What does the Lord Christ mean by saying, “ask … seek … knock” (Luke 11:9)?

St. Augustine says, “In order that these three things—viz. asking, seeking, knocking— may be made clear, let us suppose, for example, the case of one weak in his limbs, who cannot walk: in the first place, he is to be healed and strengthened so as to be able to walk; and to this refers the expression He has used, ‘Ask.’ But what advantage is it that he is now able to walk, or even run, if he should go astray by devious paths? A second thing therefore is, that he should find the road that leads to the place at which he wishes to arrive; and when he has kept that road, and arrived at the very place where he wishes to dwell, if he find it closed, it will be of no use … to this, therefore, the expression refers which has been used, ‘Knock.’”⁸⁹

85 St. Basil of Caesarea, Letters 1–185 174 (FOTC 13:337).

86 St. Ambrose of Milan, Letters 63.3 (NPNF II/10:457).

87 St. Ambrose of Milan, On the Mysteries 5.27 (NPNF II/10:320).

88 St. Augustine of Hippo, Letters, Volume II (83–130) 130 (FOTC 18:391).

89 St. Augustine of Hippo, Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount 2.72 (NPNF I/6:58).

Abba Dorotheos says, “If we seek, we shall find; and if we ask God, he will enlighten us; for it says in the Gospel, ‘Ask, and it shall be given to you, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you’ (Matt. 7:7). ‘Ask,’ it says, that we may call for aid through prayer; ‘seek,’ that is, search out how virtue may be reached, what brings it about, what we ought to do in order to possess it. ‘Seek and you shall find’ means to inquire every day in this way into everything. To ‘knock’ is to carry out the commandments. Everyone knocks at the door with his hands; our hands are given to us that we may do something. We need, therefore, not only to ask, but to seek diligently and know what to do as the Apostle says, ‘Perfectly prepared for every good work’ (2 Tim. 3:17; Cf. 2 Cor. 9:8) … So, therefore, that we may be ready for every good work, let us make all our preparations to do the will of God ‘with knowledge’—what he desires and in a way that pleases him.”⁹⁰

St. Severus of Antioch says, “Perhaps by the word ‘knock’ he means seeking effectively, since one knocks with the hand and the hand is a sign of good works. Perhaps also these three may be distinguished in a different way. For it is the beginning of virtue to ask for the knowledge of the truth. The second step is to seek how we can walk on that path. The third step is when man attains virtue to knock at the door, that he may enter into the vast field of knowledge. One asks for these three things in prayer. ‘To ask’ means ‘to pray’ and ‘to seek’ means ‘to pray through the good deeds that we offer in a way that suits our prayers’ and ‘to knock’ means to persevere in prayer without ceasing.”