"In my trouble I have prepared for the house of the LORD" (1 Chron. 22:14).

When I first started pastoring a small church in Alvin, Texas, I told the members of my board that I was going to start saving money for the ministry in a storehouse. They agreed, but then they asked me where I was going to find any extra money to save.

Our church barely had enough to cover our normal expenses! When I started looking around for some area of the church where we had a little extra money from time to time, it took me a while to find something.

What I finally discovered was the church book table. We bought and sold books that helped people learn more about God at a small table in the entryway of the church, and of course, we bought the books at a discount, so we made a little bit of profit from each one we sold.

I decided to start saving that money for the church rather than just putting it into the general expense account. It wasn't much, so I knew we wouldn't really miss it.

Doing this, it took me about two months to save $100. I remember reaching that point, because when it totaled $100, I took all of the loose bills and change and exchanged it for a $100 bill.

Our First Storehouse
When I was growing up, my mother told me, "Al, if you ever get extra money, put it under the vegetable bin in the refrigerator. If a thief ever comes into your house, he will never think to look there, and if there is a fire, the last place that will burn will be the inside of the refrigerator—so it is the safest place in the house!"

So I took the $100 bill, put it inside a plastic bag, placed it with the other "lettuce" in the refrigerator, and didn't think much of it again.

It's not very scientific, but that was the beginning of our church's storehouse. I didn't know what it would be used for; I just knew from Deuteronomy 28 that I was supposed to save money for the church. I figured when the time came, God would let me know what to do with it.

I was just obeying what God had shown me to do, so we were saving money. But, putting that money into our refrigerator was also changing me—it gave me a sense of accomplishment, so I started getting diligent about saving it.

King David's Storehouse
I later found out that I was echoing something the Bible tells us that David did:

Now, behold, in my trouble I have prepared for the house of the LORD an hundred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver; and of brass and iron without weight; for it is in abundance: timber also and stone have I prepared; and thou mayest add thereto.
(1 Chron. 22:14)

If you look in the margin of most King James Bibles or even in your Strong's Concordance, you will see that the word "trouble" also means "poverty." In other words, David started saving money and supplies to build a temple for God even when it wasn't convenient or easy to do.

The New American Standard Bible says it this way: "With great pains I have prepared for the house of the LORD," or, in other words, he began storing this up and it took quite a bit of work and effort to do it! In essence, we were doing the same thing for our church.

When we had little to speak of, we started putting something into our storehouse, little by little.

Our Storehouse Multiplied
Over the next eight to ten months, I saved nine more $100 bills. When it reached that much, Judy said to me, "Al, this isn't the best place for this money. Why don't you let me put it in the safe deposit box down at the bank?"

I said, "Sure," so she took those ten $100 bills all wrapped up in a plastic bag with a rubber band around them down to the bank and put them in the church's safe deposit box.

Now, other than just keeping it, I still didn't know what the money was for, nor did I discuss how much we had saved with anyone in the church. I was afraid that if I told anyone that I had saved $1,000 of the church's money, someone would get upset with me!

I was so used to having nothing that now having a savings seemed extravagant. But all of this time, God was still working on me. Having this diligence to save and having something in the bank for the church started to slowly change the way I looked at things. We were no longer "broke." We had something, even if it was only a little.

We had a financial foundation, and I no longer had to worry about paying the church's bills each week, because we suddenly had some reserves. I still didn't want to touch the money if I could help it, but having that little bit in the bank made me sleep better at night.

The bottom line is: it is God's will for his Church—and His people—to have a storehouse. I would advise you to save any money you can, even if it's only a little bit. You'll be amazed at how it adds up over time.

Source: The Storehouse Principle by Al Jandl & Van Crouch.
Excerpt permission granted by CrossStaff Publishing.