Jonah’s Prayers

The book of prophet Jonah is often considered to be more or less a children’s book. Perhaps due to its content or the length of it… In any case, however, this book still remains God’s Word to us, and the least we can do is pay attention to what it says. For the rest God will use His Spirit to work in us through it.

Now you are probably asking yourself “But what can this book teach me on prayer?” At first glance soma may say “Little!” A careful reading of the text, however, will reveal to you that nearly half of the time of the story Jonah spends in prayer or talking to God. The second and fourth chapters of the book describe two prayers which are very important to learn from, and at the same time – very different from each other. Read the rest of this entry »

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Prayer for the Saints

“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now…” Such is apostle Paul’s attitude towards the believers he is writing his letters to. This particular quote is from Philippians 1:3-5, NIV. Each letter of Paul from the New Testament, besides the one to the Galatians, contains in its beginning a special part in which the apostle expresses his thanksgiving to God for the brothers and sisters he is writing to. The paragraph of thanksgiving is a typical part of the personal letters in Paul’s time. Unique, however, is the way in which he decides to give thanks. While the secular letters expressed thanks to the gods for various personal issues, such as health, welfare, etc. Paul thanks to God and not for issues of his own, but for the recipients of his letter – his family in Christ. Read the rest of this entry »

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Be Faithful in Prayer

Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality (Romans 12:11-13, NIV).

Paul’s letter to the church in Rome from the first century is often limited to a well written lesson on systematic theology. This, however, is the very reason due to which most of the letter’s today’s readers miss seeing the practical guides which make up the message. After all, Romans is a letter by a caring spiritual father to his children in the faith. Thus, after clarifying for his brothers and sisters in Christ the basics of the Christian faith Paul does not forget to also remind them how to show this faith through practice in their lives. The whole chapter 12, as well as much of the following ones, is a description of how the life of a believer ought to be like. So, before you continue reading this devotional, please, do read the whole chapter 12 of Romans (you may also read till the end of the letter).

It does not come by surprise that in the middle of this description one finds the phrase “faithful in prayer.” Multiple times already we have turned our attention to how seriously Paul takes prayer. In most Bibles there is two references attached to this phrase. These two other passages confirm the apostle’s teaching. Read the rest of this entry »

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My Grace is Sufficient for You

Daily each of us turns to a friend, someone else we know, relative, colleague… and often to someone on the street with a request of some sort. Daily we have so many requests towards the people around us that it is very difficult to keep our requests to God unaffected by this. Naturally, and frankly quite unnoticed our attitude in prayer to God begins to resemble our attitude towards the people whom we ask for a favor, help, or to simply bring us a glass of water. Turning to the people, however, we almost always expect our request to be answered in the particular way we requested it. Such an attitude towards God, on the other hand, would lead even the most hopeful and believing Christian to big disappointments. God isn’t some sort of a wish-delivering machine. Moreover, He would often answer our requests in quite unexpected ways. Let us learn to hear, see and accept God’s answer, for it is always the best we can get!

Apostle Paul has undoubtedly learned the same lesson… and just as we are learning it – not painlessly. It is known that he suffered a lot due to some kind of a health problem. A problem for which we can read more in 2 Corinthians 12. Let us turn our attention to verses 8 and 9: “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me” (NIV). Read the rest of this entry »

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Selective Christianity

Selection is in the heart of consumerism. Selection is what drives you as you browse the grocery store. Selection is what “helps” you have what you want. Selection is behind the relationship you have with your partner. Does that mean you’re a selective Christian? Well, it could… One thing is certain, though – being surrounded by so much “selection moments” can surely make you one. The more you exercise your selection abilities, the more you’ll think that you are always in the position and authority to select.

How is selection being practiced by Christians? It’s quite simple to answer actually – just pay attention to it as you go in your everyday life. The first thing which comes to mind is (sadly enough!) God’s very Word. We (me including) all have what we call “favorite verses”, favorite books, favorite characters. But what about the rest? Does our narrow focus mean that we don’t consider the rest of the Bible as important, as valid, as applicable… as directed to us? Yes, yes, yes!!! That’s exactly what it means. I know this will challenge you a bit, but answer to me, please, why then do you not study all parts of the Bible equally and apply them so? A bit too many Christians rather learn the “give me” and “bless me” verses, than the “I will do” or “I will be” ones. Read the rest of this entry »

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Lost Lives. Saved Lives.

This post has been strongly affected by LifeChurch.tv’s 30 Days to Live series, which you can watch at this address: http://www.lifechurch.tv/Default.aspx/p/39? SermonID=115&CategoryID=8 I suggest that you take the time to watch those 4 sermons (~30min. each). The basic thought behind the whole series is something like this: Life on earth is just a brief moment. Live your life with God as if you had 30 more days to live. It’s quite an awakening thought as to what is actually important in life. Even more so are the interviews with several people for whom the doctors say have a very limited time with us, as well as some others who have barely made it alive through cancer and other life threatening diseases.

The thought of lost lives has been on my mind for quite some time, but these sermons helped it develop much deeper. Have you ever thought about the lives of people you read about in the news? Where will they end up? Take it a step further – as God’s sent one does it impact you at all? Read the rest of this entry »

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Honest Prayer and Repentance

Very few things can wake me up in excitement at 2am as Psalm 51 with king David’s brokenness and God’s tender yet mighty response. I hope this will speak to you as it did to me. Blessings! -Petar

The world would be completely different if no one was honest. So would your repentance and prayers. In fact, one’s repentance and prayers are so different when they are not honest, that it is as if they weren’t there at all. There is no faked repentance, neither is there faked prayer. They are either real or no such at all. However, let us pay some attention to the sincere repentance and prayer. Psalm 51 is one of the most powerful and descriptive texts from the Bible on this topic.

The whole story behind this psalm you can read in the book of 2 Samuel chapters 11 and 12. To summarize it, the story goes like this: king David is walking on the roof of his house and sees a beautiful woman showering – Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife. He sends people to bring her and he sleeps with her. After this he sends her back home. Soon enough, however, she lets David know that she is pregnant. As a response to this David sends her husband, Uriah to the first line of the military fights that are going on at the time, and gives instructions for him to be left alone so that he can be killed. Once Uriah is dead David takes Bathsheba for his wife and she gives birth to a son. “But the thing David had done displeased the Lord” (2Sam. 11:27, NIV). Then God sends the prophet Nathan, who reveals to David his sin. Seeing it David repents. Psalm 51 is David’s repentance and prayer to God. Read the rest of this entry »

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Am I a Double Faced Christian?

It has been a while since my last article on the theme of true or vintage Christianity. This one will be a bit more different than the previous, yet the focus is the same.

What do I mean by double faced? In brief – the fact that among Christians I behave in one way and then among non-Christians in another. That was too simple… I don’t want to be misunderstood. I’m not talking about details, certain use of language, etc. I’m talking about a general attitude.

How do I behave among Christians… Well, I’ve noticed that I’m more critical, I expect more… often you would say I’m not as welcoming as I ought to be. I realize that often it’s also harder for me to truly love Christians (compared to non-Christians).

Then among non-Christians I catch myself to be much more lively, much more welcoming, certainly show more understanding… It’s just much much easier for me to express and show love for those people – whether they like me or not. Read the rest of this entry »

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John 10:7-18 – An Exegesis

This paper has been written by me in the course of my theological studies at European Nazarene College (www.eunc.edu). You may use this text as a part of your work provided that you give credits to its author – Petar Neychev. If you have questions – please, leave a comment or contact me through the Contact Us page.

Often noted for being different and highly debated, the fourth Gospel of the New Testament, the Gospel of John presents to its reader an image and message of Christ, which is not simply different from those of the Synoptic Gospels, but also completes them. So it is with the parable of the Shepherd and His Flock, as the NIV Bible entitles it, found in John 10:1-21. This parable is only found in the Gospel of John, and although this paper will not discuss it at its entirety, I will make an attempt by exegeting the second part of the discourse – Jesus’ explanation of the parable, to make clearer its meaning for today’s readers. Before this, however, I ought to give some attention to the Gospel of John in general, as it will later aid the interpretation and understanding of the passage. Read the rest of this entry »

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John Wesley and Sanctification

This paper has been written by me in the course of my theological studies at European Nazarene College (www.eunc.edu). You may use this text as a part of your work provided that you give credits to its author – Petar Neychev. If you have questions – please, leave a comment or contact me through the Contact Us page.

It could often be noted that in speaking about the life of a believer theological language is neglected for the sake of so called “practical considerations”, thus denying the encompassing nature of theology. This tendency emerges and becomes even more obvious when speaking about sanctification as a reality in the life of believers. Is sanctification to be observed and interpreted only from a “lived-out” perspective – the way we see it expressed through the believer’s behavior and attitude, or is it to be considered also theologically, and thus made even more complicated? While the former is clearly a more attractive and easy, the latter approach provides the individual with a broader understanding of the issue, as well as defends the claim that theology properly understood is practical at all times. This latter approach is also the one which will be used in the following pages as the reader will be taken on the bumpy road of understanding John Wesley’s words on that matter – his doctrine of sanctification. Thus, the reader will be presented with the essence of Wesley’s doctrine, its relationship with other doctrines that are crucial, as well as the implications of all this. Finally, a biblical and experiential critique of the doctrine of sanctification will be presented. Read the rest of this entry »

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