Matthew 7:8

For every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

The Lord's entire sermon had dealt with the righteousness of life as expected from men by God. A great and hard lesson, demanding more strength than any man, even the most earnest Christian, possesses by nature and after conversion. But He from whom all spiritual strength must come is willing to help our infirmities, if we but approach Him with persistent supplication. Jesus piles up the verbs for the sake of emphasis; He builds up a double climax in order to teach men always to pray and not to grow faint, to be importunate in pleading, Luke 18:1; Luke 11:5. To the mere asking must be added an eager seeking, and this must be supplemented with a persistent knocking. Such methods cannot fail; the promises of God are too plain. God will hear, He will give. He will let us find. He will open unto us. It may not always be at just the time and in just the manner which we think best, but it will, in the end, always prove the best. Only, note the repetition: "Ask," in all humility, but with firm confidence; "seek," with untiring application, but also with painstaking care; "knock," with both earnestness and perseverance. Every one, he says, shall receive if he will but come as a child to its father.