Matthew 7:7 – 12

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?

10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?

11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

12 Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

To get a good understanding of these verses we need to look at a paragraph in John's first letter. 1 John 5:14 – 15 (Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. ) We are limited in what God will give us. Yes, He hears our prayers, if we ask anything according to His will. If our plea is in accordance with His will then we will have that request.

What we seek must agree with what Christ tells us in Matthew 6:33 ( But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. ) Our priority must be in seeking the kingdom of God, the church and living righteously. Then all of our needs will be provided for us. And He hears all of our requests. If we do not seek and live accordingly none of these promises are valid.

Knocking is the same, knocking is a sign we wish to be admitted into God's favor.

Verse 8 is the promise of the fulfillment of verse seven. If we seek His kingdom and His righteousness first and what we ask agrees with His will then he rewards everyone, not some but everyone, He is not biased, he rewards everyone who fulfills the conditions listed above.

No good father would give a hungry child a rock to eat when he needs something which is nourishing.

Neither would he substitute a snake in place of fish.

Evil is used as a contrast with God, God is good and perfect, in respect even the most righteous human living on earth cannot attain the goodness of God. So in this respect we are evil.

Even yet we know how to treat our children. God who is so much greater than us, and our heavenly father will not fail us. He is the source of everything good of which we receive. And He knows how to take care of our needs.

“Therefore” in verse 12 means because of these things we just read it is important for us to act in this manner.

We need to treat other individuals in the same manner as we would want them to treat us. This is commonly called “The Golden Rule.” It all is based on the law of Moses. We love our neighbors as ourselves and we will not mistreat them, we will not steal from them, we will not lie about them, we will not cheat on them with their wife, and we will not try to kill or harm them in anyway.

We need to be ready and willing to help our family, friends, and neighbors. Given the verses we have just read, we should advance the favor even before being asked for it.