Matthew 7:7 In-depth Bible study

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

Matthew 7:7

Here Jesus addresses three things: asking. Seeking and knocking.

Let us look at these three aspects of prayer separately.

We are first told to ask.

Asking entails making requests and making our needs known to God.

When we come into the kingdom the first thing we learn is how to pray. But often all our praying involves asking God for stuff. We learn that He is a good father who gives good things so we ask. We ask for stuff, but sometimes we ask amiss because we don’t know what we ought to be asking for.

Philippians 4: 6 tells us to not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Here is where prayer begins. We learn how to ask God for everything. We learn to lean on His provision.

We are asking a good father.

Jesus teaches us that we can ask God because he is a good father. When we trust his goodness we can trust his answers.

Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! Matthew 7:9-11

God will never give us something that isn’t good. Sometimes in our lack of knowledge, we ask for a stone instead of bread. We ask for a serpent instead of fish. When we do He says no and gives to us what is good for us.

We ask for wisdom

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. James 1:5

When was the last time you prayed for wisdom? When was the last time you asked God’s guidance in a matter? James reminds us that God is generous and if we ask for His wisdom He will never tell us, “Go and figure it out.” He generously gives it to us.

Seek and you shall find.

The dictionary defines seek as to go in search or quest of.

Seeking implies effort, a desire to find something. a desperate hunger for something.

What do we seek?

We seek after His kingdom and righteousness.

In the kingdom, we begin with asking, but we shouldn’t remain there. There comes a time where God allows us to mature into seeking.

There are many Christians that have not moved from the asking stage. We are still telling God, “ Give me blessings,” “God give me this, give me that.” All our praying is about asking. If we don’t mature from asking we’ll never see much of God in our lives.

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33

Jesus is teaching us to live differently. When the world seeks after what to wear, what to eat and where to sleep. This shouldn’t be our main concern. Our main concern should be seeking after His kingdom and righteousness. We seek to know how God’s kingdom operates. We learn to order our lives according to that kingdom. We learn how to bring His kingdom into our lives.

But Jesus doesn’t stop there He says, when you have His kingdom and his righteousness, everything else will come to you.

Why? We become children of the King.

The sons of the kings of this world don’t worry about clothes, food, or houses. They don’t know lack, so it has never crossed their minds that it should be something to worry about. When we have the kingdom, everything that is in the kingdom becomes our inheritance.

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all of your heart. Jeremiah 29:13

We seek after God, but we have to seek Him correctly if we’ll find Him. we have to seek Him with all of our hearts. If we seek him halfheartedly, we won’t find Him. God has put such a high price for Himself because he knows when we find God we find everything we need in this life. but if we seek a little of Him, and also seek other things, we won’t find Him. We have to abandon all other seeking and seek after Him.

We seek His presence or His face.

When you said, “ seek my face [in prayer, require My presence as your greatest need],” my heart has said to you, “ your face O Lord I will seek. Psalm 27:8

God told David to seek after His presence and David’s response was… I will seek your face. When David sought after God’s presence, God gave David everything he wanted. However, David’s goal wasn’t to get the stuff, he really was after God’s heart.

There is nothing that God won’t give to the person who He can trust with His heart.

Knock and the door will be opened.

The second thing we do is to seek after His kingdom and His presence. The third thing is where we learn to knock.

When we seek His kingdom, we discover what it is all about. We also discover what God has made available for us. This is where knocking comes in. We knock on doors to gain entrance into something.

There are so many doors we knock to gain entrance into; the door of deliverance; the door of healing; the door of purpose; the door of revelation, the door of anointing.

Here is where most believers never get to. We become comfortable in asking and seeking, that we never move to knocking. Knocking will require persistence, it will require more than a 5-minute prayer. It will require more than you reading scripture posts on social media. It will require more time on the things of God and greater faith.

One commentary writes that knocking includes asking plus acting plus persevering – like one who keeps on pounding on a closed door.

The door isn’t closed because God doesn’t want to give us entrance. The door is closed because what is behind it is a greater representation of Him. It shouldn’t be taken lightly. Only the one who is willing to pay the cost will the door be opened for.

So keep on asking, and it will be given unto you, keep on seeking and you shall find, keep on knocking and the door shall be opened to you.