Matthew 7:7–11

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 he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. ⁹ Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰ Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? ¹¹ If you then, being 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!

Preamble

The Lord Jesus brings to light (and for the life of us all) the great goodness and generosity of our heavenly Father who always rewards and satisfies everyone who diligently seeks Him.

 Commentary

Vs. 7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will 

be opened to you.” 

And so the Lord Jesus says to us all, “Ask and it will be given you.” Now this may seem rather obvious but the beginning of receiving is asking; specifically asking our heavenly Father for whatever things we need to follow His Son in discipleship. Now if there is a caveat in this, and truly there is only one, it is that we ask in faith. For everything that one receives, and hopes to receive from God comes by faith, by believing that one will receive what one requests from Him (Matthew 21:20-22; Mark 11:22-24; Hebrews 11:6). And so unlike those who don’t believe; who only see this promise as a means to get their own selfish and greedy desires satisfied (James 4:3). We who do believe are to go forward in faith through this promise into whatever calling, purposes, and service the Lord Jesus Christ has called us to serve and fulfill His new life in us in.

 “Seek, and you will find”

Therefore the Lord Jesus says, “Seek and you will find.” There is no ambiguity in His Words, for whoever seeks for God’ salvation through Christ alone, or answers from God, seeking Him and His Word will find His truth, His purposes, His calling, His will for themselves.

 “Knock, and it will be opened to you.” Knocking may be a metaphor, but it sure is picturesque of just how God our Father is moved to open to us all who knock on His door seeking Him alone.

 Vs. 8 “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”

 Taken in their totality then, the Lord Jesus Christ is painting for us a picture of a hungering faith and persistence that is always generously rewarded; rewarded because of the richness and kindness and love of God our Father.

Vs. 9-11 ⁹ Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰ Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? ¹¹ If you then, being 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!

Now to bring home His point the Lord Jesus gives us some easily understood examples of just how God answers our prayers and requests when they are in accord with His will (1 John 5:14). And so of course no loving father would give his son a stone if he asked him for bread. Same if the boy asked his father for a fish, his father wouldn’t give him a serpent! Therefore the Lord Jesus Christ says if you being evil (that is relative to what God always is, and that is Perfect and Good in every way), how much more will our Father who is in heaven (and not down here and under the influence of this sin corrupted world) give us good things when we ask Him! Therefore God is not just Jesus’ Father He is our Father! And we as His children can come confidently to Him and place all of our needs before Him knowing that He will provide good things for us when we ask Him!

Scripture Quotations

The New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982.