Matius 7:7-11

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. 7:8 For everyone who asks ³  receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 7:9 Is ⁴  there anyone among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 7:10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? ⁵  7:11 If you then, although you are evil, ⁶  know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts ⁷  to those who ask him!

Matius 18:19

18:19 Again, I tell you the truth, ⁸  if two of you on earth agree about whatever you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. ⁹ 

Matius 21:22

21:22 And whatever you ask in prayer, if you believe, ¹⁰  you will receive.”

[7:7]  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.

[7:7]  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.

[7:8]  ³ sn The actions of asking, seeking, and knocking are repeated here from v. 7 with the encouragement that God does respond.

[7:9]  ⁴ tn Grk “Or is there.”

[7:10]  ⁵ sn The two questions of vv. 9-10 expect the answer, “No parent would do this!”

[7:11]  ⁶ tn The participle ὄντες (ontes) has been translated concessively.

[7:11]  ⁷ 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.

[18:19]  ⁸ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[18:19]  ⁹ tn Grk “if two of you…agree about whatever they ask, it will be done for them by my Father who is in heaven.” The passive construction has been translated as an active one in keeping with contemporary English style, and the pronouns, which change from second person plural to third person plural in the Greek text, have been consistently translated as second person plural.

[21:22]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “believing”; the participle here is conditional.