The Lord told His disciples to ask, seek, and knock. The one who does so will receive, find, and have the door opened (Luke 11:9-10). These verses are quoted frequently. However, the broader context is usually overlooked, with the result that the Lord’s words are often interpreted in a very general way. However, careful consideration of the context suggests that He has something more specific in mind.
These verses are part of a parable in which a man goes to a friend for some bread (Luke 11:5-13). The man looks for the bread, knocks on the door, and asks for the bread. Immediately before the parable, the Lord has given His disciples a model prayer often referred to as the Lord’s Prayer (11:2-4).
The parable is connected to the prayer. It occurs immediately after the prayer and is presented to the same audience—the disciples. In both the parable and the prayer, God is referred to as the disciples’ heavenly Father (vv 2, 13).
The man in the parable is asking for something. In the model prayer, the Lord tells the disciples to ask their heavenly Father for things. The word bread occurs in both the parable and the prayer (vv 3, 5, 11). The man in the parable asks for bread, and the Lord tells His disciples to ask their heavenly Father for bread. The parable teaches the disciples to ask, seek, and knock. They should do so boldly (v 8; the Greek word translated persistence in the NKJV would be better translated as “boldly” or “shamelessly”). Their heavenly Father will give them the good things they seek and ask for.
The main point is that the disciples should boldly seek and ask for the things Jesus just spoke of in the Lord’s Prayer.
But what are those things? Jesus is not speaking in general terms. In the Lord’s Prayer, He gave specific things to ask for.
The Lord often taught about the coming kingdom. In the Lord’s Prayer, He told His disciples to ask that the kingdom come. They should desire to live a life that glorifies their Father in heaven. They should seek to rely on Him for what they need, be merciful to others, ask for forgiveness when they sin, and avoid sin.
Such a life looks forward to the coming kingdom. This is the kind of life that will be rewarded in the kingdom.
These are the things the disciples should seek. These are the things they should ask for. They should go to the Lord and “knock.”
The man in the parable goes to his neighbor’s door and knocks. He is seeking what he needs. He asks. At first, the neighbor says, “No,” but eventually he gives the man what he seeks and asks for.
The Lord is not like the neighbor. He is eager to give what is good to His disciples. Jesus summarizes what He gives those who come to Him. He gives them the Spirit (v 13). It is the Spirit who will empower the disciple to do the things the Lord describes in the Lord’s Prayer. It is the Spirit who gives the disciple the ability to live a life that will be rewarded when the Lord returns to reign.
The disciple who seeks the kingdom and seeks to be great in it will find what he seeks (Matt 6:33). If he asks the Lord to give him what is necessary to accomplishing that goal, he will receive what he needs. He needs to boldly go to the Lord and “knock” at the throne of grace (Heb 4:16). Unlike the neighbor in the parable who didn’t want to get out of bed, the Lord will gladly open the door to give what His disciple seeks.
