Here are the links to all the posts on how praise can help change your focal length:
Tuesday, 21 August 2018
Monday, 20 August 2018
how to change your focal length: part 7
"O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving; let us shout joyfully to him with psalms!" - Psalm 95:1
This is the last one of these. Just as a recap, we've been looking at how different aspects of praise can help us to change our personal focal length, so that we're able to draw near to God and be focused on him in those moments when we're naturally drawn to focus on ourselves. The Bible uses lots of different words for praise, so I wondered whether there was anything to learn from those Hebrew expressions, and whether we could apply them today.
In science, lenses refract light and draw it to a point of focus. But you can change the focal length of a lens-system so that the thing you were looking at blurs out, and the thing that was unresolved comes into view, crisply and clearly. Praise does this for us, for so many reasons.
We saw how praise can be loud and exuberant (halal) and how testifying and shining about Jesus actually brings him into a situation and changes how we see it.
Then we remembered that praise also makes us vulnerable while we cast our hands to heaven and our praise into the atmosphere (yadah). From that vulnerability and that openness, God transforms the circumstances around us.
Barak carries the Hebrew idea of 'kneeling' in praise, and we saw how re-aligning ourselves with God, making sure we understand our position and his, actually changes the world. Barak praise refocuses us on who matters, and what doesn't matter quite so much.
Praise can be musical too. We looked at the special way that singing his praise (tehilla) brings heaven into the earthly mix, and changes the refractive index of the things we see around us.
And as well as tehilla praise, we looked at how playing a musical instrument can help you prophesy through praise (zamar). This of course applies to more than just music though - if your instrument happens to be a paintbrush, a sculpting chisel, or even Microsoft Word, you can bring God directly into a situation with skill and passion, as you use it.
To wrap up then, this week I've chosen a word for praise which I think is so powerful, so brilliant and so easy to use that it can change everything when you apply it. In fact, this weapon of praise can change your focal length in an instant, and what's more, you can use it in conjunction with all the others.
It's thankfulness. The word used is 'todah' and it means to give thanks, present a thank-offering, or a sacrifice of praise.
Todah praise is so good at changing our focal length because it shifts all the glory to the giver, and when that giver is God himself, there's no power in Heaven or Earth that can take it away - your story is your story; your heartfelt thank-you can't be disputed or interrupted or denied because it comes straight from you and connects you directly to him, like lightning. And it is secretly brilliant at diffusing difficult situations.
So, this week's challenge is to start to use the power of thank you. There are lots of ways to do this, but why not start by praying to God out loud and thanking him for things? No shopping lists, no requests, no tangents, just thanksgiving. See how long you can go finding things to thank him for. I remember when I started doing this I thought I would run out of obvious things quickly, but it's surprising how the Holy Spirit brings to mind a whole lot more. Plus, when I get really down, thankfulness is tough to do, certainly, but also absolutely brilliant at changing my focal length.
Go for it! If you practice todah praise, I reckon it will start to influence other areas of your life too; you'll become a naturally thankful person and the world around you will start to look really different.
... which reminds me. Thank you so much for reading these! I hope they've been encouraging enough to get going with loud, exuberant, joyful, vulnerable, thankful, skillful, life-changing, wall-crumbling, extraordinary praise! And that change of focal length, from seeing the ordinary to seeing the extraordinary around us, is the best change of all.
This is the last one of these. Just as a recap, we've been looking at how different aspects of praise can help us to change our personal focal length, so that we're able to draw near to God and be focused on him in those moments when we're naturally drawn to focus on ourselves. The Bible uses lots of different words for praise, so I wondered whether there was anything to learn from those Hebrew expressions, and whether we could apply them today.
In science, lenses refract light and draw it to a point of focus. But you can change the focal length of a lens-system so that the thing you were looking at blurs out, and the thing that was unresolved comes into view, crisply and clearly. Praise does this for us, for so many reasons.
We saw how praise can be loud and exuberant (halal) and how testifying and shining about Jesus actually brings him into a situation and changes how we see it.
Then we remembered that praise also makes us vulnerable while we cast our hands to heaven and our praise into the atmosphere (yadah). From that vulnerability and that openness, God transforms the circumstances around us.
Barak carries the Hebrew idea of 'kneeling' in praise, and we saw how re-aligning ourselves with God, making sure we understand our position and his, actually changes the world. Barak praise refocuses us on who matters, and what doesn't matter quite so much.
Praise can be musical too. We looked at the special way that singing his praise (tehilla) brings heaven into the earthly mix, and changes the refractive index of the things we see around us.
And as well as tehilla praise, we looked at how playing a musical instrument can help you prophesy through praise (zamar). This of course applies to more than just music though - if your instrument happens to be a paintbrush, a sculpting chisel, or even Microsoft Word, you can bring God directly into a situation with skill and passion, as you use it.
To wrap up then, this week I've chosen a word for praise which I think is so powerful, so brilliant and so easy to use that it can change everything when you apply it. In fact, this weapon of praise can change your focal length in an instant, and what's more, you can use it in conjunction with all the others.
It's thankfulness. The word used is 'todah' and it means to give thanks, present a thank-offering, or a sacrifice of praise.
Todah praise is so good at changing our focal length because it shifts all the glory to the giver, and when that giver is God himself, there's no power in Heaven or Earth that can take it away - your story is your story; your heartfelt thank-you can't be disputed or interrupted or denied because it comes straight from you and connects you directly to him, like lightning. And it is secretly brilliant at diffusing difficult situations.
So, this week's challenge is to start to use the power of thank you. There are lots of ways to do this, but why not start by praying to God out loud and thanking him for things? No shopping lists, no requests, no tangents, just thanksgiving. See how long you can go finding things to thank him for. I remember when I started doing this I thought I would run out of obvious things quickly, but it's surprising how the Holy Spirit brings to mind a whole lot more. Plus, when I get really down, thankfulness is tough to do, certainly, but also absolutely brilliant at changing my focal length.
Go for it! If you practice todah praise, I reckon it will start to influence other areas of your life too; you'll become a naturally thankful person and the world around you will start to look really different.
... which reminds me. Thank you so much for reading these! I hope they've been encouraging enough to get going with loud, exuberant, joyful, vulnerable, thankful, skillful, life-changing, wall-crumbling, extraordinary praise! And that change of focal length, from seeing the ordinary to seeing the extraordinary around us, is the best change of all.
Tuesday, 7 August 2018
how to change your focal length: part 6
"It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, proclaiming your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night, to the music of the ten-stringed lyre and the melody of the harp." - Psalm 92:1
In the last post, we were looking at how singing praise (tehilla) can change the atmosphere and bring Heaven straight into a situation.
Your voice is a powerful instrument, even if it isn't all that strong. It draws you up and out of your heart, and the realness of you then connects with the Holy Spirit, allowing him to move.
Another language of praise, another way to change our focal length and change the air around us, is to play a musical instrument. The Bible calls this zamar praise, and the word (used 44 times in the Old Testament) means 'to play', particularly by plucking strings or by striking a stringed instrument.
Stringed instruments all work because of tension. The ends of each string are pulled tight until the string and the wood match their natural resonance - a harmonic sound that brings the best frequencies out of the natural structure of the musical instrument.
It's this resonance that we're looking for when playing any musical instrument in the Spirit, and it doesn't matter whether it's strings, woodwind or something you hit. There's always a resonance for zamar praise to change the atmosphere.
I love playing woodwind instruments, particularly the recorder. What I'm looking for whenever I do that is that very natural, deep, prophetic connection with what God is saying - it's a bit like playing in tongues or prophesying with an instrument. You bring the resonance of what God is saying into the room through the language of music, expressed creatively in you.
Zamar praise changes our focal length because it prophesies into the room and lifts the temperature. It doesn't just change what you can see, it shifts what all of us can see.
That's why David could calm the a troubled King Saul in 1 Samuel 16. Zamar praise changed the atmosphere when an anointed musician played the harp in the king's presence. Never underestimate what you can do with a pure heart and a musical instrument.
So, this week's challenge: if you're a musician, spend some time with your instrument and try praying and prophesying through it. If that seems odd, try praying out loud at first, then silently with your instrument in your hand. Then transfer your inner voice to play through your fingers. Just watch what happens to the atmosphere.
If you're not a musician, or you don't play a musical instrument, don't panic. You can do this too - maybe by making a neat playlist of worship tracks and letting the sung praise of others fill the room.
Zamar skillfully changes not just your focal length but also shifts the spritual atmosphere, changing what all of us can see. So, what is God saying to you? What is God saying to us? Can you express it in language? Can you play it heart-to-heart-to-heart?
Let's play it out and see what God does.
In the last post, we were looking at how singing praise (tehilla) can change the atmosphere and bring Heaven straight into a situation.
Your voice is a powerful instrument, even if it isn't all that strong. It draws you up and out of your heart, and the realness of you then connects with the Holy Spirit, allowing him to move.
Another language of praise, another way to change our focal length and change the air around us, is to play a musical instrument. The Bible calls this zamar praise, and the word (used 44 times in the Old Testament) means 'to play', particularly by plucking strings or by striking a stringed instrument.
Stringed instruments all work because of tension. The ends of each string are pulled tight until the string and the wood match their natural resonance - a harmonic sound that brings the best frequencies out of the natural structure of the musical instrument.
It's this resonance that we're looking for when playing any musical instrument in the Spirit, and it doesn't matter whether it's strings, woodwind or something you hit. There's always a resonance for zamar praise to change the atmosphere.
I love playing woodwind instruments, particularly the recorder. What I'm looking for whenever I do that is that very natural, deep, prophetic connection with what God is saying - it's a bit like playing in tongues or prophesying with an instrument. You bring the resonance of what God is saying into the room through the language of music, expressed creatively in you.
Zamar praise changes our focal length because it prophesies into the room and lifts the temperature. It doesn't just change what you can see, it shifts what all of us can see.
That's why David could calm the a troubled King Saul in 1 Samuel 16. Zamar praise changed the atmosphere when an anointed musician played the harp in the king's presence. Never underestimate what you can do with a pure heart and a musical instrument.
So, this week's challenge: if you're a musician, spend some time with your instrument and try praying and prophesying through it. If that seems odd, try praying out loud at first, then silently with your instrument in your hand. Then transfer your inner voice to play through your fingers. Just watch what happens to the atmosphere.
If you're not a musician, or you don't play a musical instrument, don't panic. You can do this too - maybe by making a neat playlist of worship tracks and letting the sung praise of others fill the room.
Zamar skillfully changes not just your focal length but also shifts the spritual atmosphere, changing what all of us can see. So, what is God saying to you? What is God saying to us? Can you express it in language? Can you play it heart-to-heart-to-heart?
Let's play it out and see what God does.
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