A visitor to this web site asked an important question:

"How do I prove God in the area of tithing like in Malachi 3:10 where He says to prove Him in this?"

This question is exciting because it shows the person asking it has recognised a precious, God-given promise and she wants to do what is necessary to partake of that promise.

Here's the precious promise she refers to,

Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground.

Malachi 3:10-11 - KJV

Can you see the short phrase of exhortation that the questioner is asking about? The Bible passage above begins by telling us to bring the tithes but then also tells us to prove God with the tithes that are brought.

Can you see why the questioner is asking about it? The exhortation to prove Him gets the same importance in the passage as the exhortation to bring!

"Prove Me!" is a faith principle that God teaches us to operate in. We see it throughout the Bible. There is implicit in all of God's promises an expectation that we will prove God over the promise given.

Every promise of God in the Bible has its conditions for fulfilment and with each promise God says, "Fulfil the conditions and see if I won't perform what I've promised." This is the way in which you are urged to prove Him!

God calls on us to prove or test Him that He is faithful to His promises. You know this is exactly what our ancestors in the faith did. Our forefathers in the faith took God at His Word and held Him to His promise as they stepped out in faith on what He had asked them to do.

We see a great example of this in the life of Abraham. Abraham was asked by God to get out of his country, his family and his father's house and go to a land He would show him. God promised if he would do this that He would make him a great nation, bless him and make all families of the earth to be blessed in him. (You can read this in Genesis 12:1-4.)

Abraham obeyed God in this, being prepared to prove or test out God's willingness and faithfulness to perform what He had promised. In his obedience Abraham found God faithful and, as a result, we have the marvellous history of what happens to a man who is willing to take God at His Word and prove His faithfulness.

I am reminded of a story I once heard which is a modern illustration of a person operating in this faith principle.

A lady church member invited the church's new pastor around for tea and while she was in the kitchen the minister picked up her Bible and began flipping through it. As he turned the pages he kept finding the letters "TP" written in the side margin.

As soon as the lady came back into the room and he asked her the meaning of the letters and why they were so often in the side margin. She answered, "Oh, pastor. Those letters are all next to promises in God's Word that I have taken as my own. I have tried them out and proven them true! TP stands for Tried and Proven!"

Look at this scripture,

"The word of the Lord is proven."

Psalm 18:30 - NKJV

How is the word of the Lord proven? It is proven by men and women of faith! Men and women of faith have entrusted their lives to it and have found it faithful. They have chosen to follow through on its counsel instead of the counsel of men. They have chosen to prove the faithfulness of God to His promises instead of continuing to follow the ways of unbelieving men.

This is why the Bible exhorted us:

"Do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises."

Hebrews 6:12 - NKJV

So how do you prove God with your tithes? You prove Him by doing what He's asked and as you do it you hold Him to the test by your obedience. You say,

"Lord, I'm now acting on what you told me to do and in doing this I'm casting myself on the promise that is attached to this obedience. I'm fulfilling the condition. Now I'm calling on you to fulfil the promise!"

I do this every time I tithe. I say,

"Lord, I bring my tithes and present them that there may be food in Your house. Now, Lord, keep open the windows of Heaven for me so blessings can come into my life. Rebuke the devourer for me and he will not destroy the fruit of my ground. In Jesus' name, amen." (See Malachi 3:10-11.)