For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
Parallel translations
- WEB For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened.
- BSB For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will 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 thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.
- Ps 81:16He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee.
- Luke 23:42–43And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
- Matt 15:22–28And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.
- Acts 9:11And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth,
- 2 Chr 33:19His prayer also, and how God was intreated of him, and all his sins, and his trespass, and the places wherein he built high places, and set up groves and graven images, before he was humbled: behold, they are written among the sayings of the seers.
- John 3:8–10The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
- John 2:2And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.
- 2 Chr 33:1–2Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem:
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.