1 Corinthians 14:14-17 

¹⁴For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. ¹⁵So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding. ¹⁶Otherwise when you are praising God in the Spirit, how can someone else, who is now put in the position of an inquirer, say “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since they do not know what you are saying? ¹⁷You are giving thanks well enough, but no one else is edified.

First Time

When I was still beginning to practice faith, I attended a prayer meeting. It was my first time. During prayer meeting, I was in a group together with the Pastor and the Chairman of the Board. Since it was my first time, I assume that they would not ask me to pray verbally. What do you think? That’s right!

The pastor told me to say a prayer. I never verbalized a prayer in public before. Anyway, I prayed. After I finished praying, the Pastor and the Chairman of the Board said, “Amen.” And, I felt so much relief and gladness in my heart.

Have you ever verbally prayed in public? Be prayerful now! Someone may ask you to say a prayer audibly during Christmas Party dinner. Will you do it?

When they ask you to say a prayer, well, that is one practical proof that you have been observed meticulously. Don’t be caught by surprise.

God designed a divine appointment for you to testify of his transformational work in your life. So, keep praying to be filled with the Holy Spirit always.

How do you personally interpret what Christ taught in Matthew 6:5-8? ⁵Do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. ⁶But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. ⁷And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. ⁸Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Scholars suggest that Pharisees pray in public just for promotional stunts. They wanted the public to see their spirituality. Well, when should we publicly pray, and when should we pray privately. Our personal prayer should be private. But during congregational gathering or worship services, we pray audibly, why? If other believers understand what we are praying for, they mindfully say, “Amen.”

1.  Pray

¹⁴For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. ^15aSo what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding;

Praying in tongue may have caused confusion to the Corinthian church.

Really? The whole chapter 14 of first Corinthians addressed the confusion of speaking in tongue or praying in tongue. To speak in tongue can mean speak in languages of people or angelic languages. If nobody translates or explains what has been spoken in tongue, confusion and misunderstanding may happen. Who can benefit if someone speaks in tongue of angels, and nobody can understand, translate or explains it? The speaker may even put himself in trouble also. How?

Naimas/Napintas

If you visit foreign countries, you want to appreciate delicious food, right?

If you visit Northern Philippines, know that the Ilokano translation for “Delicious food” is “Naimas nga makan,” and “Beautiful children” is “Napintas nga ubbing.”

Many years ago, a missionary tried to practice those Ilokano phrases he recently learned. When curious children surrounded him, he said with booming voice, “Naimas nga ubbing!” And the children were frightened and ran away.

The missionary asked his interpreter why they ran away. He explained that he used the wrong word. Instead of “Napintas nga ubbing” or “Beautiful children” he said, “Naimas nga ubbing” which literally means, “Delicious children.” And the children may have interpreted that the huge missionary wanted to eat them.

Speaking in foreign tongue or language may probably result to confusion or misunderstanding. If you don’t understand or translate your words, avoid it.

How do you interpret what Jude 1:6 warns? ⁶The angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.

Those rebellious angels are called fallen angels or demons of the devil. They violated their designated authority. They gave up their residency in heaven. They were thrown out of heaven. Can fallen angels pressure anyone to commit sin? Can demons deceive anyone to be attracted by worldly entertainment?

Well, many Christians struggle with materialism also. We are advised in Ephesians 6:11-12, ¹¹Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Do you accept that angels are more powerful than human beings? Do you accept that fallen angels can appear like humans to deceive anyone? Now, if fallen angels were misled and abandoned their designated obligation in heaven, human beings are not exempted. Anyone can be deceived. Be prayerful, mindful and understand what you practice. And we need the help of the Spirit of Truth.

Remember what Christ Jesus declares in John 16:13-14, ¹³The Spirit of truth will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. ¹⁴He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.

It glorifies Jesus Christ when Holy Spirit speaks and guides us. The Holy Spirit helps us trust and follow the prescriptions from Christ. What happens if we follow our natural instinct? What happens if we disregard the instructions of God?

Together, let us observe when God commanded Moses in Number 20:8-12. ⁸“Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together.

Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.” ⁹So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence, just as he commanded him. ¹⁰He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” ¹¹Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank. ¹²But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”

Actually, that was the second time that Israel grumbled and quarreled with Moses when they cannot find water. It happened at Kadesh. God told Moses, “Speak to the rock!” but instead of speaking to the rock at Kadesh, Moses struck the rock. The first time Israel grumbled about water was at Horeb. God told Moses to strike the rock at Horeb or Mt. Sinai in Exodus 17:6, ⁶I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel.

God made water came out of a rock twice. The first time, God told Moses to strike the rock at Horeb. The second time, God told him to speak to the rock at Kadesh. First, strike the rock at Horeb; next, speak to the rock at Kadesh. Why?

Did God test if Moses was attentively listening or not? Moses heard God but his action was dictated by his anger toward the grumbling Israelites. Well, it had the same result. Water came out. Obey or not, there are consequences. God said, ¹²“Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”

God let Moses saw from a distance the Promised Land but he didn’t get in. By faith, we expect Christ to return and take us into heaven. We should obey our mandate to testify for Christ, but we wait to be inspired by the Holy Spirit. Why? The Holy Spirit inspires us to worship God in Spirit and truth and to practice our spiritual gifts. The Holy Spirit teaches the truth for us to praise God mindfully.

2.  Praise

^15bI will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding. ¹⁶Otherwise when you are praising God in the Spirit, how can someone else, who is now put in the position of an inquirer, say “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since they do not know what you are saying?  

The term, “Amen” literally means, “Truly, let be it” or “Truly, let it happen.”

In the New Testament, “Amén” is used to affirm the truthfulness of a statement of praise or prayer. Praise and worship are not limited to singing. We sing songs of praises and gratitude to God. We also sing songs as our prayer to God.

As part of worship to God, we give our offering to God and return his tithes; the announcement part of worship encourages participation to church activities; we also read and listen to preaching of the Scripture. Sometimes, we gather for fellowship; we have congregational meeting and we also elect ministry leaders.

There are various expressions of worship, praise and gratitude to God. But we should mindfully seek guidance of the Holy Spirit so that as children of God, all our activities may bring glory and praise to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

How do you personally interpret the prayer of Jesus Christ in John 17:1-5? ¹Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. ² For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. ³Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. ⁴I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. ⁵And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

What is eternal life? How do we explain it to children? Jesus said, “Eternal life is to know God and Jesus Christ.” To “know God” is intimate relationship with God and experiential knowledge of Jesus Christ. The nearest illustration of experiential knowledge is an intimate relationship between husband and wife.

The relationship of husband and wife is more intimate than relationships among friends, siblings or parents and children. There’re secrets and fantasies of husbands and wives that they reserve for themselves only, and we respect that.

Similarly, our relationship with God becomes intimate as we experience his grace and love through Christ. Christ said in Revelation 2:17, ¹⁷To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.

Why will Christ give new name in heaven that only the one who receives the name can know it? Others won’t know the name that he gives us in heaven. So, how can we address each other then? And we have no privilege to choose our name. God chooses names he wants to call us, why? We can only speculate.

When God calls our name in heaven, we spontaneously praise him. Why? Our name that Christ gives us may remind his sacrificial love, and we praise him. We hope to be edified, built up and progress in gratitude to God as his church.

3.  Progress

¹⁷You are giving thanks well enough, but no one else is edified.

As we progress in thankfulness, we desire to practice our spiritual gift to bring praise and glory to Christ. We are encouraged to desire for spiritual gifts that strengthen, educate, edify, build up and encourage each other in the church.

Again, the spiritual gift of speaking in tongue edifies the person who practices it. But if there’re interpreters, it may also help edify, educate or build up the church.

There should be translators who can explain what is spoken in tongue. Or we should practice spiritual gifts that edify and build up each other in the church.

Now, if we understand each other’s prayer, we can agree together and say “Amen” in approval. If we understand each other, we can agree and sing praise to God with understanding together as brother and sister in Christ. Surely, there are things we may reveal to others. There are also things we keep as secret.

Dream

Observe it when Joseph told his dream to his siblings in Genesis 37:7-11.

⁷“We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.” ⁸His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said. ⁹Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” ¹⁰When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?” ¹¹His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

When Joseph told them his dream, his brothers were furious why? They may have bullied him. They were harsh to him but one day Joseph will be their master. That’s not acceptable to them. So, they’re jealous that his dream might come true. Their father Jacob hoped that the dream of Joseph may come true, that’s why he kept the matter in mind. In those times, God speaks in dreams.

The story of Joseph exemplifies matters and revelations from God that are not supposed to be told. Nevertheless, God let Joseph revealed his dreams, and the resentment of his brothers toward him turned into nightmare. Jealousy and anger pressured his brothers and sold Joseph as slave to Egypt subsequently.

Have you ever revealed your dreams, plans or vision, but someone is not interested or amused to what you said? Well, there will always be someone who is not interested in our ideas, and there will always be someone who may listen attentively. Anyone has personal dream but certainly, everyone needs a Savior.

Today, we lighted the Green candle that represents Hope, and the Blue candle represents Peace. We gather to encourage each other as we hope for the return of Christ sooner. May peace prevails in us as we hope for the coming of Christ! He promised in Revelation 22:12, ¹²Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.

Let us be prayerfully mindful on how we can be fruitful spiritually and hope to be rewarded when Christ returns. As we wait for Christ to return, we pray to be inspired by the Holy Spirit and understand our divine purposes in this life.

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