Bible Strands
Luke 11:9
So I tell you: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jesus addresses his disciples directly, immediately after the parable of the midnight friend (v. 8), extending the parable's logic into a command.
The words — αἰτεῖτε (aiteite) is a present imperative: not a single request but repeated, ongoing asking. The future passive δοθὴσεται (dothēsetai) leaves the agent unstated — God is the implied giver.
The thread — Matthew 7:7–8 carries the identical triad; Mark 11:24 and Matthew 21:22 add the belief condition that Luke here omits.
Why it lands — The present imperative demands that the reader keep coming back, not that they ask once and stop. The promise is tied to persistence, not to a single act of faith.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
Cross-references
- Mark 11:24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
- John 16:23 In that day you will no longer ask Me anything. Truly, truly, I tell you, whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you.
- Matthew 21:22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”
- John 15:16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will remain—so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you.
- John 15:7 If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
- John 14:13 And I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
- 1 John 5:14 And this is the confidence that we have before Him: If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
- 1 John 3:22 and we will receive from Him whatever we ask, because we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing in His sight.
- Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.
- James 1:5 Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.