Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock and the door will opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Who among you, if his son ask for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he ask for a fish, will give him snake? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him. Matthew 7:7-11
While some people interpret verses as a promise that God will give disciples whatever they pray for, linguistic connections between these verses and other portions of the Sermon on the Mount suggest that Jesus promised that those who ask, search, and knock will be invited to enter his kingdom. The command to “ask” is tied to the promise of “good things” to those who ask in v. 11 in the Lukan parallel, these good things are interpreted as the Holy Spirit who transforms the disciple and makes him fit for the kingdom. “Seek” uses the same Greek verb as Matthew 6:33, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” Since the word “door” is not in the Greek text of v. 7, and because ancient people knocked on gates as well as doors to request entrance (Acts 12:13), “knock” likely refers to knocking on the gate of the kingdom.
Jesus’ description of humans as “you…who are evil” disproves the modern concept that people are basically good. Although Jesus acknowledged that humans may perform gracious acts like providing for their children, he insisted that they do so contrary to their sinful nature. God’s gracious acts, on the other hand, express our heavenly Father’s perfect nature.
All this means is that Jesus is teaching us to rely on God. He is telling us to ask our Heavenly Father for those things that we need. And that if we are truly seeking to do God’s will, then God will provide the things that we need. And lastly we have to be actively looking to gain entry into God’s kingdom, because like all the promises God has made throughout history they only apply to those whom he calls his own.