What is praying in tongues?
…if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. (1 Corinthians 14:14)
The context of this verse is instruction to the church of Corinth on how to behave as a collective. The word translated as ‘tongue’ is γλῶσσα glossa ‘language’ which means it is not a meaningless set of sounds but a structured speech with the purpose of communication.
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. (Mark 1:35)
It is notable that Jesus often sought solitude to pray, but what exactly did he do or say? The Greek verb used in the verse above is προσεύχομαι proseuchomai, which derives from pros ‘towards’ and euchomai ‘to wish’. Thus praying is literally an interaction of wishes.
While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. (Acts 13:2-3)
In Greek, the verb ‘to fast’ is νηστεύω nesteuo from ne,implying negation, and ἐσθίω esthio ‘to eat’, thus nesteuo is literally ‘to not eat’. But in the context of the Bible, this is abstinence not starvation. Thus, a Biblical definition of a fast is to refuse food in order to better focus on God – or put in the negative, and especially in a modern context, fasting without prayer is merely dieting.
Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up… (Ephesians 4:11-12)
The word evangelist comes direct to English from the Greek, being εὐαγγελιστής euaggelistés (Strongs 2099) from the verb euaggelizó, eu ‘good’ and angello ‘announce’, hence to announce something good:‘to bear good news’ – the good news being the Gospel of Christ. If it is such good news, how is it then so difficult to talk about this to people without an eternal hope in Christ? Why do most Christians think evangelism is not for them? If we were asked to inform a person they had won the lottery, we would have no difficulty – yet the Gospel, with its eternal hope that trumps any lottery infinitely, we eschew.
Can any Christian take pride in their actions. Paul suggests you can. In this blog post, I examine what the Bible tells us about pride and its flip side, humility and how both qualities reveal on what, and in whom, men and women find their security.
Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else… (Galatians 6:4)
Greek word translated is καύχημα; kauchéma (Strong’s 2745) and means ‘boast’; properly, it is the grounds for boasting; in other words pride, self-glorification or exultation.
Pride is almost always a negative quality in Scripture but in his letter to the churches of Galatia, Paul, within a narrow definition, says a person can take some credit for their actions. This is an important point, because the follower of Christ is not a puppet, God continues to grant license to make poor decisions along with wise ones, and do evil along with good.
If faith is commitment before knowledge, then doubt is inevitable. The most famous of doubters is Thomas the twin, one of Jesus’s disciples, but John the Baptist also came to doubt Jesus as the Christ. How given his own anointing could he doubt? In this post, I examine, doubt, where it arises and how it is part of faith.
In this post I examine why Jesus had to born of a virgin. Scripture does not give a single definitive answer, but the explanation is to be found when both the Old and New Testament are considered together.
Scripture suggests that a man or woman will regret nothing about the circumstances of their lives but will rue their decisions in response to them. In this post, I examine what God would have us know about eternal regret.
It is in the nature of men and women to ‘boast’ of their achievements, to take pride in their homes, possessions, even their family; their success in business or for their intellectual recognition; the internet and social media is full of people who are ‘self-made’ and who relish the independence they have gained. Men and women measure their status by how influential they are, or delight in executive positions as the heads of powerful corporations and governments. And Scripture does not proscribe boasting entirely.
May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.(Galatians 6:14)
God Breathed Words 