Lessons from the Corinthian Church Part 11

In this podcast episode, the speaker is discussing the importance of prayer language and prophecy in the context of the Corinthian church. They emphasize that having a personal prayer language is valid and beneficial, but the use of prophecy in the corporate setting is even more important for the edification of the church. The speaker also explains that speaking in tongues without interpretation can lead to confusion, but this does not negate the need for a prayer language. They encourage seeking both personal and corporate gifts of the Spirit for spiritual growth and strengthening the church. Welcome to CCI Fellowship's Podcast, thank you for joining us. At CCI Fellowship, we are reaching God, reaching each other, and reaching our community. We pray that this week's message challenges you in your walk with the Lord, causes you to grow in your faith, and encourages you in your love for the Word of God. Open your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 14. That's a given. Don't need the notes for that. Alright, we are in part 11 of our series through 1 Corinthians chapter 11 to 14. We are in the final stages here that will probably still take us into January anyway, given the holidays and special services for that. But we started into this chapter last week, chapter 14, Paul brings us into this focus of pursue love above anything else, but also desire the special gifts or the gifts of the Spirit that he gives. He takes this opportunity in the Corinthian church to talk about the difference and the usage of prophecy in the congregation, the gift of tongues with interpretation, and the prayer language. So last week we read through the first five verses, we showed the instances where it was speaking of prayer language of tongues, and instances where it was speaking of in the corporate setting, and the benefit of both of those. We're going to continue today, I'll pick up with verse 5, because it's a key verse to the whole chapter. But I want to ask this, if you are willing to answer the question, how many already have a spiritual prayer language, meaning that you can pray in tongues, you're filled with the Spirit, you can pray in tongues, you can raise your hand. A few of you. How many, not at all, nothing. How many don't know what I'm talking about, whatsoever. Okay, well, the goal, and I believe God has given us this opportunity, is so that we can learn what scripture says, if we follow what scripture says, then we don't get in error. If we allow the Holy Spirit to bring revelation to us, then he's the one that helps us understand it, because he's the one that wrote it in the first place. I was thinking about this chapter, and the fact that really it's the only chapter in the New Testament where we get a glimpse into the use of the gifts of the Spirit in the congregation, it's the only chapter in the New Testament where we get a glimpse into our instruction about how to conduct ourselves in the congregation, and what a service is supposed to look like. And for a long time I looked at that as like, God, why is there so little information? But, as I've been thinking about it this week, it's pretty incredible that there is this amount of information. This is a positive thing given to us. Because if we think about the other nine gifts of the Spirit, scripture really doesn't go into as much detail concerning those things as it does concerning the prayer language of tongues and prophecy. Paul's main effort in this chapter, in the first part of this chapter, is to show the validity of tongues as a prayer language, to show the validity of prophecy for corporate edification, and tongues with interpretation for corporate edification. So, let's pray. Father, we thank you for this time. We thank you, Lord God, that you allow us to be here in your presence, that your anointing is here with us. We pray for eyes that are open, ears that are ready to listen, hearts that are able to receive. We pray, Lord God, that you would teach us tonight, and that you would help us to understand, Father, through all of the sometimes confusion, especially around this topic that is out there. As we have made it difficult, Lord, your Spirit has made it so easy. So, I pray, Lord, that you would help us to see the ease of all of this, to understand clearly, Lord God. As your word was written for both the one who is uninformed and the one who is a scholar, we believe tonight, Lord God, that you can speak to us in whatever stage that we are in. For your honor and glory, in Jesus' name, amen. Alright, verse 5. You'll see again where, through the verses, there will be a PL, which means personal or prayer language, and you'll see a C, which means corporate, so your corporate setting. Paul says, I wish you could all speak in tongues. In other words, I wish you all were able to have a prayer language. That's Paul's desire. He expresses his desire here, and the validity of having a prayer language. But, even more, I wish you could all prophesy. In other words, he switches from this private language that we have with God to the use of something that is a benefit corporately. For prophecy is greater than speaking in tongues, unless someone interprets what you are saying in the corporate, so that the whole church will be strengthened. Verse 6. Dear brothers and sisters, if I should come to you speaking an unknown language, in other words, a prayer language or any unknown language, if Jen got up here and started talking in German, most of us would be pretty lost. Angie and Pete might understand most of it, but the rest of us would be uninformed. And Sylvia. Sylvia could probably speak better German than many of us. So, if they got up and spoke to us in a language that we don't understand, what benefit is that? How would that help you, the verse says. But, if I bring you a revelation, or some special knowledge, or a prophecy or teaching, that will be helpful. Even lifeless instruments like the flute or the harp must play the notes clearly, or no one will recognize the melody. And if the bugler doesn't sound a clear call, how will the soldiers know they are being called to battle? It's the same for you. If you speak to people in words they don't understand, how will they know what you are saying? You might as well be talking into empty space. There are many different languages in the world, and every language has a meaning. But if I don't understand a language, I will be a foreigner to someone who speaks it. And the one who speaks it will be a foreigner to me. The same is true for you. Since you are so eager to have the special abilities the Spirit gives, seek those that will strengthen the whole church. That's corporately. Now, we should not take this statement by Paul. Since you are eager to have the special abilities the Spirit gives, let's understand that when he says this, he's talking about the practice of those spiritual gifts within the corporate setting. What he is not doing is saying, yeah, I said all of this about the personal prayer language, but you don't need it. That's not what he's saying at all. A lot of people have taught it that way. A lot of people have taught, while Paul makes so much emphasis on prophecy and seeking the gifts that will strengthen the body, that we don't need these things that will strengthen us personally. If you are not strong personally, it's very hard to be able to strengthen the body corporately. We need both. Both are vital to our personal spiritual growth and the spiritual growth of the congregation. Paul gives us a bit of logic that we can understand when we're talking about languages. I think we can pretty much get his example here. If we come speaking a different language that no one understands, what benefit is it? But if there's interpretation or if there's understanding. Throughout the history of CCI Fellowship, we've had multiple people who have come to the congregation, have come to our services, whose level of English is not all that great. No, it's the same thing. I was just going to say that second. I'm trying to speak English. I'm learning. But I preached this morning and so my brain is stuck in Spanish. There are people that have come whose level of English has not been very good. And I've asked them, why are you here? Lovingly. Why do you come? You don't understand what's going on. You maybe capture a little bit. Some people come to improve their English, to practice, to be in the environment. That's a good thing. That's how we learn. Pastor Sergio never went to an English class. He learned English by watching movies and playing video games. I think it's pretty impressive, his level of English. Luis Pedro as well. There's ways to learn it. We've had people that have said, you know, I don't understand all of it. But the notes are on the screen so I can look up the verses and the Spirit helps me understand. You see, whatever earthly language it is, the Spirit helps us understand and brings that revelation to us so that we can grow and so that we can benefit from it. So we get the idea of being a bilingual people. There's people in our congregation whose Spanish is not so great. And when they try to talk to the people whose English is not so great, there's not a whole lot of communication going on. For as much as I can speak in Spanish, when I'm downstairs with the other pastors and they start joking around, I don't get any of the jokes whatsoever. They're joking about me and I don't get the jokes. And I just look at them like... So I don't know if they think they're funny and they're wondering why I don't think they're funny, but I just, you know... Adriana's grandmother, we say that she laughs out of cooperation. Her first language is Spanish. She doesn't get the jokes that are told in English. And so when everyone else is laughing, she just laughs. And she's like, I didn't get it, but I laughed anyway. So we understand this. We understand how, then, speaking in tongues in a corporate setting, when there's no interpretation, brings in confusion. But that doesn't negate the need for having this prayer language. It's very clear in Scripture, and we're going to get to this in this chapter, of what the purpose of a prayer language is. But let's keep reading in verse 13. So anyone who speaks in tongues should pray also for the ability to interpret what has been said. That's in the corporate setting. For if I pray in tongues, my spirit is praying. So I want you to notice the things that Paul affirms are true regarding praying in tongues, or speaking in tongues. In verse 4 he says, you are speaking to God. Here it says that, what did I say? My spirit is praying. So there is an engaging interaction between us and God. So he affirms that there is purpose in it. He affirms that there is a productivity in it. But he says that if I pray in tongues, my spirit is praying, but I don't understand what I'm saying. Well then, what shall I do? I will pray in the spirit. Notice that it is a decision. It's not something that just comes upon you and you can't control it, and God doesn't take over your mouth. It says, I will pray in the spirit. And I will pray in words I understand. I will sing in the spirit, and I will also sing in words I understand. So it is an act of the will. It is an act of decision. It is a purposeful thing of, I am going to pray in the spirit, and I'm also going to pray in words that I understand, Paul says. For if you praise God only in the spirit, Now here we come back into the corporate setting. If you praise God only in the spirit, so this affirms that when we're praying in tongues, we're praising God. Do you see that? For if you praise God only in the spirit, how can those who don't understand you praise God along with you? So now we're talking about those who are around us, if you're in a small group setting or whatever. How can they join you in giving thanks when they don't understand what you're saying? You will be giving thanks. There's another affirmation. You will be giving thanks very well, but it won't strengthen the people who hear you. Who will it strengthen? You personally. Then Paul says, I thank my God, I thank God that I speak in tongues, that personal prayer language, more than any of you. But in a church meeting, corporately, I would rather speak five understandable words to help others than 10,000 words in an unknown language. Privately, Paul says, I praise God for the ability to pray in tongues. But here in the meeting, I'd rather be limited to five words that you can understand that have an impact on you than to babble on in a tongue that you don't understand, in a language that you don't understand, because that won't do you any good. I will be edified, but you will not be. And remember that in these five chapters that we're dealing with, four chapters that we're dealing with, Paul is talking about order within the congregation, order within the church setting, and how to go about these things for the benefit of all, which is why he starts this chapter with, Pursue Love, which is why he starts chapter 13 with, Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, I can speak in human languages and I can speak in heavenly languages, but if it's not done in love, then it's worthless. I've become a sounding brass or clanging cymbal. So Paul emphasizes in verse 13, which we covered, Paul emphasizes that the point in all of this is to be motivated by love. If I'm motivated by love, then I'm going to spend time in private being encouraged and strengthened so that when I come into the corporate, I can be used of God to bless you. You can say, well, that's good, you're the pastor. This isn't talking to pastors, this is talking to every church member. Do I pray in tongues in my personal time? Absolutely. That's where I get revelation of how to preach. Some might say, well, you should pray longer. I know that. But if we're not encouraging ourselves privately, this huge desire that the Corinthians had to be used in these special abilities that the Spirit gives, we won't be fit. Because what was happening with them is they were looking at those gifts as a status symbol or an ability that they had only that made them better than everyone else. And as they were gathering together in their meetings, it was more of a show of who was more spiritual or who had the best gift. And Paul says, forget all of that. The best gift is the one that edifies and strengthens and builds up. So Paul gives us balance. Pray in the Spirit, pray in your knowledge. Be engaged in the Spirit. Be engaged in your mind. Even be engaged in your body. I remember one day that, you know, you can mumble in your own language. There are people that just mumble and speak and they're not saying anything. I've heard people, I've read books that they take a long time to say something. And in the end, either they haven't said anything, even though they've been talking for 20 minutes, or what they could have taken two minutes to express, they drug it out and then a long time, and you lose what they want to actually tell you because they've added so many things into it. So we can, the Bible calls it vain babbling. Just repetition, just saying things over and over again. Which is why we need to be conscious when we are praying prayers that we always pray that we don't lose the significance of what our prayers are. The same with when we come and we sing. We're not just singing to fulfill that part of the program. The words mean something. And if we pay attention to what they mean, then it serves as a blessing to us. It encourages our faith and it builds us up. And so there was one day in my prayer devotions, in the morning I was outside praying and I was praying in tongues and I wasn't really paying attention and the Holy Spirit told me just very clearly, stop mumbling. I was like, okay. Which was funny, to me too. But it also reminded me that we can aimlessly pray in the Spirit just as aimlessly we can pray in our known languages. So Paul says, I will do it. I will put purpose behind it. I will put intention behind it so that I'm edified and so that others are edified. He says, pray for the interpretation. If you speak in tongues, mainly in the corporate setting, then you are the one responsible to give the interpretation if there's not someone else to interpret. I think a lot of times what we have done or what has come from Paul's explanation, as I said even at the beginning of the series, we ourselves are the ones that have made it so complicated. The Holy Spirit was trying to make it easy for us to understand, not make it more complicated to us. And so what we have done is focus more on the negative experiences or when somebody has done it wrong, then to focus on the positive things and the truth of what Scripture says. Some of us, maybe those are all the experiences that we've had as the weird and wacky. I've seen weird and wacky and I've seen correct and biblical and in order. And I want to tell you that it's true. It's valid. Two weeks ago, Pastor Ken was here and he was talking about miracles and he said, if you're going to come and tell me now that God doesn't do miracles, you're too late because I've seen it, I've been a part of it, I've experienced it, I've witnessed it. Well, in the same way, if you're going to try and tell me that tongues and the gifts of the Spirit are not for today, I'm sorry, you're too late. Because I know that they are. I've experienced them, I've seen them, I've been in places, like I said, where you could say, not that so much. But in other places where you say that is absolutely God moving through that person. One doesn't negate another simply because of our humanity. The Holy Spirit is perfect and His work is perfect. But in His perfect work and in His perfection, He chooses to use us as His vessels who are not perfect. And we're going to get it wrong sometimes. And so we need to extend grace to each other. But we should not run from it. We should not reject it simply because somebody else has not done it well. We say, God, what part of this is right? And what part of this is Your Word? Because I don't want to reject Your Word. That's where we really get into trouble, is when we reject His Word. So what is the purpose of a prayer language? Well, we can use this chapter itself and answer that question. What is the purpose of a prayer language? If we are to pursue the gifts, but especially that we should prophesy, which says to me that prophecy is actually the most common gift of the nine gifts of the Spirit. Which means anybody can be used in that way. Anybody can be used in that way. So it's no badge of honor. It's no trophy. It's Paul's saying that anybody, everybody may prophesy. So then we've got to ask the question, so why do we need tongues? I think it's a good question. Why do we need tongues? What's the purpose of them? Is it really beneficial? Those who have experienced praying in tongues, who have developed their prayer language of tongues, you know the difference. You know why it's important. You know what it feels like to no longer pray in words that fail you, but to pray from your spirit, not from your mind and things that you are trying to understand. You pray from your spirit, which is in line with God, and that prayer becomes something that instantly lifts you and encourages you. Well, verse 4 says, He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself. So, the purpose of a prayer language is self-edification. Verse 2, it says that when we speak in tongues, when we pray in tongues, we're not speaking to men, but to God. For no one understands him. However, in the Spirit, he speaks mysteries. So, this prayer language, not only is it encouraging to us, it's our direct communication from our spirits to God. It's a more intimate form of interaction or conversation with God. It more accurately conveys to God what we desire in our spirits. But it also, in those tongues, we speak the mysteries of the Spirit. Well, yeah, it's a mystery. I don't understand what I'm saying. We're not talking about just that ministry, but mystery of God that comes through revelation. 1 Corinthians 2, verse 9 to 11, it's not up there, but it tells us that the Spirit searches out the deep things of God and reveals them to us. It says, who has known the mind of the Lord, yet you have the mind of Christ. Where does that understanding come from? It comes from the Spirit. The Spirit searches out the deep, hidden things of God and brings revelation to us so that we can understand more who God is and what our walk with him should be. When you need wisdom for a situation, praying in tongues brings revelation. I just need to know what to do in this situation. I remember there are times that people have come up for prayer and they want me to pray for them, but I want to pray what God wants me to pray, not just what I think is the right resolution to their situation. So I've told them before, I'm going to pray in tongues for a moment, and then I'm going to pray for you. Now, when I take that moment to pray in tongues, I'm not talking to that person. I'm not talking to God, or I'm talking to God. I'm not talking to them. So it's not necessary in that moment for me to translate or to have an interpretation of what I'm praying because I'm communicating with the Spirit so that he can tell me what to pray. Ultimately, there is an interpretation. It comes out in what I pray for the person. So the revelation comes because the Spirit reveals it, and then we can pray according to his will. So the third thing for praying in a prayer language is that when led by the Holy Spirit, we pray according to God's will. And when we pray according to God's will, faith is really easy because we know if it's his will, there's no reason to doubt it. There's no reason to worry about it. Romans 8, 26 and 27 says, Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weaknesses, for we do not know what we should pray for as we ought. But the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now he who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is because he makes intercessions for the faith according to the will of God. And that prayer that the Spirit does, that intercession that the Spirit leads in, is through us praying. Whether that is praying in our known languages or praying in a spiritual language. So there are times that I have spent time, and I only use myself as an example because I know this guy, I'm pretty familiar with him, is not to say I'm better than anybody or that I figured all of this out. I'm just using myself as an example because I know my experiences. There are times that I've spent praying in tongues. That when I switch over and pray into English, I know that what I'm praying in English is a direct translation of what I've just prayed in tongues. And there are other times that I pray in English and switch over to praying in tongues and I know that they are equal. But it passes from being an intellectual prayer to being a spiritual prayer. And both of those are important. Both of those are needed, Paul says. The prayers that we prayed over the kids last week weren't just well wishes. They were prophetic prayers. They were prayers that were revealed by the Spirit of how to pray according to the will of God. Verse 17. It says, For you, indeed, you will be giving thanks very well, but it won't strengthen the people who hear you. In other words, Paul is just reemphasizing the importance of a spiritual language and the importance of clear communication. I mean, really? When we're in the same language, we have problems communicating. Just ask any marriage. My wife and I, we always perfectly communicate. Yeah, whatever. How then can we expect to come in and be showboating the gifts that the Spirit has given us? That's what Paul is dealing with. But the Church for so long has taken this correction from Paul against pride and grandstanding and used it to absolutely silence the gift of a prayer language that God desires for all of us. He desires it for all of us. In conversation this week, somebody asked, Will everyone speak in tongues? No. Is it for everyone? Yes. Will everyone pray in tongues? No. Is salvation for everyone? Yes. Will everyone receive salvation? No. Why not? There's some faith that needs to happen in there. There's some faith that needs to happen in there so that they receive. Just as there needs to be a confession of faith towards salvation, there needs to be a receiving from the Holy Spirit and a willingness to let Him give you this prayer language. Does it sound funny? Absolutely. Why? Because we don't understand it. You know what? Russian sounds funny because I don't understand it. Mandarin sounds funny because I don't understand it. But it doesn't make it any less valid of a language. So also with the languages of heaven. We may not understand it. It may sound funny. It may feel weird to make those movements with your tongue, but that's the same as learning a second language. When you are working on learning another language, your tongue doesn't want to make the movements that the other language needs. The tones that come out of your mouth, you don't know how to make those tones. It's normal. It's normal. A spiritual language for us as believers is normal. It should be normal. And to develop that language is also the same as developing another language in the natural. Where the longer you have lived a life of praying in tongues, you realize, oh, the way that I prayed in tongues when I first started and the way that I have developed now is so much different. The way that I spoke Spanish when I first started speaking Spanish is much different than how I speak it now. When we go home and Adriana talks to her grandmother, her grandmother says, oh, you sound so Honduran. Her grandmother is Puerto Rican. Yeah, she doesn't like Adriana's Spanish. I can talk to her in Spanish, and we can converse back and forth, and she says nothing about my bad accent. But apparently because she has Puerto Rican blood, she should sound like a Puerto Rican. But she's had people here, when she talks to them in Spanish, say, you sound Puerto Rican. She never learned Spanish in a Puerto Rican environment. It just comes out in the blood. But, you know, the cool thing is when the Spirit gets engaged, it just comes out. It just comes out. But you have to let it flow, and you have to receive it by faith, and you have to accept that it's for you, and you have to trust that it's a gift that God wants to give you so that you and he can communicate on a completely different level than you're used to. In verse 18 and 19, Paul gives thanks for the frequency that he's able to pray in the Spirit, while also showing that his priorities are appropriate for the setting. The last verse in this chapter says, Therefore, brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues. Sorry, last two verses. Do not forbid to speak with tongues. Desire earnestly to prophesy. Desire earnestly for the gifts of the Spirit to be manifested in your congregation for the benefit of the body. But also, don't forbid speaking in tongues. Just know that when it's done in a corporate setting, there needs to be some interpretation. If the person stands up and begins praying in tongues and drawing all the attention to themselves, then there needs to be an interpretation of what that is being said. But don't forbid it altogether. Have them both. And then he says, Let all things be done decently and in order. That's the point of these four chapters. Now, just because I read those two verses doesn't mean that we're not going to go through the rest of the verses. That's just where I wanted to end for tonight. How do I get this gift of speaking in tongues? Well, you pray for it. Ask for it. Well, I've asked for it before. Okay. Scripture does say keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking. There's validity in continuing to pray. Why do some get a prayer language like that as soon as they pray for it and others it takes a long time? I don't know. I'm not privy to that information. I don't know what's going on between them and God and what's going on in their spirit or what's going on with their faith or what they're battling in things that they've been taught before. I don't know. Some get it quickly. Some don't. Some receive it. Some receive it, but then they shut it off because, oh, that sounds weird. I've talked to so many people who have said, I didn't know if it was me or if it was the Holy Spirit, so I quit. Well, if you quit, you're never going to get there. You have to practice it. And you'll know in time whether it's you or the Holy Spirit. So Adriana asked me to share my story. So when I was 12, I think, I was called to the ministry when I was 11. When I was 12, I went up at the end of a service because we had altar call after every service. So I went up and asked to be filled with the Spirit. And there was a place at the altar you could go, and then the pastor or one of the elders would come and pray over you. So I knelt down, and the head elder comes over to me, and he says, Well, what do you want me to pray about? And I said, Well, I'd like to be filled with the Holy Spirit. But in my mind, I said, This ain't going to work because it's not the pastor. In my mind, it had to be the pastor to administer this gift. And since it was an elder who I knew spoke in tongues, prayed in tongues, I knew his life, I knew he was filled with the Spirit, there shouldn't have been any problem. But I said, not even in my mind, I said in my heart, This isn't going to work. I didn't have the corresponding faith in the moment to go with what I was asking. And guess what? It didn't work. At all. Not even close. Nothing. There was no feeling of infilling. There was nothing. And so I continued to pray, continued to pray, and continued to pray. And repented, of course, because God had showed me that it was my lack of faith that was standing in the way. And so one Sunday morning, our church had a time where it was just, Praise the Lord in your own language. We're all comfortable with that, right? Praise the Lord in your own words. Whether that's English or Spanish or whatever language you know well. In our church, that meant you could pray in tongues. Why? Because we're not talking to each other, we're talking to God. It's no different in that moment as if we were all talking in whatever language, human language, we knew. And so everyone was praying and I thought, God, I know I want this. I know that you can give it to me and I know that you want it for me. And so I just started to try and mimic the way that my dad's language of tongue sounded. Just to get my tongue loosened up, right? And guess what? A word came out. It didn't sound anything like what my dad was saying. And I knew in that moment that, oh, I just got my prayer language. And guess what? For a year I only had one word. One. One. Word. But I used that word to death. And whenever faith had built in me about it, then God began to give me more of a language and develop it in me. There's nothing wrong with it taking a while. There's nothing wrong with it being little by little, just like learning a natural language. But just like learning a natural language, a spiritual language needs practice to be able to develop it. You can't grow in a natural language if you don't use it. And people who have learned a second language and go years and years without using it, they lose it. Well, it's in there somewhere. I don't know where it is. It's in there somewhere. I used to know how to speak this language. It's the same with the spiritual language. And it is an incredible blessing that God has given us and made available to us through the Holy Spirit so that our minds, we're not relying on our faulty human logic to make every prayer. Our spirit's intelligence is not faulty. It's not limited. What's limited is this thing up here. So if we can engage with God through our spirits in a flawless, unlimited way that is according to His will, that through the Spirit then brings revelation to this human mind to understand the things of God, to understand what His Word says, to understand what He wants us to do, how much better our life in Him will be and how much more effective we will be in blessing others. Amen? Let's stand together. So how do you get it? Ask for it. Whether that's somebody asking somebody that can pray for you, lay hands on you, believe with you, that has a language that you can mimic. There's nothing wrong with that. It works. I know it works. Or if you're alone. Or if you're alone, just ask the Holy Spirit. Fill me with His prayer language. That in all things, love. In all things, peace and peace and order. Let's pray. Father, we magnify You and we thank You and we pray, Lord God, that You would give us understanding and revelation in the things that we are studying concerning Your body, concerning Your church. We thank You for this series and we thank You, Lord God, for this time that we have to look deeply into the things that Paul is speaking by revelation of Your Holy Spirit. Your Word says that all Scripture is inspired by You. So we trust that Paul was inspired by You as he wrote these instructions to the Corinthian church. And as the inspiration has come from the Spirit, we receive it, Lord God, as if the letter was written as an encouragement and an instruction to us. So I pray, Lord God, that You would stir our faith. And Father, we would not shy away from anything that You desire to provide in our lives. So that we may honor and glorify You. So we may reach You. So that through Your Spirit, we may be a blessing to each other. We may reach each other. And then, Father, we would be empowered to advance Your kingdom by reaching the communities that we find ourselves in. Father, we thank You for the empowerment of the Spirit. Help us to understand. Help us to receive. Help us to grow in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Thank you for listening to this week's podcast. If you are ever in the Tegucigalpa area and looking for an English-speaking congregation, please join us on Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. in the main auditorium of Iglesia CCI in Colonial Trepichi, Vista Boulevard, Sollapa, near Una. If you would like prayer or more information about our church, contact us at fellowship.cci at gmail.com. That's fellowship.cci at gmail.com. Or follow us on social media. We hope to see you or hear from you soon. Blessings.