Fresh Manna
by Pastor Tim Burt

I have recently noticed that many churches and many individuals are fasting and praying for our nation. They are doing so to beseech God for His mercy upon our country, our government, our people, and for the revival of the Judeo-Christian ethic and moral principles within the fabric of our nation.  They are fasting and praying for the entertainment and music industries which have polluted media and music with a sexual degradation like we have never seen in our lifetime. They are praying for the corporate business-world where money drives decisions without regard for ethics or integrity. And they are praying about their own personal life because they see their own personal hypocrisy.

Our nation was founded upon the Judeo-Christian ethic taught from God’s word and we see the proof of this in the founding father’s writings, documents, and inscribed in the architecture of buildings, monuments, and statues throughout our nation. Though atheistic historians and humanist who want to live without restraints imposed upon them try to erase any mention of God or Christian thinking from our history books, the abounding evidence prevails. It was and is the Judeo-Christian ethic that leads to a society of love, compassion, mercy, and moral and civil responsibility. It is a godless society that casts off restraints and leads a nation into lawlessness. And so, God’s people are fasting! They are fasting for God’s hand to move upon the hearts of leaders to lead this nation back to a place pleasing to God.

This nation’s greatness and outreach to the rest of the world has always been enabled by God’s grace—His supernatural help. It has been the only reason behind our nation’s success. The countless contributions made to our great nation by good men and women, have in truth been the grace of God operating through their life for the good of all. Our nation today perfectly mirrors a nation trying to succeed through humanistic effort. It is failing badly as a result of not petitioning God for His grace, mercy and help. And so we pray!

Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish; but blessed is he who keeps the law.” When this verse says, “Where there is not vision…” it literally means where the people live without restraints—people who do not seek God for His guidance and don’t want the restraints and godly disciplines taught from God’s Word. It will result in their perishing. One translation of this verse says “where there is no revelation of God’s will, the people run wild…”

The verse helps us understand that vision, whether it be for a nation or an individual life, comes with restraint. God’s word calls and pleads for restraint concerning sexual behavior, for communication (including profanity, disrespect, and rage,) for spending and borrowing, for temperament, for marital boundaries (not flirting or cheating outside of marriage,) health, nutrition and exercise, and for work and labor ethics (not cheating the government on your taxes.) And it’s not conditional depending you how you feel others treat you. These restraints help transform you, protect you, and greatly contribute to your blessed life!

A life disciplined with restraint doesn’t mean a boring, or uninteresting life. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Following God’s ways helps keep you from being distracted from things that steal from you or waste your time. It allows you to be focused toward those things that will bless others and ultimately you! Real champions in life are always focused! The God-life is about having a life of good choices while practicing restraint from ungodly or hurtful choices. The result is Proverbs 29:18, “…blessed is he/she.”

A love for God and His ways, and having faith that in a broken world, God will ultimately protect and bless your choices of right and moral behavior, is what makes a nation great! A nation that wants to do its own thing without the restraint of God’s counsel is a nation that is broken and will perish. And because we are a nation that has come to lack this and is desperate for His help, this leads us to fast and pray.

Prayers during times of fasting is petitioning God’s mercy and grace upon our own life to change. Not eating helps us to practice and remember the importance of restraint in our lives. It teaches you to say no to the constant barrage of whims your flesh screams for and over time, helps your spirit be strengthened by God’s grace, getting your life back under control. Praying for your nation results in God pouring out His Spirit upon all of mankind—leaders, those of influence that don’t know Him or aren’t yielded to Him, and you—to make right choices for the good of all!

We make up this nation and as we are changed, so will our nation be also. Let us pray…

Acts 2:17 (NIV) “‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people…” 

In His Love,
Pastor Tim Burt

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