Can you imagine a Sunday morning service where everyone was preaching, teaching, or prophesying at the same time? That would be bizarre and ineffective. Likewise, Paul was instructing the Church not to create an environment of confusion by misappropriating tongues for interpretation. In the wrong setting, this expression of tongues is chaotic and purposeless. Earlier in this same chapter Paul makes it clear that tongues are not to breed confusion, but rather to bring understanding and revelation.

I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all; yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue. (1 Corinthians 14:18-19)

It is pretty simple: if a public tongue is used, it must be interpreted for the benefit of those present. Otherwise, it would be better to simply communicate in a known language.

Day 5

Three: Tongues for Personal Prayer

For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding. (1 Corinthians 14:14-15)

The first two types of tongues we discussed are for public expression and communicate a message from God to men. Tongues for a sign are intended to reach out and minister to the unbeliever; tongues for interpretation are intended to minister to the believer. In the verses above, Paul introduces the third type of tongues: tongues for personal prayer. He is no longer talking about public ministry; rather he is teaching about tongues to be used for private purposes. This form of tongue is for personal edification and prayer. Paul specifically states that we can “pray with the understanding,” which for me would mean praying in English, or we can “pray with the spirit,” which means praying in an unknown language—a heavenly one. He also declares that we can sing (worship) either way as well.

Earlier in 1 Corinthians 14 we read, “He who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God” (verse 2). We know this manifestation of the Spirit could not refer to tongues as a sign, because on the Day of Pentecost, the disciples were speaking to men—declaring the wonderful works of God in foreign languages. Paul also couldn’t be speaking of tongues for interpretation, for this gift refers to a believer speaking to a church in an unknown heavenly language (which would need to be interpreted). Here Paul is specifically addressing a person who, in the spirit, “is not speaking to men but to God.”