Section 7:7–12

Pray about your needs

In this section, Jesus taught about prayer. He also said that we should act toward other people the way we want them to act toward us.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

Ask, seek, knock
-or-
Ask God and you will receive
-or-
The Power of Prayer (God’s Word)

Paragraph 7:7–11

In this paragraph, Jesus told his disciples that they should pray earnestly to God for the things that they need, and God will give them these things. God will give good things to his followers just as a human father gives good things to his children.

Matthew 7:7–8 has almost the same words as Luke 11:9–10, and they mean the same thing.

7:7a–c

In 7:7, Jesus instructed his disciples to pray to God for the things that they need. He restated this in three ways using three verbs: “ask,” “seek,” and “knock.”

The three sayings in 7:7 are like proverbs. Proverbs are short without much explaining. You may want to add little or no implied information to these sayings, as long as the sayings are natural in your language.

7:7a

This is the first way to say that we should pray for the things we need, and then God will give them to us.

Ask: In this context, the verb Ask refers to asking God for something when praying. In some languages a literal translation would refer to asking in general. It would not refer to praying. If that is true in your language, you may want to include some implied information. For example:

Ask ⌊God⌋
-or-
Ask ⌊in your prayers⌋
-or-
Ask ⌊God⌋ ⌊for whatever you need⌋

Jesus was speaking to his disciples, so this verb is plural.

it will be given to you: This clause is passive.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

• Use a passive verb. For example:

it will be given to you (New International Version)

• Use the active form of “give.” For example:

God will give to you (New Century Version)

• Use another verb. For example:

you will receive (Good News Translation)

7:7b

This is the second way to say that we should pray for the things we need, and then God will give them to us.

seek, and you will find: The verb seek means to “search” or “look” for something. This is a figure of speech. It compares “asking God for something” to “searching for it.” It also compares “God answering the prayer” to “the person finding/receiving” what he was searching for.

If the meaning of this figure of speech will not be clear in your language, you may need to supply some information. For example:

seek ⌊from God⌋ ⌊what you need⌋, and you will find it
-or-
search ⌊for what you need⌋, and ⌊he/God⌋ will provide it for you

you will find: The verb find indicates that you will get/receive something that you did not have. It does not imply that you had lost something and found it again.

Here are some other ways to translate this verb:

you will get/obtain it
-or-
you will receive it
-or-
God will give it to you

7:7c

This is the third way to say that we should pray for the things we need, and then God will give them to us.

knock, and the door will be opened to you: This clause is also a figure of speech. It compares asking God for something to knocking on a door to indicate that the person inside should open it. The image of the door being opened means that God responds favorably to the person’s request.

In some languages it may be necessary to make explicit where a person should knock, and who would open it. For example:

knock ⌊on the door⌋, and ⌊God⌋ will open it for you

To knock is a cultural gesture to announce that a person is at the door. In some cultures, people call out or clap to announce that they are there, then wait outside the door. If the custom of knocking on a door is not used or understood in your area, you may want to:

• Explain the meaning of the gesture of knocking in the text. For example:

Knock/Tap ⌊on the door⌋ ⌊to ask God to open it⌋, and ⌊he⌋ will open it for you

• Use a gesture that has the right meaning in your area. For example:

Call/Clap at the door, and ⌊God⌋ will open it

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