Prophecy and Tongues



One who speaks in a tongue,
Should pray to interpret;
So the words that are flung,
Are heard like a trumpet.

If I pray in a tongue,
My spirit also prays;
But my mind has not swung,
With unfruitful delays.

So what am I to do?
I pray with my spirit;
My mind tries to construe,
What the words do merit.

My spirit shall sing praise,
As I sing with my mind;
Throughout all of my days,
And perfectly aligned.

If I give thanks with praise,
How can an outsider;
Say “Amen” as one prays,
Who would be a chider.

I thank God how I speak,
Well enough to construe;
Since I will always seek,
More than any of you.

For in church I would speak,
With five words on my mind;
To teach others that seek,
That want to lead the blind.

Copyright ©2022 Richard Newton Sherrer

About this poem

Prophecy: A Superior Gift 1 Corinthians 14:13-19

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Written on February 27, 2022

Submitted by richards.77936 on February 26, 2022

Modified on March 05, 2023

54 sec read
5

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABAB ACAC DBDB CECE CFCF GDGD GEGE F
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 763
Words 183
Stanzas 8
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 1

Richard Newton Sherrer

I was born and raised on a farm in Pennsylvania. It was a small family farm that was handed down through 8 generations of Sherrer men until my father; Newton just could not make a living from it any longer. He thought that I would make a better living away from the farm. So, I decided to join the Air Force in 1969 upon graduating from high school. I gained quite a bit of experience and insight on life while in the service. Even though I was only stationed on the east coast of the US, my Air Force career took me to Germany and Korea. After 20 years wearing of the blue uniform, I decided going in a different direction and found myself becoming very diverse in many different fields. Something still seemed missing to me after being separated from the service for about 10 years. The Air Force was a way of life for me, but really missed life in Korea. I found myself changing careers again. Poetry was an interest of his since my days in high school. With returning to the Lord, I felt motivated to write of my Christian beliefs. I started looking at Bible verses and reflecting on my own personal experiences. The Bible was found to be as true today as to when the various books were written. I could see much of what the Bible is teaching us as valid as every in modern time. It felt only natural to me on using his personal experience based on Bible verses and see much of my own life written in the Scriptures. God inspires me what to write about though. I do not claim to be an expert on God or the Bible. I am just a Christian who has become enlightened to write poetic verses from the Holy Scriptures. more…

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