Matt 4:7 Jesus said to him again, 'It hath been written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.'
This scripture refers to tempting God to prove that He really does have supernatural power.....
The first time this saying appeared was during the exodus of Moses and the Israelites.....
Exodus 17 (KJV)
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
² Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the LORD?
…
⁷ And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?
Tempting God to prove He is powerful and can supernaturally produce miracles is wrong. Another way to tempt Him is to provoke Him to jealousy and force His judgment upon you because of idol worship.
Deuteronomy 6 (KJV)
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
¹⁵ (For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.
¹⁶ Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.
¹⁷ Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee.
Now there is a scripture that tells us to TEST Him....or prove Him.
Malachi 3 (KJV)
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
¹⁰ 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.
¹¹ And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.
My personal testimony: I had a gambling problem...He told me to quit going to the casinos....but I kept being tempted and kept going....got in a financial bind...while at the casino I asked Him to please bless me with a big win to get out of the bind I was in....
He said to me...Is it not written that you do not tempt me?
I said how is this tempting you? He said because I told you to quit and you disobeyed and now you ask me to Bless you in the very thing I told you to quit doing....this is asking me to go against myself. That would make it appear that I have a double standard or am double minded.
I said oh....I understand now....please forgive me.
“And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.”
— Psalms 78:18 (KJV)