Fresh Manna
by Pastor Tim Burt

In the morning I love to look out the kitchen or living room window of our home which overlooks our back yard. It helps me pray! We live on a creek and it’s a beautiful setting that I thank God for. Just the beauty of the view makes me think of the majesty of God.

This morning I was reminded of a past experience and lesson in prayer. Faith-filled prayer can wonderfully affect your perspective and how you act or react toward something.

One morning we were to have a crew of men at our house to rip out some old windows and install new ones. The crew never showed up. Renee called to investigate and they were very apologetic. They had made a mistake in their scheduling. Renee tried to minimize what happened saying, “Really, it’s not a problem. Why don’t we reschedule it now?” The job was rescheduled for the following Wednesday morning. We insisted that they had to be here no later than 8:00 a.m. Renee had to leave for work early that day. I agreed to stay until they arrived so that I could discuss the job before they started, but I needed to leave to work by 8:00 a.m.

That morning at 8:10 a.m. they were still a no-show. Renee was gone and I needed to be at church. I called the company to see if they were on their way. The manager said they were and should have arrived by now. I told him I had to leave for work and that I would have to leave the door to our porch open. The thought of that made me a little upset because I didn’t like leaving the house unlocked and I had wanted to go over the job with them. He assured me they would be there any minute.

I waited ten more minutes and they still weren’t there. Now I was getting frustrated. I could feel my temperature rising. I thought about it for a minute and made the decision that I was not going to let this situation knock me off course for the day. I went to our picture window and looked out and began to pray. I prayed for the men of the crew that were coming. I prayed for their safety. I prayed for their well-being. I prayed for the job that they would do. As I began to pray for these things, it was like something lifted. I no longer felt angry with them. I knew they would get there. I knew our home would be safe and that they would do the job right. I was at peace because of praying and asking God to bless them and enable them to do an excellent job.

It was a long day and I didn’t get home from church till 10:00 pm that night. I was blessed to find out that all but two windows had been done. They were ahead of schedule and doing a great job! Their work was impeccable and they completely cleaned up after each day’s work.

I could have yielded to anger and frustration and started my day (and probably theirs) miserably. Instead, by the grace of God, I traded frustration for prayer. It lifted me into a faith-filled perspective and attitude. I was so blessed praying that I continued to pray all the way to work.

It is so important for us to continually deal with what the Bible calls “fiery darts of the enemy” and instead be prayerful and thankful. It keeps our heart and attitude right. Keep in mind that this is not just for the major issues of life but for all situations that try to drag us down. Praying in sincere faith affects our heart and changes our perspective, helping us remain in faith and not caving into doubt, negative thoughts, and finally negative words and actions. Faith-filled prayer helps us keep our heart loosed from the cares and worries—from the “fiery darts” that try to knock us off course. Faith-filled prayer instead helps us produce greater fruit at what we put our hand to throughout our day!

Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT) “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

In His Love,
Pastor Tim Burt