Forgive the repetition but for some folks it helps.There are four clear,but massive,answers to the question concerning all things spiritual for Christians. Paul gives them in I Corinthians Chapters 12 to 14.
The First is Christian conversion – under the Holy Spirit, Jesus alone is LORD
The Second is Christian community, or church, which is the body of Christ and every Christian is given the gift of being a healthy working part in that body.
The Third is the criterion of all God’s gifts, the ONE gift by which all the others are tested – and that is Love. The Love of Christ.
Now the Fourth great gift of the Spirit is Christian Communication-and this is the subject of Chapter 14.
If you are a spirit-filled, spirit-led Christian, it will show in the way you speak, in the way you communicate. It will also show in the way you commune with God, in prayer. Why you can even be given a prayer language. Millions have.
It will show in the way you live in the world, it also shows in the way you take part in worship. It will show in a mature approach to work and worship in which God is your focus and centre, and unselfconscious response to Him is the key to it all. But not showing off in public! Exhibitionism belongs in public galleries not public worship.
Speaking of worship, Chapter 14 makes clear:
it is not to be a passive audience with one or two star performers:
it is free, but ordered:
it is structured, but flexibly alert to the promptings of God the Spirit:
it is not mere ritual, nor rigmarole, nor is it a riot:
it is the communication of saints with God and each other, and it’s glorious when it’s real, for that is when our communication becomes communion.
Paul said:
“I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue. Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults.” I Corinthians 14:18-20
A Prayer:
Gracious Lord, whose greatest privilege for human kind is worship – which is the highest experience humans might attain – by your Spirit transform and lift our worship into joyous communion with you, both now and evermore.
Now read Revelation 19: 1-10