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!

Matthew 18:19

18:19 Again, I tell you the truth, ⁵  if two of you on earth agree about whatever you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. ⁶ 

Mark 11:24

11:24 For this reason I tell you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Luke 11:8-10

11:8 I tell you, even though the man inside ⁷  will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of the first man’s ⁸  sheer persistence ⁹  he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

11:9 “So ¹⁰  I tell you: Ask, ¹¹  and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door ¹²  will be opened for you. 11:10 For everyone who asks ¹³  receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door ¹⁴  will be opened.

John 14:13

14:13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, ¹⁵  so that the Father may be glorified ¹⁶  in the Son.

John 15:7

15:7 If you remain ¹⁷  in me and my words remain ¹⁸  in you, ask whatever you want, and it will be done for you. ¹⁹ 

John 16:24

16:24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive it, ²⁰  so that your joy may be complete.

James 5:16

5:16 So confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great effectiveness. ²¹ 

James 5:1

Warning to the Rich

5:1 Come now, you rich! Weep and cry aloud ²²  over the miseries that are coming on you.

James 3:1

The Power of the Tongue

3:1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, ²³  because you know that we will be judged more strictly. ²⁴ 

James 5:14-15

5:14 Is anyone among you ill? He should summon the elders of the church, and they should pray for him and anoint ²⁵  him with oil in the name of the Lord. 5:15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up – and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. ²⁶ 

[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.

[7:11]  ³ tn The participle ὄντες (ontes) has been translated concessively.

[7:11]  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.

[18:19]  ⁵ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[18:19]  ⁶ 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.

[11:8]  ⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the man in bed in the house) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:8]  ⁸ tn Grk “his”; the referent (the first man mentioned) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:8]  ⁹ tn The term ἀναίδεια (anaideia) is hard to translate. It refers to a combination of ideas, a boldness that persists over time, or “audacity,” which comes close. It most likely describes the one making the request, since the unit’s teaching is an exhortation about persistence in prayer. Some translate the term “shamelessness” which is the term’s normal meaning, and apply it to the neighbor as an illustration of God responding for the sake of his honor. But the original question was posed in terms of the first man who makes the request, not of the neighbor, so the teaching underscores the action of the one making the request.

[11:9]  ¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai, from καγώ [kagw]) has been translated as “so” to indicate the conclusion drawn from the preceding parable.

[11:9]  ¹¹ sn The three present imperatives in this verse (Ask…seek…knock) are probably intended to call for a repeated or continual approach before God.

[11:9]  ¹² tn Grk “it”; the referent (a door) is implied by the context and has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:10]  ¹³ sn The actions of asking, seeking, and knocking are repeated here from v. 9 with the encouragement that God does respond.

[11:10]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “it”; the referent (a door) is implied by the context and has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:13]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “And whatever you ask in my name, I will do it.”

[14:13]  ¹⁶ tn Or “may be praised” or “may be honored.”

[15:7]  ¹⁷ tn Or “reside.”

[15:7]  ¹⁸ tn Or “reside.”

[15:7]  ¹⁹ sn Once again Jesus promises the disciples ask whatever you want, and it will be done for you. This recalls 14:13-14, where the disciples were promised that if they asked anything in Jesus’ name it would be done for them. The two thoughts are really quite similar, since here it is conditioned on the disciples’ remaining in Jesus and his words remaining in them. The first phrase relates to the genuineness of their relationship with Jesus. The second phrase relates to their obedience. When both of these qualifications are met, the disciples would in fact be asking in Jesus’ name and therefore according to his will.

[16:24]  ²⁰ tn The word “it” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[5:16]  ²¹ tn Or “the fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful”; Grk “is very powerful in its working.”

[5:1]  ²² tn Or “wail”; Grk “crying aloud.”

[3:1]  ²³ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[3:1]  ²⁴ tn Grk “will receive a greater judgment.”

[5:14]  ²⁵ tn Grk “anointing.”

[5:15]  ²⁶ tn Grk “it will be forgiven him.”