Matthew 7:7 (NKJV)
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”
The passage in its chapter context
Matthew 7[i] draws the Sermon on the Mount to its searching conclusion. Jesus warns against censorious judgment (7:1–5), calls for discerning engagement (7:6), invites bold dependence on the Father (7:7–11), summarises the Law and the Prophets in the Golden Rule (7:12), and presses for decisive allegiance to him (7:13–27). The placement of Matthew 7:7–11 is crucial: after exposing our tendency to misjudge others and before commanding neighbour-love, Jesus directs us to prayer. The logic is pastoral and profound: the weight of kingdom righteousness cannot be borne in our own strength; therefore, seek your Father’s help. Persistent prayer is not a pious add-on to discipleship—it is the God-ordained means by which frail sinners receive what the Father delights to give: wisdom, grace, and every “good thing” necessary to live the life Jesus commands.
What Matthew 7:7 teaches
- A command with a promise: Jesus commands asking, seeking, and knocking, and attaches sure promises: “it will be given… you will find… it will be opened.” The triad intensifies engagement with God—verbal petition, active pursuit, and persevering entry.
- Persevering prayer: The wording conveys ongoing action: keep asking; keep seeking; keep knocking. Jesus invites tenacious dependence, not a single, half-hearted request.
- The Father’s generous character: The assurance rests on who God is. If flawed parents give good gifts, “how much more” will the heavenly Father give good things to those who ask (7:9–11). Prayer is anchored in divine goodness, not human leverage.
- “Good things,” not anything: The promise is not a blank cheque. The Father gives what is truly good—what accords with his wise will and our sanctification. The generous “yes” of God is never at odds with his holiness, timing, or purposes.
- Prayer as means, not manipulation: God ordains both ends and means. He uses prayer to accomplish his sovereign will in us and through us. Asking is not bargaining; it is filial participation in the Father’s providence.
Distinctives in Matthew 7:7
- God-centred confidence: Assurance flows from the Fatherhood and goodness of God, revealed in Christ. Prayer rests on grace; we ask as adopted children in the Son.
- Sovereignty and responsibility held together: God sovereignly decrees; we genuinely pray. Prayer is effective because God has appointed it as an instrument of his will.
- Christ as our access: The Sermon’s demands drive us to the Mediator. We “knock” through Christ’s merit, not our own (cf. the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9–13).
- Sanctification by means of grace: Matthew 7:7 fits a wider pattern: Word, prayer, and fellowship are ordinary means through which the Spirit conforms us to Christ.
- Discernment against presumption: The text refutes both cynicism (“God won’t act”) and presumption (“God must do what I want”). The Father gives good gifts as he defines good.
Theology of asking, seeking, knocking
- Adoption and access: Only those who know God as Father can ask with confidence. Adoption in the gospel transforms prayer from anxiety to expectation.
- Ordered desires: Asking is a school of desire. As we seek first the kingdom (Matthew 6:33), our petitions align with the Father’s will; the Spirit reshapes our longings.
- Perseverance in weakness: The call to keep knocking anticipates seasons when doors feel shut. Persistent prayer is an act of faith that God is working, even in delay.
- Wisdom for life together: The positioning between judging (7:1–6) and the Golden Rule (7:12) shows prayer is for relational holiness—grace to repent of hypocrisy, discern wisely, and love actively.
Applications for modern Christian living
- Build a prayer rule:
- Daily asking: Present concrete needs and kingdom priorities (holiness, wisdom, reconciliation, witness).
- Active seeking: Open your Bible as you pray—seek God’s will in Scripture; let the Word shape what you ask.
- Persistent knocking: Keep interceding for stubborn sins, strained relationships, prodigals, and closed doors. Perseverance is part of the obedience of faith.
- Pray as a church family:
- Corporate intercession: Make gathered prayer central, not peripheral. Pray Scripture-shaped, kingdom-first petitions.
- Elders and households: Recover elder-led, home-centred prayer for the sick, the weary, and the wandering.
- Mutual encouragement: Share answered prayers to magnify the Father’s goodness and fuel perseverance.
- Pray with discernment:
- Reject prosperity distortions: This promise is not “name it and claim it.” Ask for “good things”—what advances Christlikeness and the kingdom.
- Embrace God’s ways: Expect answers in God’s timing and form—sometimes a clear yes, sometimes a holy no, often a wiser, better-than-asked.
- Repent and reconcile: Where judging and hypocrisy (7:1–5) hinder fellowship, confess sin; then ask boldly. The Father loves to restore.
- In the pressures of modern life:
- Work and decisions: Ask for integrity, courage, and wisdom; seek counsel; knock on opportunities that honour Christ.
- Suffering and uncertainty: Keep knocking. Lament honestly; ask for comfort, endurance, and hope. God delights to meet you with sufficient grace.
- Mission and justice: Pray for open doors for the gospel, for leaders to act justly, and for communities shaped by the Golden Rule.
Summary teaching from Matthew 7:7
Matthew 7:7 commands ongoing, confident, and earnest prayer to the Father, with the sure promise that he will give truly good gifts in accord with his wise will. Because God is our generous Father in Christ, disciples must continually ask, actively seek, and persistently knock, trusting him to supply all that is needed for kingdom obedience and Christlike love.
[i] Matthew 7
New King James Version
Do Not Judge
7 “Judge[a] not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what [b]judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
6 “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.
Keep Asking, Seeking, Knocking
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! 12 Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
The Narrow Way
13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 [c]Because narrow is the gate and [d]difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
You Will Know Them by Their Fruits
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
I Never Knew You
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
Build on the Rock
24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
28 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, 29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
Footnotes
Matthew 7:1 Condemn
Matthew 7:2 Condemnation
Matthew 7:14 NU, M How narrow . . . !
Matthew 7:14 confined
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