Friday, March 30, 2012

Shy Guys Can Be Bold

I wonder, can shy guys be bold?


There is a certain charm that comes with the shy guy.  Introverts do not seek out ways to voice their oppinions like many extroverts.  When we think about being bold with our faith, we can't help but think of the way extroverts tend to go out on a limb.  A crippling thought for Introverts.  Can introverts be just as bold in their faith without having to turn into an extrovert to do it?  By being who God created them to be, an introvert, they tend to be good listeners which gives them sincere knowledge and understanding in conversations.  While extroverts have to rely on God's strength to work the listening-muscel, introverts have it mastered!  We wouldn't want that to change.  The muscle that they have to rely on God's strength for is the one that comes next, being able to speak up about the hope they have in Christ.
Meet my friend Richard Jung.  He can attest to this truth.  Two weeks ago Richard shared with our small group Bible study how this played out two years ago in an airport:
In Richard's words...
When I realized our small group study would be on sharing our faith with others based on the book “Walk Across the Room”, I cringed.  The feeling was due to fact that I am inherently an introvert and had grown up as an extremely shy person.  Over the last 40+ years I have slowly shed this trait of shyness, with the bulk of it occurring over the last year.  
In one of our small group meetings I felt the Lord prompting me to share an experience I had almost two years ago, but did not as I fell back into my shyness.  The following week I committed myself to telling the story to the small group.
This experience occurred on a business trip to Nagoya, Japan in June of 2010.  I was waiting in the Tokyo, Japan airport for my connecting flight so I browsed the terminal stores, then went to find a seat.  Not just any seat, but one were there was nobody around.  I sat down put my headphones on and began listening to my music to pass the time.  Soon after, a woman sat two seats over.  Not too long after that she asked if we could talk, and I said yes.
The conversation began with simple topics such as where I was traveling to, is it for vacation or business and where I lived.  When I asked the same her responses revealed so much pain, doubt and sadness in her heart of the events that led up to our meeting in Japan .
She was a Middle Eastern woman who came to the US on working visa, sponsored by a university professor on the East coast.  She wanted to provide a better life for her eight year old son, who was being cared for by her mother, by working a job that may eventually have the opportunity to stay permanently here.  If that occurred, she would bring her mother and son to live in the US in the efforts to provide a better life.  As with many events in our lives they do not always turn out how we envision them.
After two years here she met a man whom she married.  Whether or not this was a marriage of convenience I cannot say, but soon after that was when things began to change.  Her husband had asked her to quit her job with the university, stay home and not communicate with anybody.  When she asked about getting citizenship now that they were married he replied with requests for money.  
She did everything he asked and even borrowed what money her mother had to give to him.  This continued for some time, but she then made the difficult decision to leave him.  She contacted the university professor who had sponsored her in efforts to get work.  Unfortunately he had none, but was able to put her in touch with an associate at a university in Nagoya, Japan, which is how our paths crossed.
After sharing this she asked me if she had made the right decision in leaving her husband.  I said yes, and that marriage should never be about controlling the other or about the money.
During this whole conversation she expressed so many emotions, missing her son, upset for giving her husband money with nothing to show, desperate to find a job so she can pay her mother back, uncertainty of where she was going to stay while in Japan and doubting the decision to leave her husband.  
There were so many more emotions weighing on her, and through the whole conversation I knew God was asking me to share my own life experience.  One filled with different events but with similar emotions that weighed me for over a decade.  In the end I did not act, not in fear of what I would say or how she would react, but for not relying on His strength to step out of the trait (shyness) that has gripped me for over four decades.
After we parted ways I knew I failed Him by not relying on His strength.  All I could do was pray silently for the woman who had shared so much.  I apologized to God and asked with all my heart to place His hand on her, shelter her during this storm and reveal Himself as a glimmer of light through the dark clouds, instilling hope for the future.
Richard Jung
March 29,2012

As an introvert Richard Jung knows shyness.  Being an introvert is probably what attracted a young lady to talk to him two years ago in that airport in the first place.  Today he remembers details about this chance meeting that an extrovert might have long forgotten.  God needs introverts to be introverts, but He needs them to rely on Him to step out of timidness and into boldness for His name's sake.  There are intervert-opportunites out there that God needs them for.  In the same way God needs extroverts to rely on Him to step away from impulsiveness and into self-discipline.  All of us can do nothing on our own strength, it is Christ's strength in us that makes the difference.
2 Timothy 1:7 says, "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."
We all have Richard stories stored up in our lives.  Ones where we needed to rely on God's strength in our weakness in order to do the right thing.  But those stories do not have to define how we walk with the boldness of Christ in us today.
God offers each of us (extroverts and introverts alike) the strength to stand with power, love and with self-discipline in regards to sharing the hope we have in Christ.  Like Richard, each of us can take our missed moments and learn from them.  Recognizing that it is Christ's strength in us that gives us all we need to go forward in sharring God's love to a world that desperately needs it.  


So yes, shy guys can be bold!

Saturday, March 24, 2012

LAYER the prayer

Praying moms,
I’m here sitting in my bed and you’d think it was snowing outside.  I have my winter PJ’s, thick socks and two blankets LAYERed on.  After a “hot” winter it has been a bit chili these past few days.  And yet I know that any day a cold morning could turn into a hot afternoon.  Rather than commit to winter clothing during the day, I have found myself having to LAYER.  What is that?  Well, a LAYER is one of several items of clothing worn one on top of the other.  That way I can adjust to how the day’s weather decides to play out.  In the morning chill I love the feeling of getting warm, LAYER by LAYER.
You know, it’s sort of like what we do at Moms in Prayer.  We warm our mommy hearts and spirits as we together, LAYER our prayer requests.  Let’s take a moment to really reflect on the gift it is when we LAYER.
LAYER acronym
L isten
A dd on
Y ield
E asy does it
R espect
Here is what makes it so special:
L: Listen!  Our moms listen and don’t gossip.  During our prayer time, moms can pray a concern they might have about one of their children or about the school their child attends, which is presenting a request to the group and to God in an attitude of prayer.  That gives the group a chance to really listen, also in an attitude of prayer, leaving no room for chit chat or gossip.  Right away hearts are praying along with the mom that is making the request.  When that prayer request is being made, the other moms stop and really hear the request.  100% listening as appose to half-way listening by thinking about the request they might have in their own head.  Moms truly absorb what is being said.  The “L” represents moms that are in the moment and listening.
A:  Add-on!  That is what LAYERing is all about.  Moms who have listened to a request can then add-on if they wish to, or said another way, agree like they would do in any good conversation.  “Yes and...”  When moms add-on they are praying a new perspective or a new angle in covering that request.  Let’s say that a prayer request represents the first layer... the undergarments.  Once the undergarments are on, no matter if they are granny panties or thongs, it’s time to move on to the next layer.  Some moms speak a request and have no idea what to cover it with.  We all know the “I have a closet full of clothes with nothing to wear” syndrome.  Another mom may have the perfect thing to wear.  It’s the burning in a mom’s stomach that might just be the Holly Spirit asking her to add-on her unique perspective to her friend’s prayer request.
     
Y: Yield!  This is not a one man act.  After adding on a unique perspective moms yield to each other allowing others to have the chance to add-on too, if they wish to.  One single mom is not the only one with a prayer closet full of spirit-led perspectives.  If one mom provides the cardigan, another provides the scarf.  There may be a mom that has many hats in her closet, she’s the one to add a hat as appose to the mom who does not even own one.  Not one mom at a Moms in Prayer group should ever feel the need to dominate the LAYERing.  Praying one angle or perspective and then yielding is what makes the time so unique and all together different than praying on our own or listening to someone else pray in front of a podium at Church.  LAYERed prayers are not monologue style prayers. They yield to traffic and yield to the Holy Spirit.  3-4 sentences is just fine.  If a moms has a perfect "skirt" prayer she will get a chance to share it because there are no solo fashion designers hopping in with a "shirt", "skirt" and "leggings" prayers all at the same time.  Moms that feel themselves praying more than one perspective in one breath will stop and yield.  Plus there is never any pressure to HAVE to talk at all.  The request is being covered with what is said out loud and with what is prayed silently.  Everyone is a part of the blessing of covering a prayer request by yielding.
E: Easy does it! Moms don’t let the request stay cold, shivering from lack of LAYERS.  At a Moms in Prayer group a mom can be assured that her concerns are not blinked away, but the group takes time to really cover each subject with maybe 3-5 LAYERS before moving on.  One accord prayers stay on-subject by not moving on to a new request too quickly.  Now only God knows how much layering each request needs and which garments from which closets will be best.  That is why the Holy Spirit guides the time.  We do watch the clock to honor the 1 hour, but there is no need to rush a request by letting it walk out the door with only one sock and no shoes.  Easy does it!  Moms in Prayer moms pause before moving on so that they can be sure that the request is nice and warm.
R: Respect!  Finally, Moms in Prayer moms respect each other.  This is not a fashion show.  Moms can jump right out of the prayer and into their own head if they judge the look of a request and/or the look of each LAYER.  Moms in Prayer moms are unified and supportive.  There are a variety of things that weigh heavy on moms hearts, this is a time to lay them at Jesus’ feet no matter how trivial they may seem.  Moms are all different and unique in their prayer styles as well, one style is not better than the other.  One likes to pray jeans while another might pray slacks.  They are both pants.  The jeans mom doesn’t need to cover the slacks up with jeans.  Moms respect the fact that we are all coming together with one purpose and one goal.  To pray for our children and their school.
Here is Sally, Jane and Mary LAYERing Sally’s concern.
     Sally:  Lord, I want to pray for my son who is having difficulties with a particular friend.  He has said something to a mutual friend that really hurt my son.
     Jane: I agree with Sally, and may he not be one to stir up strife but may he be a peace maker.  May he not go forward with a heart of revenge or hold bitterness in his heart. 
     Mary:  Yes and may this friend be able to take responsibility and because of this situation be able to experience true forgiveness.
LAYERing enhances conversational prayer.  It warms us up and keeps us warm.  Reflecting on how we come together as a group makes me so grateful that we have a space and time carved out each week that fulfills a part of our prayer life that we just can’t fulfill on our own.  Without this group I would never sit down on my own for one hour a week to pray for my children and their schools that would also somehow include unique perspectives beyond my own.  It’s just not possible.  There is no way I could dress up my concerns on my own as perfectly as our group of praying moms can while we LAYER.  
As you feel the chill in the mornings and enjoy the feeling of warming up LAYER by LAYER, may that also serve as a reminder to your heart that your children’s school has a Moms in Prayer group.  That it is a prayed-for school.  That your own children are also being LAYERed with prayer.  May it also encourage you to show up!  Be a part of the warmth that only prayer can bring to a moms heart.  You never know when the “weather” might take a turn... we are not created to handle everything on our own.  Praying with LAYERs is the way to go!

Thursday, March 1, 2012

iPraise

iPray eVotionals
Greetings!

The gun sounds as the race begins. iPray eVotionals exhorts the runners on the path of a prayerful lifestyle.  It's the glass of water held out around each month's turn.  It's for the runner who can use a quick and easy quench in order to finish strong.  

What do iPraise?
We are creatures of worship.  It's impossible for any of us at any time to cease worshiping; constantly putting our energy out there towards what ever we might be seeing, doing or thinking about.  We were made to worship.

Take Adam and Eve for example.   God created them and they worshiped Him.  They lived in a beautiful garden, walked freely with an untarnished body, everything in their paradise garden was given to them to enjoy.  Oh wait, did I say everything?  There was that one little tree that bore that one type of fruit that was the one thing God marked as forbidden.  Just that one, but everything else was on-limits!  Eve and then Adam were the very first to solidify our imperfect nature of worship.  How quickly we can shift our energy from our Creator to other things. Enter Serpent! (AKA satan) "Did God really say that?  What is He hiding?  You have got to know!  Go open your eyes!  Eat!"  How on earth could Eve take her eyes off of God who created her?  All of the on-limits became out of focus as she honed in on the one thing that was forbidden.   Easily deceived and manipulated; like being led to the saluter house.

CRUNCH!  She dug in.  CRUNCH, CHEW, SWALLOW.  Of course it did not give her what she thought it would, maybe she just needed to chew on it some more.  Maybe she needed a second opinion, so she shared it with her friend.  "The serpent said it would satisfy our curiosity... all for one and one for all!"  And just like that his eyes looked away from God to worship something else.  CRUNCH, CHEW, SWALLOW.  It led to exactly what God warned them it would.  Pain (insert image of women giving birth), spiritual deadness (insert image of a dagger through God's heart), work (insert image of man sitting at a desk) and physical death (insert image of old hag).

They are my ancestors.  Like them I let the world tell me what I am supposed to worship, what I'm supposed to put the best of my focus on every day.  I can't even try to claim to be stronger than they were.  They had one little temptation... today it's everywhere I turn.  A consent awareness, a battle of the mind.  I struggle to keep myself in check.  The suggestions out there can be very persuasive for my first and best attention.  Most certainly seducing me to gain my worship.  

What are we supposed to focus our first and best energy towards?  What am I to focus on above all else?  Well of course it's my...

iPhone
iPad
iTouch
iMac
iWork
iLife
iTunes
iPod
iApple TV
iMessage
iPray eVotionals

Just hook me up to my iV!
Might as well stick it in and let the internet go straight into my blood stream.  You'd think that is where life comes from, "Come on, shoot me up some good stuff, I need my fix!  I'm told this is supposed to give me hope and direction. iMap!  Where do I need to go?"

We are constant worshiping creatures.  Thinking that what we worship aside from God will actually satisfy our deepest needs, and it doesn't.  I like to call these idols satan's iTemptations.  It does not surprise me that all of my most worshiped items in my home has a logo of an apple with a bite taken out of it.  CRUNCH!

"Yummmm, that taste so good, but wait.  What's this.  There is new software that I need to down load?  What's this, my iphone says I need the NEWer, FASTERer, THINNERer, SLEEKERer modle in order to continue my worship?  It requires a money sacrifice so I can continue to praise it's worthiness." CRUNCH, CHEW, SWALLOW!

Never satisfied calendar days lost in mindless worship and praise.  And our creator is right here, watching us bite on anything and everything we can before we even notice or acknowledge Him.

Fewer are taking the stand to worship up rather than all around.  What is your first worship "song" most mornings?  Does it involve any sort of acknowledgment of who God is?  I remember a commercial from a few years back.  A man laid asleep in his bed while his hand was stretched across to his night stand, texting on his phone.  There is a hint of truth in that for all of us.  What we consciously worship will spill over to be our subconscious "song" of praise.

"You are my strength when I am weak,
You are the treasure that I seek, 
You are my all in all... 
Seeking you as a precious jewel, 
Phone to give you-up I'd bee a fool, 
You are my all in all...
i-Phone,  
Tech-no God,  
Worthy is your touch screen (with all those great apps including the one that tells me the wait time for every Disneyland ride)  
iPhone, 
Tech-no God,
Worthy is your name!" 

We use tools in our everyday life, but tools can't satisfy our spirit's need to worship a living God.  The iPhone 4S has a voice named Siri.  I can ask "her" anything and get a response.  But it's not alive, so why on earth are we worshiping it like it is?  God is alive!  He is real.  He satisfies our deepest need for relational worship and praise.  We don't have to download newer software every time we turn around.  He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.  He is never changing.  He is the great I am.  His living word is true and trustworthy.  Giving purpose and direction to our lives.  

I can sense the walls going up.  "I don't sing to my iPhone Michelle!"  I have never sang to it myself.  But we might as well be when that is where our heart is.  The answer is not throwing every iGadget out the window.  (Reference to the book: Goodnight iPad) None of these iThings are wrong to have around.  The answer is a matter of our heart.  If our hearts are not worshiping our creator it's worshiping something else.  

If it's not an iGadget maybe it's...
Our appearance,
What kind of mom/dad/wife/husband we appear to be,  
Our kid's achievements or their good behavior,
Sports,
How many committees we sit on,
What our title is at work,
Our accomplishments,
How clean and organized we are,
Our cooking,
Down time,
News,
Politics,
Our health,
How fit we are.

Worshiping idols is anything we think about, place importance on and spend time with over God.  What is your idol?  There is only one God who is worthy of our praise.  Everything else are idols.  Why should our first and best energy be for God?  Why begin our prayers with worship on our lips?  Why wake up and start our day praising God rather than seeing if any emails popped up overnight?  Jesus taught His disciples to start each prayer with praise.  Jesus said, "This, then, is how you should pray:  Our Father in heaven, hallowed (Honor as Holy) be your name..."  Matthew 6:9.  Worshiping Him is our appropriate response.  It exalts God and gives Him the glory.  When we praise Him our awareness of His presence is heightened; our eyes are lifted from the battle to the victor Jesus Christ, leading us to look up rather than all around.  When we worship God we are changed; our faith is built up and our adversary is brought down.  Even in the hardest moments it results in a peaceful heart, soul and mind.


How do iPraise?
Warning!  (Insert 20 seconds of warning beep tones along with static) This is a test from the Emergency Praise Alert System!  iTemptations may distract you!  This is only a test.  If this had been a true Emergency a message would have followed on how to get back to Praising God First! 

As you start with praise the struggle to stay focused may hit you in the face.

Skit of Michelle Starting her morning with Praise:
I yawn as I wake up.  I start to turn my thoughts toward Him.  After just a moment I feel myself thinking about my to-do list.   I remind myself that my iPhone is a tool I can use as iWorship; it has plenty of worship songs, a list of God attributes and scriptures copied to my iPhone notes and a great Bible app.  Like Eve my mind easily starts to wonder and the iTemptations take over.  As I pick up the iPhone I notice my mom texted me in the wee hours of the morning and I better see if it is important.  It's not.  Next my iPhone alerts me that if I don't play a move right now on Words With Friends then my game will be forfeited.  While I'm at it I see if my daughter's teacher emailed me back about the homework question.  As I check the email I need to delete all the advertising that invaded my inbox over night.  But what is this?  Good thing I checked my mail, a mom wants to know if I can take her place helping in my son's class this morning.  As I tell her I can I see an email that someone has responded to a picture I posted on Facebook.  I log in quickly to see what was said.  I "like" the comment.  I see that my friend is going into surgery and I need to pray.  Pray!  I go straight to praying for my friend. I took my eyes off God just a few moments earlier while we were spending time together, maybe He was about to tell me something.  I'll never know because I just walked away and came back when I wanted Him to do something for me.  Even if it is a good thing I'm asking for, what happened to my praise and worship?   Then my reminder sounds.  It's time to wake the kids up for school.  I never made it to my music to play a worship song.  I never even glanced at a God attribute I could honor Him for.  I never made it to my Bible app to look up a scripture to support my praise prayers.  Time spent chewing on the apple instead of my God.  This tool to help me praise my God just took the place of Him.  CRUNCH!
(End Skit)

Warning!  (Insert 20 seconds of warning beep tones along with static) This is not a test! iTemptations just distract you!  This is a true emergency.  Stay tuned for a message on how to praise God from the Emergency Praise Alert System!

Reminder:  Praise and Worship of God is stating what is true about Him, acknowledging Him for WHO HE IS.  Thanksgiving acknowledges God for what he has done or can do for us, confession acknowledges our position and the fact that we need a savior and supplication is laying our concerns at His feet and asking according to His Will.  But Jesus asks us to start with Praise, which is honoring God just because He is God. Praise and Worship of our Lord is the process of taking our eyes off of ourselves and every iTemptation and onto Him by proclaiming truths about God that can never change.  Life moves through seasons, God stays the same.  He gives and takes away but his worthiness of our praise and worship stays the same.  Therefore praise and worship of our God is a deliberate attitude of our heart that honors God for who he is.  It should be constant, putting Him in His rightful position as God Most High.  Regardless of our current life circumstances praising God is recognizing, declaring, proclaiming and confessing who He is in His nature and power.  If you get distracted and let iTemptations get in the way, don't fret!  The Emergency Praise Alert System can help you get back on track!

Simple Steps from the Emergency Praise Alert System:

1. As you start your praise, remember that it is God's time and not our time.  Shift all of your attention onto Him.  Psalm 86:12 is a wonderful example of how to do this. "I will praise you. O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever."

2. Then state truths about God by proclaiming His attributes.  Remembering that these true attributes are never changing and focus on WHO GOD IS rather than WHAT HE DOES FOR US.

3. Finally, use song and/or scripture in your prayers.  King David used song and dance over and over again to honor God.  (See most of the Psalms and 2 Samuel 6:16).  Jesus himself powerfully refutes satan's iTemptations by quoting scripture.  (See Matthew 4:1-11)  Scripture is God's living word.  Every truth about God is backed up in His Word. 

These simple steps may be hard to do if you are not use to it.  To help you get started here are a few tools:

Songs:  You can turn almost any Psalm into a song.  iHeart Radio is an app where you can play any radio station.  You can have a few favorite worship stations saved for easy access.  Another great option is to download a few worship songs from iTune (most costing about $1) you can have at your finger tips.  Most phones can hold songs now.  Need a few suggestions?  Chris Tomlin's How Great Is Our God, Nicole C. Mullen's On My Knees and Spring Harvest's Be My Everything from the album Our God Reigns and my own cousin, Tifani Wilson, has a song called If I Don't Have You; a perfect love song you can use to love on God.  As the day goes along you might find yourself not being able to get a tune out of your head... in a good way.

Here are song links:
1. The church my family attended and served at for 17 years has a worship leader named Josh Kauffman.  His group, Kepano Green, has a song called Miracle that worships God for his Love.  You can listen to it by clicking here: 

2. Tifani Wilson can also lead your heart in worship.  I'll Worship is one of my favorites found by clicking this link: 

3. Brenton Brown, who is the Artist in Residence at our family's current church has written several worship songs. One of my favorites is Adoration.  Here is a link to his album where you can preview Adoration:
For the more creative part of your brain, here is a link to the chords to Adoration:

Scriptures:  I have modified a tool provided by the ministry Moms in Prayer.  To help you along my modification turns a list of God attributes and their definitions into short 1-3 sentence praise prayers.  The scriptures that support each God attribute then follows each prayer.  As you start with praise simply choose one of the attributes each morning, praise God for it and look up one of the provided scriptures to support your praise and worship of God and continue to chew on it as the day goes along.  Remember that praising God is an attitude of our heart and it takes just a moment to shift our attention upward.

Here is a link to 13 God attributes with scripture and a praise prayer for each one:
or copy and past to your browser:
http://7tothirty7.blogspot.com/2012/02/start-with-praise.html

It is not necessary to use all kinds of drawn out and fancy wording to worship God.  The song I'll Worship sung by Tifani Wilson passionately sings "O God I'll worship You" for about 4 minutes.  As God's Spirit leads, you may find your praise taking flight!  These tools I gave you are simply that.  They show you how you can stick with simple sentences, a scripture, a song along with a praiseworthy attitude to place our full attention on God alone; an attitude that should last all day long.

This concludes the message from the Emergency Praise Alert System.
Our days go fast, praise and worship to our God helps them not just become calendar days, one by one... gone to a mindless zone of worshiping idols.   Starting with praise enhances God's presence in our life, in our home, in our conversations, in our challenges, in our blessings, in our parenting and in our everything.  It helps us stop focusing in on the "apple(s)" that give us momentary satisfaction but leaves us empty where it matters most.

Dear Lord, You are a Holy God and are worthy of our praise and worship.  Hear our Praise and Worship... "Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth.  Sing to the Lord, praise His name; proclaim His salvation day after day.  Declare his glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all peoples.  For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; He is to be feared above all gods.  For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.  Splendor and majesty are before Him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary." Psalm 96:1-6.  iPray that every person who has read this iPray eVotional will be encouraged in their prayer life today, may we all start everything we say and do with praise and worship of You, and You alone!   In Jesus Name!
All for HIM,



MICHELLE FOZOUNMAYEH
iPray eVotionals
MichelleFozounmayeh.com

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