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The Allure of Hope: God's Pursuit of a Woman's Heart
Many women forego the promise of hope in order to avoid the pain that disappointment or loss often brings. So where do we find the courage to anticipate the future God has promised?
This refreshingly honest and compassionate look at both sides of hope will help you find the courage to keep seeking--even in those places where hope doesn't seem to exist.
This refreshingly honest and compassionate look at both sides of hope will help you find the courage to keep seeking--even in those places where hope doesn't seem to exist.
191 pages, Paperback
First published March 13, 2001
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240 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
April 8, 2014
Wish I could rate it more than five stars. A marvelous read! Highly recommended for those women weary of life and the battles, wounds, and scars it brings. Truly spoke to my aching heart and reminded me my yearning and desire is really for Christ.
December 14, 2023
I totally expected to not like this book and was pleasantly surprised, so much wisdom and gentle reminders to not give into hardness as we experience the worlds harshness but let our desire for more bring us to our Creator who always, always fulfills us and leaves us wanting to know Him more.
June 4, 2017
Honestly, I had a hard time understanding this book. I might read it again. Maybe it's just not for this season of my life, but I thought it really was before I started reading it. I want to like it because I love the concept and I love some aspects and parts of it, but I think she jumps around and I don't understand how it all connects. Plus she is abstract in her writing style and that is challenging to understand and apply also.
I decided on four stars because I believe it is a quality read. I think it's difficult to understand, but I have faith that maybe in the future if I read it again, things will click.
I decided on four stars because I believe it is a quality read. I think it's difficult to understand, but I have faith that maybe in the future if I read it again, things will click.
April 18, 2019
This book. Wow. Like a firehose of wisdom speaking right to my heart. Not always a clear outline as to where it was going but it didn’t matter because I could relate and learn and be convicted by every page. I’ve never highlighted a book so much in my life. I will likely read it over and over again because I will need to. This book has changed my life and come alongside so many other things God is teaching me at the same time in order to peel back layers of my heart.
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September 8, 2020Originally I gave this title 3 stars. I am revising my stars to zero.
The reason I am doing so is that since reading this title, several things about my faith journey and expression have changed and I no longer subscribe to evangelical ideologies.
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Sometimes it is just too discouraging, scary, or exhausting to hope. Especially when we feel let down by hopes that don't come to be or that get crushed. And yet hope continues to pursue us, to call out to us, to draw us back to its embrace. Hope begins to feel risky, unsettling, soul sucking. But hope is meant to be the opposite of those things. It is meant to bring home, fill our souls, embrace us with joy. So much of life is driven by hope or the hope for hope. Meyers, drawing from personal examples, discusses the allure of hope we need in our lives. We might not want to hope in the face of disappointments but we need hope to continue on in life. Meyers discusses the life circumstances that can keep us from believing in the allure of hope and how we can overcome those circumstances to hope in the face of impossible emotions, etc.
Hope springs from a place deep within us that cannot be moved by the surface of life. When someone is operating out of hope in the midst of devastation it is because they have discovered who they are and who holds them.
Meyers is a little flowery but then again most Christian women authors (and some men) are. The older I get the more turned off I get by the flowery speech of Christianity but I can weed through it to get to the heart of a message. I really enjoyed the first part of the book but about 1/2 to 2/3 through I started to lose interest. Part of that is likely due to my lifelong relationship with God and having truly "been there, seen that, heard that." There indeed is not a lot new under the sun when it comes to things like this for me. Meyers has wisdom to share and I thought of a couple of friends who would most likely glean from the wisdom she has to share. It's a worth it read especially if hope has become a dirty four letter word to you. :)
The reason I am doing so is that since reading this title, several things about my faith journey and expression have changed and I no longer subscribe to evangelical ideologies.
---------------------------------------
Sometimes it is just too discouraging, scary, or exhausting to hope. Especially when we feel let down by hopes that don't come to be or that get crushed. And yet hope continues to pursue us, to call out to us, to draw us back to its embrace. Hope begins to feel risky, unsettling, soul sucking. But hope is meant to be the opposite of those things. It is meant to bring home, fill our souls, embrace us with joy. So much of life is driven by hope or the hope for hope. Meyers, drawing from personal examples, discusses the allure of hope we need in our lives. We might not want to hope in the face of disappointments but we need hope to continue on in life. Meyers discusses the life circumstances that can keep us from believing in the allure of hope and how we can overcome those circumstances to hope in the face of impossible emotions, etc.
Hope springs from a place deep within us that cannot be moved by the surface of life. When someone is operating out of hope in the midst of devastation it is because they have discovered who they are and who holds them.
Meyers is a little flowery but then again most Christian women authors (and some men) are. The older I get the more turned off I get by the flowery speech of Christianity but I can weed through it to get to the heart of a message. I really enjoyed the first part of the book but about 1/2 to 2/3 through I started to lose interest. Part of that is likely due to my lifelong relationship with God and having truly "been there, seen that, heard that." There indeed is not a lot new under the sun when it comes to things like this for me. Meyers has wisdom to share and I thought of a couple of friends who would most likely glean from the wisdom she has to share. It's a worth it read especially if hope has become a dirty four letter word to you. :)
August 8, 2017
Well Jan did it again...she searched me and knew me and absolutely wrecked my heart in the best way. I said in my review of Beauty and the Bitch: Grace for the Worst in Me that reading Jan is like going to counseling, and this book doesn't disappoint.
It was challenging and healing and while it took me a few tried to get started (not because she's not great, but because I wasn't ready for hard truth), it was so worth it. This is one of those life-shaping books and I loved it so much I got copies for my entire small group.
Get it. It's worth it.
It was challenging and healing and while it took me a few tried to get started (not because she's not great, but because I wasn't ready for hard truth), it was so worth it. This is one of those life-shaping books and I loved it so much I got copies for my entire small group.
Get it. It's worth it.
January 6, 2009
For a review on Meyer's style see my review of Listening To Love, her other book. I give this book a four star instead of less because I do feel it changed my life. Her concepts are fresh and original. Few people are saying what she is saying with the straigtforwardness she is using. However, I could feel that it was her first book. Halfway through she loses focus and I couldn't seem to stay with it. I did finish, but I gleaned the most from the first half of the book.
February 18, 2008
A book for any Christian woman struggling to believe and step towards hope.....
"Jesus knows our love for Him is ultimately stronger than other loves. He doesn't take us into the wilderness to see 'if we have what it takes'. He allures us into the wilderness to reveal to us what is truly in our hearts - a strong and pure faith in His love." Jan Meyers
"Jesus knows our love for Him is ultimately stronger than other loves. He doesn't take us into the wilderness to see 'if we have what it takes'. He allures us into the wilderness to reveal to us what is truly in our hearts - a strong and pure faith in His love." Jan Meyers
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 15, 2011
This was fantastic. It shares a lot of elements with Captivating, but takes them to the next level. Meyers' statements about what it REALLY means to hope were challenging to me, in the best possible way - and since she is a counselor and has been through a lot personally, her credibility is rock solid. I'll probably need to read this several times.
November 30, 2008
I picked this book up because it was $.75 at McKay's.. and becuase it was pretty relevant to where I am in life. It was similar (with less pop culture references) to an Eldredge book and though I don't feel like it was life changing, i took some things away from it.
August 19, 2010
This has been an incredibly helpful book in some hard times of processing my heart's journey in regards to loving and losing, etc. I would highly recommend to any woman who has lost the fresh breeze of hope in their life.
January 1, 2013
I've read that this book is similar to Wild at Heart & Captivating. I've never read Wild at Heart and I could not get through Captivating, so the ideas in Jan Meyers' book were new to me. I loved it!
August 13, 2010
its what makes us captivating :)
January 26, 2011
Studying this book with my book club... The Lord has used it greatly in my life to reveal sin, provoke thought, and bring new insights.
October 28, 2010
love this book...speaks right to a woman's soul!
January 18, 2011
Was slightly disappointed, felt basically like the same ideas presented in other Eldridge books.
May 30, 2011
This book was a timely loan from a friend. A great book to help you restore hope to your soul & life.
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July 25, 2011Love the prayer at the end of Chapter 6.
August 11, 2013
Deep, intense, beautiful. Did a lot of crying. :)
January 31, 2014
Beautifully written, thought provoking. A second reading would probably give me a better grasp of all she says.
July 19, 2016
Good book. Made me wrestle with not letting go of desire & hope. Would recommend.
July 14, 2007
it was a while ago, but it really gave me a fresh perspective on hope and life.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews