praying effectively: Bring the Whole Tithe (Mal.3, Zech.)

(Malachi 3:1-18)  “Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts. 2 “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. 3 He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness. 4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.

5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers and against those who swear falsely, and against those who oppress the wage earner in his wages, the widow and the orphan, and those who turn aside the alien and do not fear Me,” says the Lord of hosts. 6 “For I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.

7 “From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from My statutes and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of hosts. “But you say, ‘How shall we return?’

8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. 9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you! 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows. 11 Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes,” says the Lord of hosts. 12 “All the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a delightful land,” says the Lord of hosts.

13 “Your words have been arrogant against Me,” says the Lord. “Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against You?’ 14 You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we have kept His charge, and that we have walked in mourning before the Lord of hosts? 15 So now we call the arrogant blessed; not only are the doers of wickedness built up but they also test God and escape.’”

16 Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who esteem His name.17 “They will be Mine,” says the Lord of hosts, “on the day that I prepare My own possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.” 18 So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.

(Zechariah 10:1)  Ask rain from the Lord at the time of the spring rain—

The Lord who makes the storm clouds; and He will give them showers of rain, vegetation in the field to each man.

Reminder:  "praying effectively" involves knowing God's will.  When we pray in His will (in His name), He may choose to not answer those prayers in the time period that we would like, or HOW we would like - but He will answer those prayers!

It is God's will:

- that we return to the Lord when we stray (Mal.3:7)

- that we test God in bringing our whole tithe to Him (Mal.3:10)

- that we ask God to bless our work and produce fruit from our labors (Zech.10:1)

Today's prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father God, we know that You look at our hearts.  When we take on Your Son's righteousness, You see His righteousness.  Thank You for saving us from ourselves and calling us Your children.  When we stray and run back to You, You embrace us with Your loving arms.  You never let go.  You are faithful and all-powerful.

You bless us in our work.  Maybe it is not how we want to be blessed, but You know better.  You know all things, and want the best for us.  When we are obedient, You reward us in ways that we do not always understand.  And when we get to heaven, we will be heirs to all that You have.

How could we not want to serve You and give You the best of us?  We need to give our whole selves to You - our hearts, our minds, our strength, our time, our resources...  Everything we have is because of You.  Why would we withhold ten percent?  If we are able, how could we not give You more than just ten percent?  You even tell us to test us in this!  As we trust You more and more, we can see Your faithfulness is beyond anything we can ever imagine.  Thank You so much for Your love!  Amen.