the most important gift

I like to start a debate among believers by asking them, what is the most important gift.  Most of the time they will pick one of the nine gifts of the Spirit, and of course I always answer no to every guess they offer.  The most important gift of all is the Holy Spirit Himself, without Him there are no gifts. 
 
1 Corinthians 12:3 No man can say that Jesus is Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.
 
Before Jesus returned to Heaven He told His followers that He would send another comforter, someone who would take His place.  Jesus was a man and He could only be in one place at a time.  His replacement could be everywhere all at once.  The Comforter is the Holy Ghost, our most important gift.  If you do not understand the ministry of the Spirit just read how Jesus ministered to His disciples.  He revealed the Father’s will to them, He protected them and He took care of their material needs.  Despite the promise of another Comforter, most Christians are ignorant of the purpose and ministry of the Holy Spirit.  When I was a young Catholic boy the priest slapped me across the face and said “Receive the Holy Spirit”.  All I got was a red welt on my cheek!
 
Acts 2:4 And they were filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues.
 
Tongues is the evidence that proves one is filled with the Holy Ghost.  Many believers leave everything right there.  Tongues is more than evidence, it’s your prayer language and most Christians don’t use it enough.  I’ve heard many times that people don’t pray in tongues because they don’t understand what they are saying.  That’s true to a degree, but if you and the devil don’t understand what you’re saying, neither one of you can mess it up.  The devil has fought tooth and nail to keep the Holy Spirit out of the church and a lot of Christians have helped him.  Christianity is all about faith and we pray in tongues by faith, believing that God hears us.
 
1 Corinthians 14:13 Let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret.
 
Often times I will pray in tongues in the morning and later in the day the information I need will just come to me.  I wanted to build our church debt free but I didn’t know how, so I prayed in tongues and later I knew what I had to do.  God would always direct me to give to another ministry in a building project of their own.  Almost everything God tells us to do does not make any sense.  Do you want to know why?  Because God is a Spirit, not a flesh being.  I can hear men in my mind but I can only hear God in my spirit, He always does what He said in His Word He would do.
 
1 Corinthians 14:4 He that speaks(prays) in an unknown tongue builds himself up.
 
How does a man get built up by praying in tongues?  The Holy Spirit gives us the Word of God that we need to become strong.  We don’t always know what to pray for as we ought but the Holy Spirit does and He provides our prayer.  It’s kind of like the disciples when they asked Jesus to teach them how to pray.  The Holy Ghost gives us the perfect prayer every time for every occasion.  In order to position yourself in God’s perfect will you must first come to trust Him.  You cannot receive from the Lord His riches in glory until you come to trust Him.  We develop trust in Him by getting to know Him through His Word.