I never used to be a reader. But over the years, as I've faced many challenging moments in my life of various kinds, I realized that there is so much knowledge to be found in books from authors who are ordinary people like us that also go through circumstances in their lives like we do and have already walked the hard path and come out the other side. These authors write books from their experience of overcoming certain obstacles and then give their wisdom that helps and encourages me in my spiritual walk for what I'm currently facing. Through others' journeys, we can gain insight from their life-learned wisdom in order to grow closer to God.
I can now say I am a vivid reader and now a writer who, in turn, also writes from a place of healing where God has taken me through, and my heart behind my writing is to make God known to others as He has proven Himself ever-so-faithful time and time again. My goal in my writing is for other women also to grow closer to God.
But before diving into these resources, let me first remind you that they are just a resource to grow closer to God; they are not the source. They come second to the Bible, the only and ultimate source of truth (Psalm 119:160). Next to the Bible, the ultimate source of truth, these books have been impactful encouragement and guides through seasons of my life, and I refer back to them on many occasions. However, the truth itself can only be found in the Word of God. Here are five books I recommend that have enormous amounts of wisdom through the author's experiences. I hope they encourage you, give you strength and direction in areas of your life, and ultimately point you to grow closer to God.
1. It's Not Supposed to Be This Way by Lysa Terkeurst
Lysa is a New York Times bestselling author who writes to you as if you were having coffee with her on your kitchen table. In this book, It's Not Supposed to Be This Way, Lysa talks about how we as humans expect our lives to turn out a different way than they are turning out. When our lives don't turn out the way they are supposed to in our minds, disappointments strike. For many of us, these throw us off our rockers, but Lysa does a beautiful job of guiding us through a perspective of how to live in this disappointing world when things don't go as we'd hoped or expected. This book helps us find unexpected strength when disappointments leave us shattered. She teaches us how to recognize the enemy's strategies when uncertain outcomes come our way and help us discover ways to remain steadfast when these outcomes strike. This book will encourage you to see the goodness of God in these moments and gives us biblical assurance that disappointments don't mean that God is cruel, but in fact, it's Him preparing and protecting us because He loves us that much.
This book will grow you closer to God because you will begin to understand that God is sovereign and has a plan for you, even if your plan isn't what you thought it was supposed to look like. As you begin to rely on Him trusting His ways are good no matter what, it will draw you closer to Him.
2. I Am Loved by Wendy Blight
Wendy Blight has written numerous books as a true Bible teacher, and I encourage you to check out all her work. She deep dives into the Word, and her writing is seamlessly spelled out as she has a way of speaking directly to your heart. In her book I Am Loved, she talks about her personal life of how she always knew that God loved her, as we are all taught this early on or at some point in our life. But what does it mean to have God love us on a personal level down to the depths of our souls? What does it mean to actually live your life from a place of being fully loved? This book is about how to walk in the fullness of God's love. She exposes God's love through the eyes of the last disciple to walk with Jesus as this book guides you through the book of 1 John. This is a book that teaches you about God's love and prepares you to live with a whole new perspective by living your lives walking in this unconditional type of love. After reading this book, it will compel you to long for the complete fullness of God's love, and in turn, it will lead you to confidently walk in His love. This book also helps you identify and overcome any walls or barriers keeping you from walking in this type of complete love and shed them from your life.
This book will grow you closer to God because you will not just know why and how much God loves you, but you will believe it to the core and begin living it out in your life. Knowing His love for you will draw you closer to Him as you begin to receive the fullness of His love.
3. Enough by Sharon Jaynes
Sharon James is a bestselling author and has written so many books that have been influential in my life persona, so I encourage you to explore her other books as well. In her book Enough, she guides you step by step on how to silence the lies that steal your confidence. We live in a world full of lies that are thrown at us everywhere we look. We have thousands of thoughts a day enter our minds that we aren't quite "enough" – smart enough, pretty enough, good enough, skinny enough – and the list goes on. Sharon's wisdom and insight in this book is a true-life changer as she teaches us to stop listening to these lies that are stealing our joy and sabotaging our confidence keeping many of us from living in the truth that God says about us vs. what the world says about us. After reading this book, you will uncover the lies you have believed about yourself in your life, and you will end the book feeling spiritually empowered to overcome these lies with the truth written in God's Word. Throughout the book, she teaches a valuable lesson: how to practically apply and replace these lies with the truth of God. She teaches us to recognize the lies we are living with, then reject those lies, and finally replace those lies with truth.
This book will grow you closer to God because you will rid yourselves of the chains and lies you have been believing and begin walking in freedom and with a clear perspective on the truth of how God views you versus the lies the enemy has haunted you with. This freedom will enable you to walk more confidently and draw you closer to God.
4. Get Out of Your Head by Jennie Allen
Jennie Allen is a New York Time Bestselling offer who does an excellent job in her book Get Out of Your Head. She targets a subject that we all struggle with as women – controlling those spiraling thoughts before they control and ultimately destroy you. In this book, she teaches how to stop the spiral of toxic thoughts. For many of us, our thoughts have held us captive. We have the same reoccurring thoughts daily, and we can't seem to have different thoughts without always reverting to the old ones. As Jennie explains in this book and through her own experience, freedom comes when we refuse to be prisoners to our thoughts. She teaches us that we are fully equipped with power from God to fight and win the war over our thoughts, no matter how long that thought has taken up residence in our minds. In this book, she helps us as women take control of our minds by submitting our thoughts to Christ and then confronting them and changing our thought patterns so that we can walk in uninhibited freedom from the prison cell of toxic thoughts.
This book will grow you closer to God because you will begin to live a life where you have the power over your thoughts rather than have your thoughts have power over you. Aligning your thoughts with God's thoughts will draw you closer to Him because you will slowly dismantle all the lies and thoughts that are not from Him. The more you think as He does, the more it will draw you closer to God.
5. Fervent by Priscilla Shirer
If you don't know who Priscilla Shirer is, she is someone to get introduced to as she is an excellent example of a mighty prayer warrior through and through. She is a bestselling author, and her book Fervent is a woman's battle plan for serious, specific, and strategic prayer. We have an enemy roaming the earth, and if we are ignorant of his existence, we are ignorant to the ways he may be creating havoc in our lives. Jesus warns us in the Bible that we have an enemy that is dead set on destroying all that we hold dear – our relationships, families, and peace of mind. He has a specific plan to destroy you, and Priscilla does a beautiful job of educating us through Scripture about who the enemy is and how we have the power to overcome the enemy. She helps guide us by helping us create a specific battle plan for our specific lives through our prayer life. This book is a chance for us to strike back at the enemy who has been coming for us since the day we were born. She helps you craft specific prayer strategies, all infused with the power of the Holy Spirit, and ultimately take back what that enemy has attempted to destroy.
This book will draw you closer to God because you will realize that we have a powerful role to play in this spiritual battle while we are on earth and by realizing this and realizing who is King and that He has already won the war, we will begin to depend on Him and draw closer to Him through our prayer life in our everyday conversations with Him. Depending on a dependable God in this spiritual battle will help you grow closer to God.
Additional Authors and Resources:
Here are five other women authors to explore: Jamie Ivey, Jen Wilkin, Kristi McClelland, Beth Moore, and Annie Downs. In addition, some great resources for daily devotionals for everyday reading are ibelieve.com, A Daily Prayer podcast, and Proverbs 31 daily devotional emails. Lastly, check out the First5 app and the Jesus Calling app available to download.
Photo credit: ©Unsplash/Priscilla Du Preez
Alisha Headley is a writer + speaker who has a desire to meet the everyday woman in her everyday life with biblical truth. Stepping into her true calling, she left the corporate world behind as a former-financial VP to love on her family as a stay-at-home wifey + dog mama, while also being able to pursue her passion as a writer. Healing from a chapter of life consumed with lies she once believed about herself, she is inspired to point women to Christ to experience the freedom + power to overcome those lies with the truth written in God’s word. In her free time, Alisha enjoys road trips around the country, working out so she can eat her favorite foods, and creatively styling her outfits with a craft for fashion. Alisha is a proud wifey and dog mama living in Scottsdale, Arizona.
You can follow her blog by visiting her website or connect with her on facebook + instagram.