Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 7:7-8

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." — Matthew 7:7-8 (ASV)

St. Jerome: Having previously forbidden us to pray for things of the flesh, He now shows what we ought to ask, saying, Ask, and it shall be given you.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Alternatively, when He commanded not to give what is holy to dogs, and not to cast pearls before swine, the hearer, conscious of his own ignorance, might say, “Why do you command me not to give what is holy to dogs, when I do not yet see that I have anything holy?”

He therefore appropriately adds, Ask, and you shall receive.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: Alternatively, having given them some commands for the sanctification of prayer, saying, Judge not, He adds accordingly, Ask, and it shall be given to you, as if to say, “If you observe this mercy toward your enemies, whatever seems shut to you, knock, and it shall be opened to you.”

Therefore, ask in prayer, praying day and night; seek with care and effort. For we do not gain knowledge by toiling in the Scriptures alone without God's grace, nor do we attain grace without study, so that the gift of God is not bestowed on the careless. But knock with prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. For just as one who knocks at a door not only cries out with his voice but also strikes with his hand, so the one who does good works knocks with his works.

But you will say, “This is what I pray to know and to do; how then can I do it before I receive it?” Do what you can so that you may become able to do more, and hold on to what you know so that you may come to know more.

Alternatively, having previously commanded all people to love their enemies, and afterward commanded that we should not, under the pretext of love, give holy things to dogs, He here gives good counsel: that they should pray to God for them, and it will be granted to them. Let them seek out those who are lost in sin, and they will find them. Let them knock at the door of those who are shut up in error, and God will open it to them so that their word may have access to their souls.

Alternatively, since the commands given above were beyond the reach of human strength, He sends them to God, by whose grace nothing is impossible, saying, Ask, and it shall be given you, so that what cannot be performed by human beings may be fulfilled through the grace of God. For when God equipped the other animals with swift feet or swift wings, with claws, teeth, or horns, He made humanity in such a way that He Himself would be their only strength,ⁱ so that, compelled by their own weakness, they might always have need of their Lord.

Glossa Ordinaria: We ask with faith, we seek with hope, and we knock with love. You must first ask so that you may have; after that, seek so that you may find; and lastly, observe what you have found so that you may enter in.¹

St. Augustine of Hippo: Asking is so that we may obtain health of soul to be able to fulfill the things commanded of us; seeking pertains to the discovery of the truth. But when anyone has found the true way, he will then come into actual possession, which, however, is only opened to him who knocks.²

I have thought it good to explain with some effort how these three differ from one another, but it would be better to relate them all to persistent prayer. For this reason, He afterward concludes, saying, He will give good things to them that ask him.³

St. John Chrysostom: And in adding seek and knock, He bids us ask with great persistence and strength. For one who seeks casts all other things from his mind and is focused solely on that one thing which he seeks; and he who knocks comes with intensity and a fervent soul.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: He had said, Ask, and you shall receive. Upon hearing this, sinners might perhaps say, “The Lord here exhorts those who are worthy, but we are unworthy.” Therefore, He repeats it so that He may commend the mercy of God to the righteous as well as to sinners, and so He declares that every one that asks receives. That is, whether a person is righteous or a sinner, let him not hesitate to ask, so that it may be clearly seen that no one is neglected except the one who hesitates to ask of God. For it is not believable that God would command people to perform the work of piety displayed in doing good to our enemies, and not Himself (being good) act in the same way.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Therefore, God hears sinners; for if He does not hear sinners, the Publican would have said in vain, Lord, be merciful to me a sinner (Luke 18:13), and by that confession, he merited justification.⁴

He who in faith offers supplication to God for the necessities of this life is heard mercifully and, at the same time, not heard mercifully. For the physician knows better than the sick man what is good for his illness. But if he asks for that which God both promises and commands, his prayer will be granted, for love will receive what truth provides.⁵

But the Lord is good, who often does not give us what we want, so that He may give us what we would rather prefer.⁶

Moreover, perseverance is needed so that we may receive what we ask for.⁷

When God sometimes delays His gifts, He is commending them, not denying them. For that which is long awaited is sweeter when obtained, but that which comes at once is held cheaply. Ask then and seek righteous things. For by asking and seeking, the appetite for receiving grows. God reserves for you those things which He is not willing to give you at once, so that you may learn to greatly desire great things. Therefore, we ought always to pray and not to give up.⁸

1. ord.
2. Serm. in Mont., ii, 21
3. Retract., i, 19
4. Tract. in Joan. 44, 13
5. Prosper, Sent. 212
6. Ep. 31, 1
7. Serm. in Mont., ii, 21
8. Serm. 61. 5