Q&A with Pastor Chris - Why is Speaking in Tongues So Important?

Q&A with Pastor Chris - Why is Speaking in Tongues So Important?

Question: As a Christian, why is speaking in tongues so important? Why must all Christians have it? Answer: Yeah, 1 Corinthians 14:4: “He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself” Wouldn’t you like to edify yourself? Anyone who speaks in tongues edifies himself, that means he builds himself…builds himself like an edifice. He charges himself like a battery [see?] So you don’t wear out or run out of power, because always you have this self building process in your spirit. Now if you would also read in that 1 Corinthians 14, I want to read something to you there from verse 14 “For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth but my understanding is unfruitful”. See, when we pray in an unknown tongue, it’s our spirit that’s praying. It says “...my understanding is unfruitful” [1 Corinthians 14:14], which means it’s not through my mind; it’s through my spirit. In other words when you pray in tongues, you activate your spirit. How would you like to do that? Every Christian ought to do that; every Christian should want to get blessed. Every Christian should like to activate his spirit, should like to pray from his spirit. When you pray in your own language, you are praying in your understanding, because you understand what you are saying, see that? Now, it says [quotes 1 Corinthians 14:14] He says “I don’t understand what I am saying”; then in verse 15 “What is it then? [so, what am I going to do?] I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also...” [1 Corinthians 14:15] You see, praying with the spirit is more important than praying with your understanding. So, he says I will pray with the spirit first, I will pray with the understanding also; it is that with the understanding that is the also, you notice that? So, praying in your own language or in your native tongue is less important than praying in the spirit. Now I go on, “What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.” Paul was an exceptional leader in the Christian church. Now, I want you to listen to what he said about speaking in tongues, “I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all:” [1 Corinthians 14:18] Can you imagine that? He said “I speak with tongues more than ye all”; he was talking to the church in Corinth where there was an abundant supply of the gift of the Spirit. Every Christian should want to pray in tongues; it’s very, very important because of what it does for you. If you don’t do it, you lose all that, you miss all the benefits...why would you? Alright, I’ll just take a few other questions here.