Matthew 7:7-11

On urgency in prayer, and how God rewards it (Luke 11:9). God always answers urgent prayer. Every asker receives, every seeker finds. Yet not every asker receives what he asks, nor every seeker finds what he seeks. As an earthly father gives good gifts to his children, so God gives good things to those that ask Him, not always what they ask, for they often ask amiss, but something far better, even, as St. Luke's version has it, 'the Holy Spirit.' Those who would obtain exactly what they ask, must conform their wills to God's, and ask for things which they know that He is willing to grant. St. Luke connects this section with the Lord's Prayer, and illustrates it further by the parable of the Friend at Midnight. The connexion in St. Luke is much more natural and suitable.