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Positions of Prayer (Part 2) “Laying Flat Down or Prostrate”

Should you be active in ‘normal’ church prayer these columns may be almost too radical. For those not accustomed to tradition it will be much easier for you to comprehend.
I believe most of you will be shocked at what the Bible really teaches on this subject.

I am going to let God and His Word speak for itself. What you are going to see is what the Bible really says about the positions of prayer. I am going to give over the next week or two ‘every’ time a position of prayer is mentioned in the Bible. Should I miss any that you find in the Bible then please e-mail me and I will make the corrections. The problem is very simple. Many times when someone is praying there is no mention of what position he or she is in. Are they walking or kneeling or what?

The second problem is that many times when a person is praying the word ‘prayer’ is not used. So you must read the entire Bible and discover every time a person prays does the Bible say anything about the physical position of the body. I have gone through every passage in the Bible and tried to discover every time a position is described. This has been an unreal task! But I have loved every hour of studying the Bible to find these. I know you will be blessed with this effort.

On my computer and have done searches. I want to say this is my search and I may have missed some of the positions mentioned in the Bible. So should you find other scriptures please let me know.

Also I have searched the subject on the Internet and in all my books and have found little written on the subject. I have not found anywhere where anyone has totaled the total number of each position of prayer or any list of all of the positions. I am sure someone has done this I just am not aware of it. Should you find any such information I would love to read it? I do not claim to be doing something unique but I just cannot find anything comprehensive on the subject.

At the end of this study I will have given you every instance of every position of prayer in the Bible! From this you can look at your life and make your own decisions. I trust this revelation will cause you and me to check out our prayer life and conform ourselves to the Word of God and not to culture and tradition.

As I stated in the first column on this subject, this is not a teaching about how to pray or what to pray about. This is simply about the positions of prayer as given in the Bible.

“Laying face down or prostrate”
131 times: ‘Laying face down or prostrate’ in relation to prayer or speaking with God.
This includes many times that the word prostrate is not used but the person is on their face or laying down etc.

256 times the word prostrate is used in the Bible. Most of these are times when one prostrates himself or herself before a king or someone of great importance. This was the common way of respect and to honor someone. People were very familiar with this word and position.

There is no question as to the meaning of the word in Hebrew in the Old Testament or Greek in the New Testament, however translators have sought to use different words in English to interpret the word.

The only Bible that I know that seeks always to use the correct Hebrew or Greek word ‘all’ the time is the Heritage Bible.

Dr. Gwin Turner is also on my board of directors. He lets the Bible word say what it says and does not interpret it for you.
Here we will just let the scripture say what is says.
Strong’s Definition

Hebrew
7812 shachah (shaw-khaw’); a primitive root; to depress, i.e. prostrate (especially reflexive, in homage to royalty or God):

King James Version– bow (self) down, crouch, fall down (flat), humbly beseech, do (make) obeisance, do reverence, make to stoop, worship.

Greek 4352 proskuneo (pros-koo-neh’-o); From 4314 and a probable derivative of 2965 (meaning to kiss, like a dog licking his master’s hand); to fawn or crouch to, i.e. (literally or figuratively) prostrate oneself in homage (do reverence to, adore):

King James Version– worship. You can see that the King James Version of the Bible uses 8 different English words to express different meanings or positions for the same word. I just want us to look at the Bible and see exactly what is says in the original Hebrew or Greek and ‘then’ you can seek it’s meaning.

Please read each verse and let God speak to you. Praying face down and prostrate!

Genesis 17:3 “Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him.”

Genesis 17:17-18 “Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? And Abraham said unto God’

Genesis 18:2-3 “And when he saw, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and prostrated himself upon the earth, And said, My Lord.’

Genesis 19:1 “And there came two heavenly messengers to Sodom at dusk, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom; and Lot saw them, and rose up to meet them; and he prostrated himself with his nostrils to the earth.’

Genesis 24:26 “And the man bowed his head, and prostrated himself to Jehovah.’

Genesis 24:48 “And I bowed, and prostrated myself to Jehovah, and I blessed Jehovah.’

Genesis 24:52 “And when Abraham’s servant heard their words, he prostrated himself to the earth to Jehovah.’

Genesis 48: 12 “And Joseph brought them out from his knees, and he prostrated himself with his nostrils to the earth.’

Exodus 4:31 “And the people believed; and when they attentively heard that Jehovah had visited the children of Israel, and that he had seen their misery, then they bowed, and prostrated themselves.’

Exodus 5:31 “And the people believed; and when they attentively heard that Jehovah had visited the children of Israel, and that he had seen their misery, then they bowed, and prostrated themselves.’

Exodus 12:27 “And you shall say, It is the sacrifice of Jehovah’s Passover, who skipped over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians, and snatched our houses out. And the people bowed, and prostrated themselves.’

Exodus 24:1 “And he said to Moses, Come up to Jehovah, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and prostrate yourselves afar off.’

Exodus 33:10 “All the people rose up and prostrated themselves, every man in his tent door. And Jehovah spoke.’

Exodus 34: 8 “And Moses mad haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and prostrated himself.’

Exodus 34: 14 “Because you shall prostrate yourself to no other god, because Jehovah, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.’

Leviticus 9:24 “Fire came out from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. When all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.

Numbers 16:22-23 “Then they fell on their faces, and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and You be angry with all the congregation?” So the LORD spoke to Moses’

Numbers 16:44-45 “And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” And they fell on their faces.’

Numbers 20:6 “So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and they fell on their faces. And the glory of the LORD appeared to them.’

Numbers 22:31 “And Jehovah uncovered the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the Messenger of Jehovah stationed in the road, with his sword drawn in his hand; and he bowed down, and fell prostrate on his nostrils.’

Deuteronomy 26:10 “The face of Jehovah, your God, and prostrate yourself before the Face of Jehovah, your God.’

Joshua 6:14-15 “And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and prostrated himself to him, and said to him, What does my Lord say to his servant? And the Commander of Jehovah’s host said to Joshua, Pull off your shoe from your foot, because the place on which you stand is holy’

Joshua 7:6 “Then Joshua tore his clothes, and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the LORD until evening, both he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads.’

Joshua 7:10 “So the LORD said to Joshua: “Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face?

Judges 13:20-22 “It happened as the flame went up toward heaven from the altar– the Angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar! When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell on their faces to the ground. When the Angel of the LORD appeared no more to Manoah and his wife, then Manoah knew that He was the Angel of the LORD. And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, because we have seen God!”

1 Samuel 1:3, “this man ascended out of his city from days to days to prostrate himself and to sacrifice to Jehovah of hosts.”

1 Samuel 1: 19 “And they loaded up early in the dawn, and prostrated themselves before the face of Jehovah.’

1 Samuel 1: 28 “And he prostrated himself to Jehovah there.’

1 Samuel 15:25 “That I may prostrate myself to Jehovah your God.’

1 Samuel 15:30 “Turn back with me, that I may prostrate myself to Jehovah your God.’

1 Samuel 16:31 “Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul prostrated himself to Jehovah.’

2 Samuel 12:16 “David therefore pleaded with God for the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground.’

2 Samuel 12:20 “And David rose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his clothes, and came into the house of Jehovah, and prostrated himself.’

I Kings 18:39 “Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!”

I King 18:42 And Ahab went up to eat and to drink, and Elijah went up to the head of Carmel; and he prostrated himself on the earth, and put his face between his knees.

2 Kings 17:36 “But Jehovah who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and a stretched out arm, him you shall fear, and to him you shall prostrate yourselves, and to him you shall sacrifice.’

1 Chronicles 16:29 “Give to Jehovah the heavy glory of his name; lift up a food offering, and come before his face; prostrate yourselves to Jehovah in the beauty of holiness.’

2 Chronicles 20:18 And Jehoshaphat bowed his nostrils to the ground, and all Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the face of Jehovah, prostrating themselves to Jehovah.

1 Chronicles 21:16 “Then David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of the LORD standing between earth and heaven, having in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. So David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell on their faces.’

1 Chronicles 29:20 “Then David said to the whole assembly, “Praise the LORD your God.” So they all praised the LORD, the God of their fathers; they bowed low and fell prostrate before the LORD and the king.’

2 Chronicles 7:3 “And all the children of Israel saw the fire come down and the heavy glory of Jehovah upon the house, and they bent down on their knees with their nostrils to the ground upon the pavement, and prostrated themselves, and raised their hands to Jehovah, because of his goodness, because of his eternal mercy.

2 Chronicles 29:28-30 “And all the congregation prostrated themselves, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded; and all this continued until the burnt offering was finished. And when they had made an end of offering, the king and all found with him bent their knees, and prostrated themselves. And Hezekiah, the king, and the chief rulers said to the Levites to boast in Jehovah with the words of David and of Asaph, the seer. And they boasted with rejoicing, and they bowed and prostrated themselves.’

Ezra 10:1 “And when Ezra had judged in prayer, and when he had raised his hands, weeping, and falling before the face of the house of God, there assembled to him out of Israel a very great congregation of men, and women, and children, because the people wept, making great weeping.’

Nehemiah 8:6 “And Ezra blessed Jehovah, the great God, and all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with raising their hands; and they bowed, and prostrated themselves to Jehovah, their nostrils to the ground.’

Nehemiah 9:3 “They raised their hands in confession, and prostrated themselves to Jehovah, their God.’

Nehemiah 9:6 “The host of the heavens prostrate themselves to you. You are he, Jehovah.’

Job 2:20 “Then Job arose, and tore his robe, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and prostrated himself.’

Psalms 5:7 “I will come into your house; I will prostrate myself toward your holy temple in your fear.’

Psalms 22:28 “Because the kingdom is Jehovah’s, and he will rule the peoples. 29 All prostrate themselves before his face; they all shall bend their knees going down into the dust.’

Psalms 22:27 “All the ends of the earth shall remember, and turn back to Jehovah; and all the families of the peoples shall prostrate themselves before your face.’

Psalms29:2 “Give to Jehovah the heavy glory of his name; prostrate yourselves to Jehovah in the adornment of holiness.’

Psalms 45:11 “Because he is your Lord; and prostrate yourself to him.’

Psalms 66:4 “All the earth shall prostrate themselves to you.’

Psalms 72:11 “And all kings shall prostrate themselves to him;

Psalms 86:9 “All peoples whom you have made shall come and prostrate themselves before your face, Oh Lord, and shall give heavy glory to your name.’

Psalms 95:6 “Oh come, let us prostrate ourselves and bend our knees; let us kneel down with goodness before the face of Jehovah our maker.’

Psalms 96:9“Oh prostrate yourself to Jehovah in the adornment of holiness.’

Psalms 99:5 “Exalt Jehovah, our God, and prostrate yourselves at his footstool; he is holy.

Psalms 99:9 “Exalt Jehovah, our God, and prostrate yourselves to his holy hill, because holy is Jehovah, our God.

Psalms 138:2 “I will prostrate myself toward your holy temple’

Isaiah 27:13 “prostrate themselves to Jehovah in the holy mount at Jerusalem.’

Isaiah 66:23 “all flesh shall come to prostrate themselves before my face, says Jehovah.’

Jeremiah 7:2 “hear the word of Jehovah, all Judah, who enter in at these gates to prostrate yourselves to Jehovah.

Jeremiah 26:2 “Thus says Jehovah, Stand in the court of Jehovah’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah which come to prostrate themselves in Jehovah’s house;

Ezek 1:28 “Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. So when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of One speaking.’

Ezekiel 8:16 “They prostrated themselves toward the east to the sun.’

Ezekiel 9:8 “So it was, that while they were killing them, I was left alone; and I fell on my face and cried out, and said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Will You destroy all the remnant of Israel in pouring out Your fury on Jerusalem?”

Ezekiel 11:13 “Now it happened, while I was prophesying, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then I fell on my face and cried with a loud voice, and said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Will You make a complete end of the remnant of Israel?”

Ezekiel 43:3 “It was like the appearance of the vision which I saw– like the vision which I saw when I came to destroy the city. The visions were like the vision which I saw by the River Chebar; and I fell on my face.’

Ezekiel 44:4 “Also He brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple; so I looked, and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD; and I fell on my face.’

Ezekiel 46:3 “And the people of the land shall prostrate themselves at the door of this gate in the Sabbaths.’

Daniel 8:17 “So he came near where I stood, and when he came I was afraid and fell on my face; but he said to me, “Understand, son of man, that the vision refers to the time of the end.”

Daniel 8:18 “Now, as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep with my face to the ground; but he touched me, and stood me upright.’

Daniel 8:27 “And I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward I rose up. and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it.

Daniel 10:9 “Yet I heard the sound of his words; and while I heard the sound of his words I was in a deep sleep on my face, with my face to the ground.’

Daniel 10:15 “When he had spoken such words to me, I turned my face toward the ground and became speechless.’

Joel 1:13 ‘Gird yourselves and lament, you priests; wail, you who minister before the altar; come, lie all night in sackcloth.’

Zephaniah 2:11Jehovah will be fear to them, because he will emaciate all the gods of the earth, and they hall prostrate themselves to him, every man from his place, all the habitable places of the peoples.

Zechariah14:16 “And it shall be, everyone who is left of all the peoples who came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to prostrate themselves to the King, Jehovah of hosts’

Zechariah 14:17 “And it shall be, whoever will not come up of all the families of the earth to Jerusalem to prostrate themselves to the King, Jehovah of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.

Malachi 2:5 “Feared me, and prostrated himself before the face of my name.’

Matthew 2:2 “Where is the one born King of the Jews? Because we have seen his star in the east, and came to prostrate ourselves to him.’

Matthew 2:11 “And coming into the house, they saw the infant with Mary, his mother, and falling down, they prostrated themselves to him, and opening their treasures, they offered to him gifts, gold, and incense, and myrrh.’

Matthew 8:2 “And behold, a leper having come prostrated himself to him, saying, Lord’

Matthew 9: 18 “While he is speaking these things to them, behold, one ruler coming, prostrated himself to him.’

Matthew 14:33 “Then the ones in the ship coming, prostrated themselves to him, saying, Truly you are the Son of God.’

Matthew 15:25 “And she coming, prostrated herself to him, saying, Lord, help me.’

Matthew 17:6 “And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid.’

Matthew 26:39 “He (Jesus) went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”

Matthew 28: 9 “And as they were going to announce it to his disciples, also behold, Jesus met them, saying, Be well. And they coming near, seized him by the feet, and prostrated themselves to him.’

Matthew 28:16-17“And the eleven disciples went into Galilee into the mountain where Jesus ordained for them. And seeing him, they prostrated themselves to him.’

Mark 5:6 “And seeing Jesus from a afar, he ran and prostrated himself to him.’

Mark 5:22-23 “And behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue came, Jairus by name. And when he saw Him, he fell at His feet.’ and begged Him earnestly.’

Mark 5:33 “But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.

Mark 14:35 “He (Jesus) went a little farther, and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him.’

Luke 4:8 “You shall prostrate yourself to the Lord, your God, and to him only you shall officially minister.’

Luke 5:8 “Simon Peter prostrated himself at Jesus’ knees, saying, Go out from me, because I am a sinful man, Lord.’

Luke 8:41 “And behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue. And he fell down at Jesus’ feet and begged Him to come to his house’

Luke 8:47 “Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before Him, she declared to Him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately.’

Luke 17:16 “Fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.’

Luke 24:52 “And they having prostrated themselves to him, returned into Jerusalem with great joy.’

John 4:20-24 “Our fathers prostrated themselves in this mountain, and you say, that in Jerusalem is the place where it is binding to prostrate ourselves. Jesus says to her, Woman, believe me that an hour comes, when you will absolutely not in this mountain, nor yet in Jerusalem, prostrate yourselves to the Father. You prostrate yourselves to what you absolutely do not know; we prostrate ourselves to the one we see, because salvation is out of the Jews. But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will prostrate themselves to the Father in the Spirit, and in truth, also because the Father seeks such to prostrate themselves to him. God is Spirit, and those prostrating themselves to him are bound to prostrate themselves to him in the Spirit and in truth.’

John 9:38 “And he said, I believe, Lord, and he prostrated himself to him.’

John 12:20 “And there were some Greeks out of them going up in order to prostrate themselves in the feast’

Acts 8:27 “And standing up he went, and behold, an Ethiopian man, a eunuch, a power of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was over all her treasure, who had come to Jerusalem to prostrate himself.’

Acts 9:4 “Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”

Acts 22:7 “And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’

Acts 24:11 “I went up to Jerusalem to prostrate myself.’

Acts 26:14 “And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

I Corinthians 14:25 “And in this way the secrets of his heart become manifest, and so falling down on his face he will prostrate himself to God, and announce that God is actually in you.’

Hebrews 1:6 “And let all the heavenly messengers of God prostrate themselves before him.’

Hebrews 11: 21 “By faith Jacob, dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and prostrated himself, leaning upon the end of his rod.’

Revelation 1:17 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last.’

Revelation 4:10 “The twenty-four elders fall down before the face of the one sitting upon the throne, and prostrate themselves to the one living to the ages of the ages, and throw their crowns before the face of the throne saying: “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.”

Revelation 5:8 “Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.’

Revelation 5:14 “And the four living creatures said, Amen. And the twenty-four elders fell down, and prostrated themselves to him who lives to the ages of the ages.’

Revelation 7:11 “And all the heavenly messengers (angels) stood in a circle around the throne, and around the elders and around the four living creatures, and they fell before the face of the throne upon their faces, and prostrated themselves to God.’

Revelation 11:16 “And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God.’

Revelation 12:16 “And the twenty-four elders, those sitting before the face of God upon their thrones, fell upon their faces, and prostrated themselves to God.’

Revelation 14:7 “Saying in a loud voice, Fear God, and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment came, and, Prostrate yourselves to the one having made the heaven, and the earth, and the sea, and fountains of waters.’

Revelation 15:4 “Because you only are holy, because all the races will come, and prostrate themselves before your face, because your righteous deeds were manifested.’

Revelation 19:4 “And the twenty-four elders, and the four living creatures fell down, and prostrated themselves to the God sitting upon the throne, saying, Amen! Hallelujah!’

Revelation 19:10 “And I fell in front of his feet to prostrate myself to him, and he says to me, Look! No! I am your fellow-servant, and of your brothers, those having the witness of Jesus; prostrate yourself to God.’

Revelation 22:8 “And I John, was the one hearing and seeing these things, and when I heard and saw, I fell to prostrate myself in front of the feet of the heavenly messenger who showed me these things.’

Revelation 22:9“Prostrate yourself to God.’

Now having read all these scriptures what is your response? Have you ever prayed laying flat on the floor or ground? Why not?

I have several ideas:

One, it is ignorance. Most people have never heard a message on the subject and most ministers have never studied on this subject. It is almost like a blind spot in the eye of the modern follower of Jesus. Now you have the information from the Word of God and it demands a response.

Two, it is pride. When one lies before the Lord we acknowledge the Glory and Awe of the Almighty God, the Lord of Hosts! We give honor to the King of Kings as we prostrate ourselves before Him. We show humility and many in religion do not want to be humble. It is also a sign of repentance. When one lays down before the Lord we put God above us. As one lies down before the king that person is accepting his authority and power. When a person or groups of people are laying face down before God it is glorious. That is why prostrate became the word often used for worship. To fall down before God is an act of worship of the Creator by the creature. We are not worthy. Jesus is worthy. We are in need of the mercy and grace of God.

But human pride objects to this form of prayer.

I might add that just bowing or for ladies to curtsy when they meet royalty is a corruption of the old way of lying down in front of royalty. You might say this is now the ‘nice’ way. Could it be that we have carried the same type of attitude into praying prostrate?

Three, it is laziness. We think it is not conventional or is uncomfortable. Some people as they get old have difficulty getting down on the floor and back up. So in order to accommodate a physical problem in some people’s bodies an entire form of prayer is dismissed. We are concerned about our clothes. We wonder what others will think about us.

Forth, it is religious tradition. For three hundred years the church did not have building. When the political world changed in Rome and buildings began to be built and called churches they became designed for popular use.

Put in seats for comfort. Have the people stand or sit and pray. Perhaps there could be a bit of room to kneel but of course that is old fashioned anyway. But to lay prostrate, Never!

By church design we have almost completely eliminated this of praying in the Bible ! And by practice both the people and many ministers are ignorant of what has happened.

Fifth, it is simply dismissed. “Oh, it doesn’t matter what position your body is in, what matters is the heart.’ True in part. But that is not the end of the subject. The condition of the heart is vitally important. But you cannot simply dismiss the huge number of scriptures from God’s Holy Word about the position of people’s bodies when they were praying. As we will see in the coming weeks the Bible gives a huge variety of different positions of prayer.

The popular ‘praying laying face down, prostrate’ has been replaced with ‘ heads bowed and eyes closed’ and this form is never mentioned in the entire Bible!

Now I am not saying that praying with ‘heads bowed and eyes’ closed is wrong or is incorrect. I am just saying that it is a development of religious culture and tradition.

God can and does work and hears our prayers in every position of our body.

Again returning to the, “Oh, it doesn’t matter what position your body is in, what matters is the heart’ statement. It must matter or we would not be told over and over to ‘close our eyes and bow our heads.’ Just pray looking up when you are told to bow. Try to find a place to lie out on the floor to pray and see how soon you are ask to move.

Here is an e-mail comment I received and want to share it with you.

“I decided to follow as much as possible that what God says in the bible, and the way they did it, since I realized that we human beings are not perfect therefore we can not expect any perfect church’.

Once I was in a very charismatic church in Sweden that was very much against religious behavior of traditional churches. At that time they had a guest preacher there who was mightily used by God in a prophetic and healing ministry. During his preaching I felt the powerful awesome presence of God, so I put my face and arms on the floor when an usher came and pulled me up saying “we do not do such things in our church’. The funny thing was that perhaps one or two minutes after this, the preacher said he felt the presence of God there and that we should worship Him freely and particularly worship Him in the way the Israelites used to worship Him. Then he described exactly that position in which I worshiped just a while ago when the usher said they do not do that in their church.’

In 1981 Jesus spoke to me in Poland and told me to pray laying face down and He would speak to me and lead me. I am to become nothing and He is to become everything.

One of the most touching things in my life was when my wife Denise pointed out to me one day that the carpet in our bedroom was worn where I lay praying. Every night and every morning I lie on the floor and pray. Jesus speaks to me and I visit with Him as I lay on the floor. There is a darkened stain on the floor with the carpet matted and pressed down from my head and body lying on the floor. It is a physical mark of my prayer life that only I am only sharing with you now

I lay on the floor at home, at the office, on the roadsides and before every message I preach even if it is a very dirty roadside or market.

For me lying down is a normal part of my life. As I said in my first column on this subject I pray in all positions but lying down is an everyday occurrence with me.

I do not want my comments to deflect from the only important part of this column, the scripture and the Word of God.

In the next column we will move on with more of the positions of the body in prayer.

God bless you, now go find a place to lay and pray. Try it. It’s in the Word of God.

Pilgrim followers of Jesus,

Arthur and Denise Blessitt

Luke 18:1