A Study of the commands from our Lord, Jesus the Christ

Week 15, March 7th

"Knock, and it will be opened to you"

It is the same command in both the Matthew 7:7-8 (NASB) and Luke 11:9-10 (NASB) passage. And the reward is the same also: "it will be opened"

Ask is a mental activity. You come before the Father and you ask for something. To seek requires you to search for something. And we are commanded to "seek first His Kingdom and righteousness" (see Matthew 6:33 (NASB)).

BUT, knock is something different. Before you can obey the command to knock, you must be actively seeking something you desire and while you are seeking, you come to an obstruction. This obstruction, say a door, is blocking you. You try to open the door, on your own, but you can not. For if you could, the door would not be blocking you.

What then should you do?

The first thing that comes to mind is Trust the LORD (see Proverbs 3:5-6 (NASB)).

The next couple of items to remember:
- GOD knows what I need before I ask (see Matthew 6:8(NASB)).
- GOD knows I am standing before a closed door because every one of my days has already been recorded in his book (see Psalm 139:16 (NLT)).
- NO door is locked to GOD (see John 20:19 (NLT)).

If I have come to a locked door, AND I have asked the Father, in the name of Jesus, should I be seeking what is behind that DOOR, AND I believe the answer from the LORD is YES, then I better be knocking on that DOOR and BELIEVING it will be opened.

And based on the word of our LORD in both the Matthew and Luke passage "it will be opened". And once the door is opened, ENTER and give GLORY to the LORD.

BUT

What if I can not answer YES after going to the LORD in prayer?

If you have asked the Father, in the name of JESUS, should you be seeking what is behind that DOOR, and you have not received, with absolute assurance, the answer, YES, from the LORD, then do NOT knock on that door and continue with your journey of seeking His kingdom.

If you have any other questions for me please send me an email.

If this link does not work for you my email address is 'burtonmark@cox.net' with the subject line of 'Week 15'. I would love to hear from you.

The tour continues next week with a summary of all three commands Ask, Seek, and Knock.



The Greek words used in this multiple command verse.

The Greek word that Jesus used for "ask" is "aiteō"
Strong's Number G154 matches the Greek αἰτέω (aiteō), which occurs 71 times in 67 verses in the Greek concordance of the NASB.

Strong defines "aiteō" as: to ask, beg, call for, crave, desire, require.

The Greek word that Jesus used for "seek" is "zēteō"
Strong's Number G2212 matches the Greek ζητέω (zēteō), which occurs 119 times in 112 verses in the Greek concordance of the NASB.

Strong defines "zēteō" as: to seek (literally or figuratively); specially, (by Hebraism) to worship (God), or (in a bad sense) to plot (against life):—be (go) about, desire, endeavour, enquire (for), require, (X will) seek (after, for, means).

The Greek word that Jesus used for "knock" is "krouō"
Strong's Number G2925 matches the Greek κρούω (krouō), which occurs 9 times in 9 verses in the Greek concordance of the NASB.

Strong defines "krouō" as: to rap:—knock.

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