A. To draw you closer to Him:

PSA 107:12. Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help.

PSA 107:13. Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses.

B. To see what's in your heart & if you will remain true:

EXO 20:20. And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.

DEU 8:2. And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.

DEU 13:3. Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

DEU 13:4. Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.

JDG 2:21. I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died:

JDG 2:22. That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the LORD to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not.

JER 12:3. But thou, O LORD, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried mine heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.

JER 17:10. I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

JOH 6:5. When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?

JOH 6:6. And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.

C. To draw you closer to His Word:

PSA 94:12. Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O LORD, and teachest him out of thy law;

PSA 119:71. It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.

D. To prune away dead wood so you can be more fruitful:

JOH 15:2. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

E. To teach you obedience:

HEB 5:8. Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;

HEB 2:10. For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

1PE 4:1. Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;

1PE 4:2. That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

F. To make you a better & more useful vessel:

JER 18:4. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

1CO 5:7. Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:

2TI 2:21. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.

G. To purify you as precious metal is refined:

MAL 3:3. And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.

ZEC 13:9. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.

PSA 66:10. For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried.

JOB 23:10. But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

PRO 17:3. The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the LORD trieth the hearts.

ISA 48:10. Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.

DAN 11:35. And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed.

1PE 1:7. That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

ISA 1:25. And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:

H. To prepare you for future blessings & exalted ministries:

DEU 8:16. Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;

PSA 105:17. He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant:

PSA 105:18. Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron:

PSA 105:19. Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him.

PSA 105:20. The king sent and loosed him; even the ruler of the people, and let him go free.

PSA 105:21. He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance:

PSA 105:22. To bind his princes at his pleasure; and teach his senators wisdom.

PRO 18:12. Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility.

I. To teach you patience:

ROM 5:3. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

JAM 1:3. Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

JAM 1:4. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

J. To make you wiser through sorrow:

ECC 7:3. Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.

ECC 7:4. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

K. To teach you compassion towards others:

HEB 4:15. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.