So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened (Luke 11: 9-10, NIV).

And don’t you think the Father who conceived you in love will give the Holy Spirit when you ask him? (Luke 11:13b, MSG)    

I wondered: Are ask, seek, and knock synonyms? Is Jesus using repetition to drill home His point here? 

Or is it possible that each of these words is unique, and taken together they are meant to convey a dynamic progression? 

What if Jesus was saying “ask…seek…knock…” to describe what could and would progressively happen when the Father gives His children the Holy Spirit? 

Jesus says what is needed for the Father to give the Holy Spirit to us His children is for us to straightforwardly ask Him. (That we are even considering asking is evidence the Spirit is drawing us to Himself, anticipating our ask.)

Now, say we have done that, we have asked and, consequently, received the promised Holy Spirit. How do we know we have received the Holy Spirit? The answer to that may come with the next directive word Jesus used: seek. (Note: This applies whether we’ve had a profound, a subtle, or a barely perceived experience of receiving.)

What would we do if a thoroughly captivating person showed up at our house? We would invite them in and seek to know them better, right? 

When that thoroughly captivating Person is the Holy Spirit, our seeking results in finding we have a new Source of Life—Holy Life. Whether immediately or eventually, we find we can begin to settle into a loving relationship with the Father—to get to know and trust Him and to let ourselves be known by Him. 

How does having a new Source of Life make a difference? Here’s where Jesus’ next directive word—knock—serves us well.

When we find ourselves with a new Source of Life, we are drawn by Him to knock on doors of opportunity for that Life to impact ourselves and others for good.

There is the door of opportunity to participate in fruit-growing (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control). There are doors of opportunity to partner with the Spirit to pray, to worship, to serve, to sacrifice, to witness His love and wisdom and to share it with others. There is no end to the beautiful doors standing ready to open at our knock. 

We children of God will constantly want and need to relate to the Holy Spirit. The good news is that He is available and dynamic—there is nothing static about Him, nor about “ask, seek, and knock.” Keeping that in mind, which action—ask, seek, or knock--do you believe He is currently inviting you to take?

(If you need a song to sing now, try “Getting to Know You” from—appropriately—The King and I.