Kristen Wetherell’s book, Help for the Hungry Soul: Eight Encouragements to Grow Your Appetite for God’s Word, is not about how to read or study the Bible. She goes further back than that to our appetite for God’s Word. We’re made to hunger for God. Satan tempted Adam and Eve to hunger for the wrong thing for the wrong reasons. Our spiritual appetites have been skewed ever since.

People often sense longing for something real, something beyond this life, but don’t know, or turn away, from where to find it. Even those of who know and love God’s Word can start filling our souls with other things, lessening our appetite for the Bible.

“The stirring up of our souls is something only God can do” (p. 18, Kindle version), but Kristen hopes this book will whet appetites to engage with God’s Word.

Kristen discusses different kinds of spiritual hunger, hindrances to Bible reading, the need to ask God to help us hunger for His Word and then position ourselves for Him to do so. She encourages us to remember to seek Jesus in our reading. She reminds us what a privilege it is to have the Bible: just five hundred years ago, it was not available on a wide scale to everyday people. She also reminds us that the church is vital in our taking in God’s Word. She tells us “There is no one ‘right’ way to meet with the Lord in Scripture” (p. 83), so we can try different methods and plans. But we need to “feed and not just read” what it says, taking time to meditate on it. She inspires us to trust the process when we don’t feel different or see “results” after reading. “When you engage with God’s Word, more is happening than you can see” (p. 87).

There are exercises at the end of most of the chapters to help apply what was said as well as testimonies from others concerning the aspect of the individual chapters.

Overall, I thought this was a very helpful, encouraging book. Probably my favorite chapter was the one about trusting God is nourishing us through His Word even when we don’t feel we’ve “gotten anything” out of it.

There was one place where I disagreed with the author, when she said, “Your main spiritual meal is to be enjoyed at church” (p. 72). She wrote that “quiet time” or “devotions” as we think of them today started with the Pietist Movement in the seventeenth century, when German Protestants encouraged people to read the Bible for themselves after years of being told they shouldn’t by the Catholic church. But there are examples in Scripture of people meditating on God’s Word alone (the psalmist on his bed at night; Daniel studying Jeremiah, and others). I agree that we heap a lot of false guilt on ourselves over devotions. Gathering with others to feast on the Word is as important as feeding on it alone, but I don’t see in Scripture that it is more important.

Here are some of the quotes that especially stood out to me:

Right there is the blessing of true Godward hunger: the more of God we come to know, the more of God we want to know. This doesn’t mean perfection, for all our yearnings in this life will be incomplete until we see Jesus; but it does mean we have endless potential to grow, as we seek more of God and receive the fullness of joy that only he can give (Ps. 16: 11)” (pp. 25-26).

Will we allow these discouragements to drive us to his word or away from it? (p. 28).

Do we recognize our helplessness, that even our very desires need to be changed by the Spirit’s transforming grace? Or do we approach Scripture pridefully, thinking we’ve “got this,” attempting to impress God, others, and even ourselves by our obedience? (p. 39).

For too many years, this was the way I approached Scripture, because I didn’t understand my neediness. I thought that by opening my Bible I was seeking something good and right to do, rather than primarily seeking someone to love (p. 39).

There is no magic bullet here, only a constant dependence on God’s supernatural help as we put ourselves in the position to receive from him (p. 53).

Obedience is evidence of true faith in Jesus. It demonstrates that we trust him enough to do what he says. It demonstrates that we love him and actually want to know him. It demonstrates that we acknowledge that, without him, we would be lost (p. 101).

God’s words are purposeful, nourishing, and invaluable. They are worth trusting, for God’s words come from God’s heart. We cling to them because God is the only trustworthy, unchanging rock upon which we can stand. And so we keep coming to God’s word, and we keep clinging to the promises we find there (p. 101).

The beautiful thing about the story of the Bible is its realism. Scripture does not provide an escape from reality, but enters right into it. If you feel like every day is a struggle, you’re right; it is. If you feel like your desires are messed up (even those related to the Bible) and that you can’t get your act together, you’re right; they are, and you can’t (p. 110).

Every hardship—whether obvious and acute suffering, or the daily, lingering futility we all feel—is readying us for Jesus. Every groan anticipates glory. Every hunger pang points us to heaven (p. 111).

What would you lose by turning away from Scripture? What would you gain by staying in the word? . . . What might others gain by your endurance in the word? (p. 116).

I don’t recommend starting with a BHAG (a “big hairy audacious goal”) but rather with a realistic goal. . . Small adjustments can bring meaningful change (p. 119).

I think this book is an excellent resource both for those just beginning to establish a habit of regularly reading God’s Word as well as those of us who have been reading for a while but need to be reminded of these truths. Thanks to Michele for alerting me to this book.

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