Matthew 7:7

Matthew 7:7–8 are the seventh and eighth verses of the seventh chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament and is part of the Sermon on the Mount. These verses begin an important metaphor generally believed to be about prayer.

In the King James Version of the Bible the text reads:

The World English Bible translates the passage as:

For a collection of other versions, see BibRef Matthew 7:7-8.

The most common interpretation of these verses, which are also found at Luke 11:9-10, is that they are a return to the issue of prayer, which was discussed in the last chapter and is quite clearly addressed by the subsequent verses. In this view asking, seeking, and knocking are all metaphors for the act of prayer. Hendriksen notes that asking implies humility, an inferior asking for aid from a superior. Morris notes that idea of seeking does not completely mesh with the prayer metaphor. The person praying who prays to God has obviously already decided that it is there that their answers are to be found. Morris feels that seeking in prayer means that the person does not know exactly what they need, and feel that they can seek the answer to this question through God. Fowler feels that the verb seek emphasizes the effort and concentration that must be put into prayer. Hendriksen summarizes this by describing seeking as "asking plus acting." Knocking, according to France, was also a metaphor for prayer in the Jewish literature of this period. Later in Matthew, however, knocking will be a metaphor for gaining admittance to the Kingdom of Heaven. The present imperative tense used for the verbs in these verses. This implies that the asking, seeking, and knocking are all described as continuous actions, and this implies that prayer to be effective should also be a continual habit, rather than an occasional plea. Nolland posits that knocking may be linked to the Narrow Gate metaphor found in Matthew 7:13.

The verse presents prayer as certain to be answered, and the following verses explain why this is. This of course cannot mean that every demand made of God will be met in full. Fowler notes that in Matthew 6:5-13 Jesus has already laid out some rules for proper prayer. These verses thus cannot apply to all prayer, but only those who truly seek God. Christian theology has long tried to address the issue of prayers that seem unanswered. One notion is that God only gives good gifts. Even if you ask for something that will harm you, he will not provide it. Thus a prayer for wealth may not be answered, as such wealth may damage one's spiritual soul.

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