Today we are finishing our series on prayer. Next week we will be talking about heaven. We have gone through a number of passages on prayer. But for prayer to be real to you, you have to have a relationship with God. Words will only go so far if you heart is not in it. Our heart is not in prayer like it should be because we don’t really know who God is. Most of us spend less than 1 minute a day in prayer and some of us don’t pray at all. It is no wonder we feel lacking in our relationship with the only One who can save and restore us. We have seen that a lot of us are like Thomas. Show me and then I will believe! But Jesus says blessed are those who have not seen but have believed. John 20:28,29
For some crazy reason I have one of those migraine headaches this morning that started last night. I tried to pray this morning but couldn’t get past the pain. I spoke to God but more about MY pain instead of your pain. But I knew that I wanted to get this lesson out. Sometimes when I have a migraine I know that Satan is trying to thwart me from encouraging each of you. There has to be something good to hurt this bad. I want God to be real to you. I want you to trust God. I want your relationship with Him to flourish. So I started looking up verses about putting God to the test. I say this because I know He will show up for you. But I also know that there are over 50 verses in the Bible that talks about not putting God to the test EXCEPT ONE!
Malachi 3:6-10 ““I the Lord do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty. “But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’ “Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me.“But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’“In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”
Since most of us equate security to money God is throwing down the gauntlet. God is saying when you get your paycheck how much of His money are you going to give back to God. It is all His. I believe that the average title is 2%. Numbers 18:26 God calls us to give 10%. But in this passage we see that we CANNOT out give God. When God says “bring me the whole tithe” because He will what?
“throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”
The blessing could come back in more money but the blessing could also come back as peace in your life that you are so desperately looking for. Today God is asking you to test Him with your money. Will you give it away to further His Kingdom or will you trust in your own investment advisor? Forget about a 12% return or now a 2% return God can make a 5,000% return if He chooses so. Today “Test God” in this matter and see what God will do. Don’t test God with a heart of anger or lack of faith but test God with joyful anticipation of what is to come.
This is a great way to pray. Ask God what you should give and to whom. Then step back and watch the blessings appear.
Have an awesome day trusting in God more than the world.
Brad
