“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” Luke 11:9
After His disciples asked Him to teach them to pray, Jesus told of a friend knocking at midnight and a father giving good gifts. Then He promised: our Father in Heaven gives even more.
When Jesus finished praying, one of His disciples asked, “Lord, teach us to pray.” Jesus taught them a prayer to “Our Father,” then told a story. A man has a friend arrive from a journey at midnight and nothing to feed him, so he knocks on a neighbor’s door to borrow three loaves. The neighbor calls out that the door is shut and his children are in bed. But because the man keeps asking, the neighbor gets up and gives him all he needs.
Jesus then promised, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” No father gives his child a stone when he asks for bread, or a serpent instead of a fish. If imperfect parents know how to give good gifts, “how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?”
Who’s who
Jesus Christ: who prayed and taught us to pray
The disciples: who asked Him to teach them
The friend at midnight: who kept knocking for a guest
The neighbor: who finally got up and gave
Where and when
Somewhere on the road toward Jerusalem, where Jesus had been praying “in a certain place.”
Watch for the Savior
Watch how the neighbor is different from our Father in Heaven, and what gift Jesus promises at the end.
Eight stops from “teach us to pray” to the Father’s best gift. Scroll, or tap a number on the map.
Part 2 of 7
The story, plainly
Four scenes: the request, the midnight knock, the open door and the father’s gift. Look for the Savior in each one.
Read it plainly
The words that trip people up
Tap any dotted word for its meaning. The scripture stays exactly as written.1
Luke 11:2“Meaning: honored as holy. be thy name”
Luke 11:4“every one that is Meaning: owes us something; has wronged us. to us”
Luke 11:5“Meaning: let me borrow. me three loaves”
Luke 11:6“nothing to Meaning: serve; put on the table for. him”
Luke 11:8“because of his Meaning: bold, persistent asking.”
Luke 11:11“a Meaning: snake.”
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Look closer
Small details tell the story. Some cards are details in the text; others share insights from Church leaders, Church resources or outside sources. Each card says which.
0 of 9 turned
All nine. The moon, the mat, the loaves, the knock, the path, the stone, the fish, the egg and the dove. Luke 11:1–13
Part 4 of 7
Where are you?
Still waiting, keep knocking, searching, or received. Which feels most like you right now?
A next step for you
Your choice is saved only on this device.
Try it
Keep knocking
The friend at midnight didn’t give up. Press and hold to keep knocking. As you hold, the story unfolds.
“Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” Luke 11:9
Part 5 of 7
Their world, their words
A little background on village homes, hospitality and the Father in the parable helps the story come alive. Outside sources are labeled.
Church resource · Student manual
Who is the friend?
“The friend to whom the host of the traveler goes for bread represents our Father in Heaven.”2
But far kinder.
Church resource · Student manual
Why wait?
Elder Talmage, quoted in the manual: “in mercy the Father sometimes delays the granting that the asking may be more fervent.”2
Waiting can deepen asking.
Scripture · Luke 11
A guest arrives
The man had “nothing to set before” a traveling friend. Caring for a guest mattered so much he knocked at midnight.1
He asked for someone else.
Scripture · Luke 11
First, a prayer
Just before the story, Jesus taught, “When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven.”1
Prayer starts with “Father.”
Word study · Greek
anaideia ἀναίδεια · “importunity” (Luke 11:8)
Bible Hub: “impudence, i.e. (by implication) importunity”; literally, without shame.5Outside · lexicon
The friend kept asking without embarrassment. Jesus wants us to pray that boldly to a Father who is glad to answer.1
A plain word for knocking on a door. Prayer can be that simple, and that repeated.1
What the text does not say
Jesus doesn’t say God is like the grumpy neighbor. He says God is far better. He doesn’t promise every answer will look the way we expect, but He promises good gifts, and the Holy Spirit, to all who ask.1
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Look to Him
He prayed, taught His disciples to pray, and promised that the Father loves to give, most of all the Holy Spirit.
“He has created numberless cosmos and populated them with worlds, yet you and I can talk with Him personally, and He will ever answer.”
“Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” Luke 11:1
The neighbor
He finally rose
“Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise.” Luke 11:8
Part 7 of 7
Seek Him today
A question to ask in prayer
What should I keep asking Thee for, and what can I do while I wait? Luke 11:9
Listen for one request that matters. Keep asking, and look for small answers along the way.
Try it today
One way to ask, seek and knock each day. It saves on this device, one day at a time.
0 of 7 today
This week:0 of 7 days
Seven days of asking. Come again tomorrow.
A quiet moment
“Knock, and it shall be opened.”
Read Luke 11:5–13 slowly. Picture the neighbor finally opening the door. Then picture your Father in Heaven, who never needs to be talked into it. Luke 11:5–13
A verse to hold
Talk about it
Why did the man knock on his friend’s door at midnight?
What did the neighbor say at first, and why did he finally get up?
What do “ask,” “seek” and “knock” each look like for you?
What is the best gift Jesus said the Father gives?
Open
For adults and deeper study
Go deeper
Longer readings, harder questions, and where to study next. Each one says what it is before you click.
Apostle
Elder Russell M. Nelson, “Ask, Seek, Knock” (2009)
How faith, desire, study and obedience prepare us to receive personal revelation.3
Everything on this page as a 11-page letter-size PDF: the map, scenes, cards, activity, word studies, tracker, Go deeper and sources. For home, class or a quiet Sunday.
Ask, Seek, Knock is part of the Scripture Story Sketch Notes for the New Testament, set alongside Come, Follow Me for March 8–14, 2027 (Matthew 11–12; Luke 11).
Independent study notes from Weak Things, not an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Scripture quotations are from the King James Version. The words are in Luke 11:1–13; the insights in “Look closer” are labeled by source.
