So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. (Luke 11:9-10)

In this teaching on prayer, Jesus told His disciples to come to God with increasing intensity, moving from ask to seek to knock. Asking is good, but seeking is more active than asking. Seeking is good, but knocking is more intense than seeking. In this, Jesus told His followers to have intensity, passion, and persistence in prayer.

In this three-fold description of prayer as asking, seeking, and knocking we see different aspects of prayer and different aspects of its reward.

– Prayer is like asking in that we simply make our requests known to God, and everyone who asks receives. Receiving is the reward of asking.
– Prayer is like seeking in that we search after God, His word, and His will; and seek, and you will find. Finding is the reward of seeking.
– Prayer is like knocking until the door is opened, and we seek entrance into the great heavenly palace of our Great King. Entering through the opened door into His palace is the reward of knocking, and the best reward of all.

The idea of knocking also implies that we sense resistance. After all, if the door were already open, there would be no need to knock. Yet Jesus encouraged us, “Even when you sense that the door is closed and you must knock, then do so and continue to do so, and you will be answered.”

Yet the image of knocking also implies that there is a door that can be opened. We aren’t told to climb through a window or break through a wall. We knock at doors, because they were meant to be opened.

We come to God’s door and all we must do is knock. If it were locked against us, we would need a burglar’s tools to break in, but that isn’t necessary; all we must do is knock, and even if I don’t have a burglar’s skills I can still knock – I know enough to do that!

In saying, ask and it will be given to you, God promises an answer to the one who diligently seeks Him. God values persistence and passion in prayer because they show that we share His heart. It shows that we care about the things He cares about. Persistent prayer does not overcome God’s stubborn reluctance; it gives glory to Him, expresses dependence upon Him, and aligns our heart more with His.

Remember that the answer God gives to the one who asks, seeks, and knocks isn’t always “yes.” But even when God responds to us with “no” or “not yet,” those are also answers that come from a loving God who cares most for our good and has knowledge and wisdom far beyond ours.