1 Corinthians 14:13-15
What is written? (ESV)
Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray for the power to interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also.
What does it say?
Therefore, anyone with the gift of tongues should pray [to God] for the power to also interpret. For if I [Paul] pray in a tongue, my spirit is praying but my intellect isn’t benefiting. What should I do then? I will pray with both my spirit and my mind, just as I will sing praises with my spirit and with understanding.
What is its immediate context?
Paul is writing to the church in Corinth about orderly worship (really beginning all the way back in chapter 10). Beginning in chapter 12 and through this chapter 14, he is addressing speaking in tongues and mostly comparing/contrasting this gift of the Spirit and its appropriate use with the gift of prophesying. In particular, they were using miraculous gifts of tongues improperly (with no interpreter – vs 27). Since there was no interpreter, it was not useful for the “building up” of the church (vs 5), therefore it wasn’t to be done (without an interpreter).
How 1 Corinthians 14:13-15 is applied across Bible answers
What does it mean to pray in the Spirit?
"Spirit" here is not referring to the Holy Spirit and therefore doesn't apply to this question. His larger point is that no one should speak in a tongue without an interpreter, and he's applying it even to himself. To pray in the Spirit is not to pray in tongues.
What is the gift of tongues?
Paul uses the example of prayer and singing to illustrate the need for anything we do to be done with understanding. Therefore, speaking in tongues should only be done if someone is there that can interpret.
