Windows of Heaven
In the manual: Come, Follow Me lesson 51, “I Have Loved You, Saith the Lord,” on Gospel Library
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“Will a man rob God?” the Lord asked through Malachi (Malachi 3:8).
Read Together
The Lord had just invited his people, “Return unto me, and I will return unto you.” They asked, “Wherein shall we return?” He answered with tithes and offerings (Malachi 3:7–8).
8Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
10Bring 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.
What It Teaches
A tithe is a tenth. Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek long before the law of Moses (Genesis 14:18–20). Today the Lord asks us for one-tenth of our increase (Doctrine and Covenants 119:4).
Then the Lord gave an unusual invitation. “Prove me now herewith,” he said, and see “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” (Malachi 3:10). Tithing lets us test the Lord’s promise for ourselves.
Elder David A. Bednar explained why Malachi spoke of windows. “Windows allow natural light to enter into a building. In like manner, spiritual illumination and perspective are poured out through the windows of heaven and into our lives as we honor the law of tithing.”
Elder David A. Bednar, “The Windows of Heaven,” General conference, October 2013
The Lord measures an offering by the heart behind it. Jesus watched a poor widow drop two small coins into the temple treasury. He said she had given more than all the rich, because she gave all she had (Mark 12:41–44).
Talk About It
Why do you think the Lord invites us to prove him with tithing? What blessings has our family seen come through the windows of heaven?
Take to Church
Malachi’s people asked how to return to the Lord, and he pointed them to tithes and offerings. When we pay tithing, he opens the windows of heaven.