Ask and Ye Shall Receive

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Ask, and ye shall receive, On this my hope I build

Author: James Montgomery
Published in 9 hymnals

Representative Text

Ask, and ye shall receive;
On this my hope I build:
I ask forgiveness, and believe
My prayer shall be fulfill'd.

Seek, and expect to find:
Wounded to death in soul,
I seek the Saviour of mankind;
His touch can make me whole.

Knock, and with patience wait,
Faith shall free entrance win:
I stand and knock at mercy's gate;
Lord Jesus! let me in.

How should I ask in vain?
Seek, and not find Thee, Lord?
Knock, and yet no admittance gain?
Is it not in Thy word?

Time, ruin, change, decay,
The lines can never blot,
Though heaven and earth shall pass away,
Thy Word, O God! shall not.

Sacred Poems and Hymns

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Author: James Montgomery

James Montgomery (b. Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland, 1771; d. Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, 1854), the son of Moravian parents who died on a West Indies mission field while he was in boarding school, Montgomery inherited a strong religious bent, a passion for missions, and an independent mind. He was editor of the Sheffield Iris (1796-1827), a newspaper that sometimes espoused radical causes. Montgomery was imprisoned briefly when he printed a song that celebrated the fall of the Bastille and again when he described a riot in Sheffield that reflected unfavorably on a military commander. He also protested against slavery, the lot of boy chimney sweeps, and lotteries. Associated with Christians of various persuasions, Montgomery supported missio… Go to person page >

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First Line:	Ask, and ye shall receive, On this my hope I build
Title:	Ask and Ye Shall Receive
Author:	James Montgomery
Meter:	6.6.8.6
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain

Matthew 7:7-8
(hymns)

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Notes

Ask, and ye shall receive. J. Montgomery. [Prayer.] Written Sept. 10, 1832, and, according to notes by Montgomery on the original manuscript, sent in manuscript to several persona at different times (M. MSS.). It was included by him in his Original Hymns, 1853, No. 67, in 5 stanzas of 4 lines, and entitled, "Asking, Seeking, Finding." It is based upon Matt. vii. 7, 8. It is common use both in Great Britain and America, but in each case to a limited extent.

-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

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