I loved this book learned so much. It made me think about some things I’ve never thought of before such as what if God is silent. I was very grateful for the bible after reading this book. I especially enjoyed thinking about how even starting small is beneficial and God will grow your appetite for His word.

Help for the Hungry Soul was a short read, but one I really enjoyed. I found myself taking highlights and writing down other resources to check out.

I liked the stories from other people at the end of each chapter - they were interesting to read and it was nice to see how they grew in their desire for God's Word.

All in all, Help for the Hungry Soul was worth the read. I liked how it was an easy read, but did have some depth.

*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention/review it on my blog. I was not required to give a positive review, only my honest opinion - which I've done. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own and I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.*

Any book encouraging us to get into the Word is a good book. Help for the Hungry Soul is a great book for new believers or anyone looking to reignite a passion for time in Scripture.

The Word of God nourishes our souls and fills our insatiable appetite for Truth. The Bible gives us God's Message to help us live toward righteousness in Christ. Like the Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus assures us that His Word is living water to the thirsty. Like the way He multiplied the loaves of bread and the fish, He provides for all our needs and satisfies the hungry. Yet, many of us choose to go hungry for all the wrong reasons. We feed on unhealthy food. We make poor choices. Worse, we ignore the good food that is readily available to us. How do we long for nutritious food? Author Kristen Wetherell gives us 8 ways to do just that. Calling it "Eight Encouragements," she shares about her own journey to fill her hungry soul. These ways are not methods or strategies but reasons to fill our souls with the Word of God. She asserts that we are "born hungry," and specifically, we are born to hunger for God. She writes for people especially believers who do not seem to have a desire for the Word of God. She describes such people as those who are "not hungry enough to engage," "not sure what to do about it," and those who hunger for things other than God's Word. These eight encouragements are to:

1) Recognize our Hunger (Starving, Seeking, or Satisfying)
2) Plead for a Holy Hunger
3) Focus on Jesus
4) Remember the Privilege
5) Feast with our Church
6) Feed Creatively
7) Trust God's Nourishing Work
8) Embrace our Hunger

Accompanying each chapter is a story to illustrate the application side of the teaching. Many of them are testimonies from believers who have struggled and overcame their Bible reading and spiritual challenges. The author hopes that this book will stir up our hearts to hunger for God's Word even more.

My Thoughts
===============
There is a troubling pattern about Bible literacy these days. Many people are distracted by the temptations of the world, social media, and attractions that come in all shapes and sizes. Rather than to try and hammer in the need for believers to read the Bible regularly, author Kristen Wetherell takes a soft approach to encourage us to recognize our inner hunger, open up our Bibles, and read away. Many of us are anxious to tackle the daily issues of the world without adequate levels of equipping. This is unwise as pointed out by Wetherell. Rather than allow guilt to prick our spiritual conscience, she hopes that we will be inspired to read the Bible not out of obligation but of true desire. Let me offer some thoughts for three groups of people: The uninitiated who are unaware of their spiritual hunger; the struggler who don't know how to feed, and those who desire more. For the uninitiated, the starting point is recognition. For the struggler, the starting point is a fresh dose of inspiration. For those who desire more earnestly, the starting point can be anywhere. In this latter case, they can be thrown into any situation but their spiritual senses will always point them to True North.

For the uninitiated, I think the first two sets of encouragement are the most relevant and important. It involves the need to deal with distractions so that one can focus on the necessary. There are too many add-ons in life. I like the way Wetherell highlights the five common hindrances to Bible reading. She provides a helpful five Ds to help us remember what they are: Distraction, Dullness, Deceit, Discouragement, and Desires. That is why the second encouragement to ask God to help us long for His Word is critical. We need God's help to see the barriers to our spiritual longing. Apart from the first two encouragements, there are others like feasting with the Church that can be powerful. Reading together with others can have many benefits. The key here is to recognize that one needs direction by looking at one's personal spiritual compass.

For the struggler, there is a need to bring some freshness to the Bible reading. The key here is not to give up. With the different ways to read creatively and the power of community, the struggler can be brought back to a new love for the Word of God. Sometimes, it is not simply about trying to discipline ourselves in our devotions but dealing with blockages or discouragement. Learn to use the many resources available to us today. We have been blessed with the ready availability of materials today. I remember a time when one needs to spend lots of money to buy atlases, commentaries, dictionaries, and different Bible translations. Nowadays, many of these are freely available on the Internet. That said, using the Internet does bring an additional layer of distractions. This is something that we need to pray about too. The struggler might have a spinning compass, so the key is really to learn to settle down our spiritual compass and keep on feeding away.

Finally, to those who already have that holy hunger in them, read on and encourage others to embark on their own journeys as well.

Today, getting people to read books is already a challenge in itself, let alone the Bible. Thus, I feel that we need more reminders like this book to help us overcome the many distractions of life, so that we can recognize our true hunger for the Truth of God's Word.

Kristen Wetherell is a wife, mother, writer, and speaker. She is the author of several books, including Help for the Hungry Soul, and coauthor of the award-winning book Hope When It Hurts. Kristen is a member of the Orchard and lives in Chicagoland with her husband and three children.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5.

conrade
This book has been provided courtesy of Crossway Publishers via NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.

Appetites change.

When my kids are in the midst of a growth spurt, they out-eat me at mealtimes and constantly hunt for food; their appetite is voracious.

Other times they're more picky and don't feel like eating what's provided, nibbling here and there.

Whatever their appetite, though, their bodies still require nourishment.

In the same way, our spiritual lives need sustenance. We feed on the Word of God moving from milk to solid food as we grow in maturity. If we're honest, sometimes we can be like my picky eaters with a diminished appetite, pushing our meals away, only taking small, careless bites.

Our spiritual hunger, however, can grow. Just like the picky-eater suddenly feels "so hungry" when presented with a sweet treat, our longing for God's Word intensifies as we find satisfaction in it's sweetness. We can find help for our hungry souls.

So, here's the question:

"How would you describe your current appetite for God's Word?"

Let's take a look at Kristen Wetherell's upcoming release, Help for the Hungry Soul: Eight Encouragements to Grow Your Appetite for God's Word to help you answer the question and some encouragement along the way.

If you’re struggling to read your Bible, this resource is written with you in mind. There are no judgements or shaming, it’s an honest look at a discipline we want to do more of and better. Reading this book is like having a coffee with a friend.

For those who already have a regular habit established, let’s be honest, sometimes it’s hard to relate with those who do. In my time with the author, I grew more compassionate and less judgemental, realizing we all hunger after our Saviour.

Quick Stats
# of Pages: 176
Level of Difficulty: Easy
My Rating: 5 stars

Jen Wilkin is a fantastic Bible study author, so I was excited to discover that she is releasing a new Bible study. "Help for the Hungry Soul: Eight Encouragements to Grow Your Appetite for God's Word" has one central premise: we are all hungry for something, but only God knows what we really need. Wilkin details three kinds of biblical hunger: starving hunger, seeking hunger, and satisfied hunger.

Wilkin does a good job laying out the reasoning for why we need to spend time in God's Word, and she even includes anecdotes from other believers who have been through their own faith journeys as well. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Help for the Hungry Soul contains eight encouragements in reading God’s Word, and each chapter ends with a short testimony about the personal impact of reading the Bible. This could be a great book for someone struggling to get into the Word regularly.

Help for the Hungry Soul is a delightful work that is inspiring and edifying for believers. Kristen Wetherell writes and helps the reader truly hunger for more and more of God & what He has said in scripture. Also, the cover is just beautiful.

*I received a digital ARC from Crossway through NetGalley in exchange for my review.

In Help for a Hungry Heart, Kristen seeks to help the reader identify what a hunger for God’s word feels like and then seeks to encourage you to go to the only place that can satisfy that longing. The book is set up in a format that would be great for a ladies book club or a study group. There are 8 chapters and an introduction which fits nicely into a semester reading plan. Each chapter is followed by a question and answer and a personal testimony from a believer.

My personal opinions— firstly, I’m honestly not sure who the intended audience is here. Is it everyone? Seasoned Christians? Young in the faith Christians? Women alone? Moms? New moms? Veteran mamas? This message might have packed more of a punch to everyone if we zeroed in on who exactly is the intended audience. For instance, the testimonies were from all over the spectrum, men, women, young, old, etc. and there isn’t a thing in the world wrong with that, but she references new motherhood several times and talks about parenting littles— and the challenges facing mothers of littles getting into the word are a bit different than a middle aged deacon. If the book was written to mothers specifically, I don’t think the message would have been lost to all anymore than Paul’s message to the Ephesians is not lost on us even though that letter was very specific to that congregation.

The section on privilege missed the mark for me. “Because we are privileged, we ought to or we should do more of…”
I don’t disagree that we are privileged with accesses to the Bible and learning more than in times past, but this argument doesn’t encourage, the net result inspires guilt. And for a sleep deprived new mom, this would have sent me deeper into a depression because I ought to and yet I couldn’t. In seasons of plenty when we recognize we have plenty, it’s good to reflect on that privilege, but when you’re in the pits in deep need of encouragement, telling someone they have it better than someone else so they should be grateful is not at all helpful.

I was encouraged how she spoke of the church as a place where we can sing God’s word and hear it being preached and recite it. This chapter was one of the most encouraging in my opinion. It really helps a sleep deprived mama to know that it all counts. It’s encouraging when you’re in the trenches to know that we are not forsaken in that season even if we don’t have time to devote to much more than caring for our physical needs… But on the note about singing, it cautions the reader that not all songs are about God and we should make every effort to be aware- in the very next section she talks very lovingly of the pastor working diligently and faithfully to prepare the message (and as a pastors wife, I understand she has a first hand view of this), but unfortunately, not even all pastors make the message about God, they, like the songs she cautions us away from make the message about themselves and building their kingdoms. There was no footnote cautioning believers into being aware of their pastors messages. The truth is, we need God’s word to be able to help us discern truth from lies in song, in teaching, in preaching, and in every aspect of life.

I appreciated the section about creatively feeding on the word of God- many of those tips felt more practical to help growing an appetite.

I can see the intentions in the book and I applaud them. Identifying what spiritual hunger is so that you can recognize and feed it with the word of God is a needed skillset. Ultimately though, this book missed the mark for me.

I’d like to thank Crossway and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.