire produces. Jesus then said, “Knock and the door will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7c). Seeking God’s kingdom means putting God’s plan before our own seeking God’s righteousness means setting a priority on personal holiness and desiring to be sanctified. Seeking is a matter of paying attention with an engaged mind and acute awareness.Įarlier in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said to “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). His heart’s desire is for us to persistently and passionately look for Him all around us, and when we do, He promises He will be found (Proverbs 8:17). “Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart” (Psalm 119:2). “Seek the Lord and his strength seek his presence continually!” (Psalm 105:4). “The young lions suffer want and hunger but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing” (Psalm 34:10). What is it believers ought to be seeking? It is God Himself! “You have said, ‘Seek my face.’ My heart says to you, ‘Your face, Lord, do I seek’” (Psalm 27:8). Jesus went on to say, “Seek, and you will find” (Matthew 7:7b). It is only faith in what God can do, and what Christ has done, that brings about true sanctification, not an artificial self-righteousness (Hebrews 11:6). God is always pleased with such displays of faith. Prayer, in and of itself, does not produce sanctification (an increasing holiness in a believer’s life), but it does show a dependence on God for needs that can be met no other way. However, the more time a Christian spends in communion with God, the more he or she will know what to ask for in accordance with God’s will. Jesus is not saying that believers always get what they ask for-wrong motives, for example, will hinder answers to prayer (James 4:3). Of course, God, being omniscient, knows what Christians need whether they ask or not, but prayer is the means God has chosen to bring about those answers (James 4:2b). Prayer is how we communicate our needs and desires to God. When Jesus says, “Ask and it will be given to you,” continual prayer is in view (Matthew 7:7a).
It’s a description of the truly righteous life, an outlining of “the law of Christ” (1 Corinthians 9:21, ESV).
Matthew 7 is part of what is commonly called the Sermon on the Mount.
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