We are examining the Sermon on the Mount, divided into 21 sections.
Matthew 6.6-13 already addressed prayer by providing a model. Now it clarifies God’s response to those who pray. There is no doubt that God listens to those who seek him persistently. Although the word “persistence” is not explicitly written, the use of present-tense verbs means: keep asking, keep seeking, and keep knocking.
Furthermore, the combination of the verbs ask, seek, and knock shows a determination on the disciple’s part that rules out any frivolous request.
The concept is fairly simple: God is compared to a father who delights in giving good things to those who ask persistently. The Messiah Jesus thus compares the disciple’s relationship with God to that between a father and his children.
It is important to note that Jesus is addressing primarily disciples (Matthew 5.1 ; Luke 6.20). Some scholars believe that Luke’s passage describes a different event from Matthew’s because of the variations in their accounts. This passage is even called the “Sermon on the Plain.”
On this subject, our view is that the Master often repeated this teaching, weaving these various themes into his discourses.
Here the Messiah Jesus goes even further, stating that despite the ill will inherent in human nature, a person is capable of giving good things to their children. Consequently, God, who is good by his very nature, will give good things even more readily.
This passage therefore illustrates an extraordinary and fundamental truth: God listens attentively to the constant prayers of his faithful people and, more importantly still, is ready to answer them by giving good things to his children.