Luke 11:9-13	Matt 7:7-11	Thom 92
		1 Jesus said:
9 "And I'm telling you:
ask,	7 "Ask
and it'll be given to you;	and it'll be given to you;
seek,	seek,	"Seek
and you will find;	and you will find;	and you will find."
knock,	knock,
it'll be opened for you.	it'll be opened for you.
10 For		Thom 2
		1 Jesus said:
everyone who asks	8 "Everyone who asks
receives;	receives;
everyone who seeks	everyone who seeks	"Those who seek
		should not stop seeking
finds;	finds;	until they find."
and for the one who knocks	and for the one who knocks
it will be opened.	it is opened.
	9 Who among you
	would hand a son a stone
	when he's asking for bread?
11 Which of you fathers	10 Again, who
would hand his son a snake	would hand him a snake
instead of a fish
when he's asking for a fish?	when he's asking for fish?
12 Or a scorpion,
when he's asking for an egg?
	Of course, no one would!
13 So, if you,	11 So, if you,
worthless as you are,	worthless as you are,
know how to give	know how to give
your children good gifts,	your children good gifts,
isn't it much more likely	isn't it much more likely
that	that
the heavenly Father	your Father in the heavens
will give a holy spirit	will give good things
to those who ask him?"	to those who ask him?"
Mark 11:24	Matt 21:22	John 15:7
24 "This is why		7 "If you stay attached to me
I keep telling you,		and my words live in you,
trust that you will receive
everything you pray	22"...and everything
and ask for,	you ask for in prayer	ask whatever you want
and that's the way		and
it'll turn out."	you'll get	it'll happen to you."
	if you trust."

Composition

This saying cluster divides into two parts. The first (Luke 11:9-10//Matt 7:7-11) reinforces three general commands (ask, seek, knock) with assurance that "everyone" who acts accordingly gets desirable results. The second part (Luke 11:11-13//Matt 7:9-11) focuses more specifically on parental response to a child's requests. The speaker uses two ironic rhetorical questions about the way humans treat their own offspring to argue by analogy that God will answer his children's requests.

Partial echoes of the first but not the second part in other early sources show that these sayings were probably linked first by Q because both involve "asking." But these parallels also raise the question of whether Q composed the first part out of separate sayings. Mark and John present paraphrases only of the assurance that requests will be granted.  Matt 21:22 further paraphrases Mark. Thomas does not mention asking but repeatedly stresses that discovery awaits those who seek.

The original wording of all these sayings is further obscured by variations in the sources. Mark and John describe conditions necessary for requests to be granted, but in different terms. Q's combination of assurance to those who ask, seek and knock was unconditional. Identical wording in Matthew and Luke makes this clear. Yet Matthew and Luke's versions of Q's sayings about parental response to children's requests contain several differences in detail.

Attribution

Ask, seek, knock	%	Red	Pink	Grey	Black	WA	Print
Luke 11:9-10 Matt 7:7-8		17 17	30 32	39 38	13 13	51 51	pink pink
Ask and receive
Mark 11:24 Matt 21:22 John 15:7		7 7 0	20 20 0	47 47 47	27 27 53	36 36 16	grey grey black
Seek and find
Thom 92:1 Thom 2:1		8 0	32 15	48 58	12 27	46 29	grey grey
Good gifts
Luke 11:11-13 Matt 7:9-11		4 13	44 60	30 17	22 10	44 59	grey pink

All these sayings have probably been revised to fit different editorial contexts. Textual evidence of this kept most Fellows from voting red on any version. Yet, aspects of Q's cluster, particularly in Matthew's version, are consistent enough with sayings that certainly came from Jesus to print it pink.

The claim that every quest achieves its goal is a gross exaggeration that is patently false if taken literally. But poor people, who are accustomed to having their needs and abilities belittled, need this type of unqualified encouragement. Mark and John have apparently limited the application of such assurance to formal Christian prayers, possibly to avoid the chance that a promise by Jesus might prove wrong. Gnostic Christians, however, sought to encourage mental quests rather than prayer. So, texts like Thomas had reason to stress seeking but not asking. Thus, versions other than Q are rated grey at best.

On the other hand, Q's sayings about parents responses to children's requests are so similar in style to other sayings of Jesus that almost three fourths of the Fellows consider them essentially genuine. The rafter in the eye (Luke 6:41-42//Matt 7:3-5) and grapes on thorns (Luke 6:44//Matt 7:16) present similar ridiculous comparisons in the form of rhetorical questions. Matthew's pairing of bread and stone is clearly related to Q's account of Jesus' testing (Luke 4:3//Matt 4:3). The Fellows were undecided whether the story influenced the saying or vice versa.  They are agreed, however, that Luke's reference to the Holy Spirit (11:13) was a later Christian  attempt to spiritualize a saying that originally concerned food.