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I received Every Hour I Need You compliments of Crossway in exchange for my honest review.
Every Hour I Need You is a thirty day devotional for Christian moms by mother and author, Katie Faris. I’ve read and loved Katie’s other books on motherhood and have been so blessed by Every Hour I Need You! The content for each day centers on an attribute of God and includes biblical encouragement for motherhood.
Each devotion concludes with a Reflect section and a Draw Near section, and both include space for journaling. There is a third section that focuses on the attribute featured in that day’s reading, and it also includes journaling space.
The book’s appendix includes an Attributes of God Chart that lists the attributes mentioned in the book, a verse to memorize for each attribute, and verses for further study on it. I love that the primary focus of Every Hour I Need You isn’t motherhood, but God.
I found the devotion on God’s wrath interesting, and I’m grateful for it because I believe reading it made me a better student of God’s word. Although there is much in it that I’m grateful Katie included, I don’t believe that wrath is an attribute of God. I believe that God feels wrath toward sin, but wrathful is not who He is.
Wanting unbelieving moms to know Christ, I’m confident, is one of the motivations for including this devotion. I love Katie’s encouragement that “Our comfort as Christian women is that when God judges us, it isn’t from wrath but from mercy” (pg. 108).
For years, I was taught that wrath is an attribute of God. I never considered it wasn’t until my pastor preached a sermon and stated it wasn’t. I researched this a bit on my own and came to the same conclusion (I’ve articulated some of my thoughts about it here).
The devotion on wrath includes a quote from the late theologian and pastor A.W. Pink’s book, The Attributes of God, stating, “a study of the concordance will show that there are more references in Scripture to the anger, fury, and wrath of God, than there are to His love and tenderness.”
This quote gave me pause as it seemed unbelievable. I quickly skimmed my Strong’s Concordance and didn’t find this to be the case. I also asked ChatGPT if this was the case, and was encouraged by the information it compiled. Additionally, typing “God’s love” into the Bible search on Logos Bible Software yielded 327 results while “God’s wrath” yielded 108.
Interestingly, Crossway, the publisher of Every Hour I Need You, also published The Atonement by Jeremy Treat, in which Treat claims that wrath is not an attribute of God. From my understanding, this is an area where Christians have different convictions, but it needn’t cause disunity.
I’m thankful for how Katie’s writing encouraged me to dig deeper and increased my awe of God. Her writing is honest about the realities of mothering in a fallen world, and reading her books makes me feel like I have a friend who is near and understands. I enjoyed Every Hour I Need You and hope to read it repeatedly. I highly recommend this book for personal use and believe it would be a great gift for a new or seasoned mom.
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