For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
Parallel translations
- WEB For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened.
- KJV For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
- NKJV For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
- NASB For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
- NLT For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Everyone who asks receives, who seeks finds, and who knocks finds an open door. God reliably responds to those who come to him in faith.
Overview
Jesus reinforces the previous invitation by stating it as a settled principle: prayer directed to the Father does not go unanswered. The promise assures disciples of God's eager responsiveness, understood within Scripture as God giving what is truly good and in keeping with his will. It anchors confident prayer in the trustworthy generosity of God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Ps 81:10I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth, and I will fill it.
- Ps 81:16But I would feed you the finest wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
- Luke 23:42–43Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!”
- Matt 15:22–28And a Canaanite woman from that region came to Him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is miserably possessed by a demon.”
- Acts 9:11“Get up!” the Lord told him. “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying.
- 2 Chr 33:19His prayer and how God received his plea, as well as all his sin and unfaithfulness, and the sites where he built high places and set up Asherah poles and idols before he humbled himself, they are indeed written in the Records of the Seers.
- John 3:8–10The wind blows where it wishes. You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
- John 2:2and Jesus and His disciples had also been invited to the wedding.
- 2 Chr 33:1–2Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 7:8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.