thank you how you come alongside of us and the lord you speak to us you guide us you give us fresh vision in direction of what can be and what you want and what you're going to do and you invite us to participate and so we think you've got our ears are open our minds ready to receive and even our wills to conform to yours and we pray this in jesus name amen this morning we're going to focus on new expressions of prayer and prayer is one of those areas in our walk with god where it's so easy to get stuck in a rut and when you look at scripture there is such a range when it comes to prayer and connecting with god and expressing to god what's going on in our hearts and in our faith in so you know one of our kids was having a tough day yesterday and we just were together it was in the morning and i said well why don't we just stop and pray and i prayed and the question came up why do we always start with prayer and i thought well how many times in scripture do things start with prayer and the reason we start with prayer a lot of times is because that's where god moves that's where god changes things that's where there is new hope in new direction that springs forth in so as you go through scripture notice sometimes how many things that god does that it really begins in a time of prayer so we pray in our families we pray in our church family we seek god and listen and to listen close to him because we need his wisdom and direction and it so often starts with prayer so we're going to look at three types of prayer today and the first one face down prayers face down prayers sixteen in the book in numbers and we'll start with verse one as we look at moses is life and we really enter into his situation right here starting in verse one kora son of is hard the son of kohath the son of israel a man well known community leaders who had been appointed members of the council they came as a group to oppose moses and aaron and they said to them you have gone too far the whole community is holy every one of them and the lord is with them why then do you say yourselves above the lord's assembly and when moses heard this he fell face down have you ever had someone that wanted to undermine you and take you down cora is the instigator but then two hundred fifty well respected top leaders listen to cora they join in and they t gather come against moses and aaron what a moment be careful of this pattern resentment rationalizing rebellion resenting something somebody you don't like and then rationalizing saying what i can stay this way and i can have resentment because i'm so awesome in there not in staying and it leads to rebellion and that's what built up and that's where unity was broken that pattern right there so proverbs thirteen ten three words pride breeds quarrels where you see quarrels and you see fighting in strife you unpack that pride pride breeds quarrels our neighbors they breed show dogs i think they had over ten dogs in the house i mean i can hear the chorus some mornings and so they're breeding dogs new dogs and they're growing dogs and i remember when our family growing up had rabbits in a couple or rabbits turn into lotsa rabbits very quickly a new rabid sin pride breeds quarrels new corals more corals more strife strife that develops strife that involves more people so proverbs thirteen ten very important verse because for cora and the rest of the group they lost perspective they lost perspective so what was their perspective moses  you say yourselves up as the leaders but what was the truth god said to moses and aaron god was the one who set them up as leaders and then they walked around and corin the two of you that were so whole they were all holy the the truth was they were envious and they were jealous and then they walked around like victims you know we don't have anything to do around here well that's not true god it shows in all of them to serve on the council to serve in the tabernacle they were leaders they had a very important role so instead of focusing on the lord they were focusing on what they didn't like is that not a temptation to take our eyes off of the lord in focus on who and what we don't like in they let it fester in they are ran with it in a completely lost perspective have you ever been around a long term christian that is completely lost perspective and they're going on and on about something and in your just thinking turn to the lured in so cora and the two hundred fifty they've come to attack moses and aaron and it's a test have you faced any tests recently in your walk with god or your job relationships in moses went face down when the test came over this goes face down so here's the principle find a physical posture in prayer to align with cry of your heart that physical posture to go face down aligning with the cry of his heart now let's see how this plays out verse nineteen when kora had gathered all his followers in opposition to them at the entrance of the tent of meeting the glory of the lord appeared to the entire assembly the lord said to moses and aaron separate yourselves from this assembly so i can put an end to them at once but moses and aaron they fell face down in again and they cried out oh god god of the spirits of all mankind in other words god you know all people will you be angry with the entire assembly when only one man sins and then the lord said to moses say to this assembly move away from the  korah in dayton and average him so what happened first moses went face down now moses and aaron go face down when you go face down you might have someone else that is going to pray with you in also go face down in they pray on their faces for the people who have wronged them do you ever do that when someone wrongs you do you just pray for them they are praying for the people frustrated who falsely accused who wronged them their on their faces praying for the people now the lord still opens up the earth and it swallows up cora and some of the others who have rebelled so the lord brings justice but again most in aaron are crying out and you know it's interesting one day after all that happens you would think the entire assembly would watch that in say oh let's honor the lord let's say in their attitude but you know what one day after seeing the earth just opened up and it was an accident the earth open up and swallow them up the people start to grumble and complain and have the same bad attitude and you know what happens in verse forty one moses and aaron a third time in this chapter they go face down praying for the people in for their attitudes what a powerful story what an example of leadership and going face down i don't know how it is for you but i've been a christian over twenty five years i've never been in a church service where people have prayed face down it just i'm not saying you're more spiritual if you pray face down so please don't hear that i haven't been to prayer gatherings where everyone goes face down i haven't been to life groups where everyone prays facedown it's interesting because it's in scripture all over the place from beginning to end of the bible praying face down crying out to god but it's so rare today it's just something to think about and when you think about praying face down the number of requests that i'm so glad people you know welcome cards they're for getting connected here at the church they're also for prayer requests and we pray for those but i look at it you know someone commented wow there's so many really serious prayer requests you know things happening in our church family that really need prayer and i see those requests and i think wow it make a lot of sense that we often are praying face down one of our international partners together that we're connected with is in brussels ron michener and i think you know what's just happened in brussels as far as the terrorism so this is from ron and he says this dear friends a dark cloud of pointless violence has covered brussels as i am writing these words the victim toll is thirty four dead in about two hundred thirty injured brussels as a european hub which explains the many nationalities of the victims the metro bombing took place at a station very close to the european parliament one of our sons goes to a school that's less than a mile from the incident passengers who've been stranded after the incident have been given shelter in hotels in people's homes the war is no longer at our doorsteps it's in our very homes but remember romans twelve twenty one do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good when you hear about what's happening in brussels and worldwide in terrorism another reason to pray face down here's the next principle enter into complete reliance reliance on god to overcome what you're facing in that face down is a posture that says complete reliance on god so i was looking through the bible it's some examples of praying face down in numbers chapter fourteen when the people of left slavery and bondage in egypt you know what they say to moses and aaron oh it's a brilliant idea let's go back to egypt is like really and in moses goes face down in praise face down the people in the desert there is no water we're grumbling we're complaining we don't see enough water in face it says when they go face down the glory of the lord appeared there's a song that read me and i think we're going to sing it after this message but when i fall face down your glory is all around it's like the more humble we can get before the lord the more glory in it's not just in posture but in hearts the more humble we are in our hearts before the what the more of his glory appears and so they react like that you know when moses the ten commandments and the people set up a little golden calf and they tried to say well i don't know we're just through a few you know a golden era no pop the golden calf or what are we going to worship it and they're doing all that thing moses went back up to the mountain of carmel and everyone said worship bail and he said go ahead prophets call down fire and they couldn't and then he said of the sacrifice and said yeah does that with water ok you're ready god send your fire in the lord sent a fired out everyone fel down and said oh lord he is god and when i get to the end of the bible in the book of revelation in chapter seven let me read this because the angels are worshipping god at the throne and at the  revelation seven nine says this it says after this i looked before me and there was a great throne the robes and palm branches as well and this is what they're  the angels fell down on their faces before the throne they were all standing on the throne they fell on their faces they worship god in the angels were saying amen praising glory wisdom and honor and thing some power and strength to our god for ever and ever on their face this so throughout the bible praying face down could be something that breaks out of a rut for you as we all experience is wrought isn't it a day in a time that we're living in that face down makes a lot of sense isn't there enough reasons these days around the world to just start dropping on our faces and crying out to god in so that's what we see it's beautiful so what are you facing now what about that way to connect with god full reliance in humility before him in the not just alone most an errand together but find maybe a spouse maybe friends in the life group and say let's just cry out to god together and then watch what god will do watch we'll do so that's a new expression responding to difficulties now here's something completely different a second expression of prayer and this is simultaneous prayers we're going to go to the book in nehemiah so from numbers go to the right in go a number of books to the right and i didn't count but about eight nine ten books to the right we're going to get to nehemiah in chapter two will start in verse one now these are more prayers to create to dream to restore to heal and let's take a look at nehemiah chapter two starting in verse one in the month of nice and in the twentieth year of king art of xerxes when wine was brought before him i took the wine and gave it to the king i had not been sad in his presence before so the king asked me why does your face look so sad when you are not ill this can be nothing but sadness of heart i was very much afraid but i said to the king may the king live forever why should my face not look sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins and its gates have been destroyed by fire the king said to me what is it you want and then i prayed to the god of heaven and i answered the king if it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight let him send me to the city in judah where my fathers are buried so that i can rebuild it a little bit of history this takes place about four hundred forty five years before christ exile in babylon and some names that you're might might ring a bell in scripture the first one to come back about seventy years when nehemiah is going to ask to go back to jerusalem of the problem is the wall around the city is destroyed the people spiritually are not doing well their needs are not met it's in disarray it's just still a big mess in the city in that situation is tugging at his heart do you have any situations that you see around maybe our city that tug at your heart in so what's he going to he's going to take a couple steps first of all he's the cup bearer that might sound like a small job so you bring a cup you bring some food the cup bearer to the king was a very important position because the cup bearer not only made certain that whatever the king ate in drink was high quality but made sure it was it was like the secret service to the king he no whatever the king's going to eat he had to make absolute sure that it was going to be safe now in that culture you could not come before the king with any negativity so nehemiah has a sadness  the king sees it but you're not a lot if you come before the king with negativity a king can just have you killed it was a sign of disrespect so here comes nehemiah sad the king sees it in nehemias as i was really scared this little hidden verse is such a great thought regarding emotions nehemiah is a man who knows what he feels and he says it i was scared i felt scared but his fear in feeling scared didn't stop him from doing what was right in that was approaching the king so we all have emotions it's good to identify those emotions are a gift but at the same time nehemiah is not to let his fear of being scared stop him from what god's asking him to do so he comes before the king and it's it's a clever way he phrases this he says the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins now why does he say it that way king art of xerxes just a couple years before that put a decree to stop the rebuilding of jerusalem so nehemiah does not say jerusalem he says you know shrewd as a serpent innocent as a dove he says the city is where my father is buried because for a king our deserts the is that is totally right that makes complete sense to honor those in your family have gone before and of that city is in disrepair then yes that's a similar value so nehemiah yes you should go you should go now and leave your position so nehemiah is praying silently talking to the king at the same time are you ever talking to someone in same time you're talking to god you've got two conversations going on at once vertically you're talking to god horizontally you're talking to somebody else it's a really good thing that's what nehemiah is doing right here in so praying at the same time here's the principal god hears your under the surface prayers your silent prayers he hears them this is what nehemiah is doing and god be stows his favor now as a man of action he's a man who wants to repair a whole city meet physical needs he wants to rally the people he wants to get things done but he is also a man of prayer thanks for watching our program today and i want to let you know about our web site activate life died or you can send us your prayer requests we are honored to pray for you we also have daily devotion and other resources you can sign up for and if you want to support us financially you can do that through the web site now we'll get back to the teaching as we get into god's word together what about people and i think about different ethnicities in the world today how are you unifying and building a bridge what about in our church how are you unifying in then when you look beyond our church in the body of christ how are you unifying how are you unifying in so this is a question that comes right out of that passage and what's the result jesus said it when people see that his followers have true real unity the world will believe the world will say that kind of love in community is different than i see anywhere else in that's powerful the world will believe so here's the next principle the next application god is moving you toward relational closeness and harmony every day it's a shift and you say well that takes some humility yes it does that means putting other people above yourself to have that kind of unity yes it does that involves integrity i mean you can of eunice unity if there's not honesty integrity yes it's transparency and integrity is a big part of that so well that sounds like sacrifice yes every good marriage you're going to have sacrifice every healthy family needs some sacrifice well that sounds like  would absolutely is you say well kind of then be mechanical can have a formula can have the ten steps this is so beyond mechanical this is love this is the love of the godhead this is a love it's not the formula it's in our hearts it's when god changes the heart at a time in the people around you you start to experience a greater unity and then god builds that it's not just a prayer it's action romans twelve eighteen says this if it is possible as far as it depends on you live at peace live in unity with everybody as much as you can you can you to control the other person's reaction no no no there's some tough people out there yet you can bring evan into unity no no but as much as you can do every apology every prayer every bit of reconciliation humility a sacrifice whatever you can do do that so that we can live in unity together different generations different personalities different preferences build we restore we move into the city like nehemiah did in then prayers of unity prayers of unity that don't just stop it for years but move into relationships move into the home move into our church move into the greater body of christ john or bird and this guy named bob he's an insurance salesman he's a newer christian he's a little skeptical in prayer but at same time he resides in the bible and you know when you read chapters like john chapter fifteen it was just covered in our vision of biden respond you know abiding jesus you're going to bear much fruit did you notice you bump into some verses that if you ever had a new christian that stops and asked you a question about a verse that you just think kind of skipping over and doug's as well it's not just like a blank check that whatever you want in life you just write it down then you get it but if you're walking with jesus and you're listening and you're praying you're following him and then you're going to ask for things and he's going to bring him it's going to be amazing incredible praying for you know we said he so this dinner and there's a lady at the dinner and he's a stock in arizona where you're from oh i'm from kenya oh really she says yeah i run an orphanage there and we help you know so many children and then she turn and said would you like to come and see what we do is this just happening so we pray god moves and he says i think i would so he goes to kenya and he sees that orphanage not only that orphanage but he sees around the country how many people don't have any care medically how many people are sick the poverty in it tugs on his heart he starts to write the pharmaceutical companies and i know you get rid of your medications you just thrown away would you mind giving them to kenya and over a million dollars worth of pharmaceuticals is sent to the orphanage into kenya they decide they want to have a party to celebrate what god has done the asked bob to come back they can he comes back to kenya and the president of kenya is there in the president says i just want to thank you for what you've been a part of here i also want to bring you down to nairobi and give you a tour and to show you a little more and so he gets a tour now from the president and the president is showing him some prisoners some political prisoners and bob makes the comment you know i think it might be a good idea if you just let them go i mean they they really they have a dining room and so the president lets the political prisoners go and the u s the government  note in says we just want to say thank you because we've been trying diplomatically to get that to happen for such a long time it's never happened but you in one visit seem to have accomplished what we've been hoping for for so long and so there you go and the president wri back a short time later and says i'm selecting a new cabinet it's time for a new cabinet and i need wisdom would you come to kenya and pray for me for three days while i make this very important decision  goes then to kenya to pray for the president for three days while he selects the cabinet that will direct the country you see how small steps faithfulness in prayer breaking out of a right what god can do things that are not even on our radar i did this yesterday i took a three by five card i encourage you during this series take a three by five card or you can write it down in the back your bible but i want you to identify it could be one thing like kenya i had for there is four prayers that i wrote down i'm going to pray them every day during this series it might go on the serious problem cause six months but i might pray them six months but would you take a next step a phase where you identify a couple of specific things and you write it down in a three by five card you put in your bible you write in the back your bible in each day would you just take some time in pray for that particular thing it might be the homeless situation in auburn it could be your marriage it could be getting out of debt it could be helping someone other country but would you identify something that god has put on your heart or that you sense there might be some potential in just pray each day and see what god will do during this series that's the challenge here is to take home breaking out of a prayer rut will reveal more of god's refreshing purpose in your day when we break out of prayer rites god reveals refreshing purpose throughout our day thanks for watching today and i want to let you know about our web site activate life that org there are so many free resources to help you grow in your faith and if you've been blessed during the teaching please send us an e mail if you want to learn more about jesus we'd love to hear from you again our web site is active a life that org and we'll see you next week