Matthew 7:7

Ask, Seek, Knock

7:7 “Ask 1  and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door 2  will be opened for you.

Matthew 7:11

7:11 If you then, although you are evil, 3  know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts 4  to those who ask him!

1 sn The three present imperatives in this verse (Ask…seek…knock) are probably intended to call for a repeated or continual approach before God.

2 tn Grk “it”; the referent (a door) is implied by the context and has been specified in the translation here and in v. 8 for clarity.

3 tn The participle ὄντες (ontes) has been translated concessively.

4 sn The provision of the good gifts is probably a reference to the wisdom and guidance supplied in response to repeated requests. The teaching as a whole stresses not that we get everything we want, but that God gives the good that we need.