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Befriending God: How We Are Undone, Changed, and Made New
Do you long to feel closer to God? Are you searching for a faith that's more than just going through the motions?
Let’s be we often feel distant from God. We spend a lot more time looking like we’re faithful than living out of lifegiving relationship. Our souls ache from the lack of intimacy. Something is missing. We know life isn’t supposed to be this way. What we really want is to know God and be known. We yearn for honest, ongoing connection with God as a real person.
In Befriending God, Tanya Godsey invites us to move beyond religious performance and into authentic relational intimacy character studies illuminating how we can encounter God in the struggles, questions, and complexities of our lives;Vulnerable, powerful examples of God's relational transformation in the context of a marginalized community;Practical guidance for setting aside faulty cultural norms that keep us from friendship with God;Discussion questions and reflective exercises.If you are craving a genuine connection with God that transcends religious to-dos and cultural currents, Befriending God will help you experience transformation and renewal in your spiritual journey. Discover the joy of knowing God intimately in every season, heartache, and ordinary moment.
Let’s be we often feel distant from God. We spend a lot more time looking like we’re faithful than living out of lifegiving relationship. Our souls ache from the lack of intimacy. Something is missing. We know life isn’t supposed to be this way. What we really want is to know God and be known. We yearn for honest, ongoing connection with God as a real person.
In Befriending God, Tanya Godsey invites us to move beyond religious performance and into authentic relational intimacy character studies illuminating how we can encounter God in the struggles, questions, and complexities of our lives;Vulnerable, powerful examples of God's relational transformation in the context of a marginalized community;Practical guidance for setting aside faulty cultural norms that keep us from friendship with God;Discussion questions and reflective exercises.If you are craving a genuine connection with God that transcends religious to-dos and cultural currents, Befriending God will help you experience transformation and renewal in your spiritual journey. Discover the joy of knowing God intimately in every season, heartache, and ordinary moment.
180 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 11, 2025
6 people are currently reading
695 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 3, 2025
This book is a must read for anyone who is struggling to hear from God or better understand his desire for relationship with us! Tanya’s heart for God is unmatched! Her story paints the most beautiful picture between God and one of his beloved daughters!
As someone who has hired her as my Coach, Mentor and Spiritual Formation Director - Tanya has many gifts and one is her ability to teach and guide as she discerns the Holy Spirit! I challenge you to dig in! I read it in less than a week - just couldn’t put it down!
As someone who has hired her as my Coach, Mentor and Spiritual Formation Director - Tanya has many gifts and one is her ability to teach and guide as she discerns the Holy Spirit! I challenge you to dig in! I read it in less than a week - just couldn’t put it down!
October 13, 2025
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started this book, but I was pleasantly surprised. I loved how Tanya wove together her personal story with the story of Scripture. I was encouraged by the faith-filled stories from her family and challenged to step out in faith like Abraham, Mary, John the Baptist, and Paul.
One of the biggest takeaways for me — and something I appreciated that Tanya addressed through the reflection questions at the end of each chapter — was realizing that the closer I grow to God, the more I’ve falsely believed I would somehow sin less or that life would get easier. This book reminded me that intimacy with God doesn’t remove the struggle, but transforms it.
Many of the themes in Befriending God affirmed what the Lord has been revealing to me over the past few months, and it truly felt like a breath of fresh air. I especially loved the emphasis on the “hidden and obscure life,” which is so counter to the world’s message and a beautiful reminder that if He sees it, that’s all that matters.
One of the biggest takeaways for me — and something I appreciated that Tanya addressed through the reflection questions at the end of each chapter — was realizing that the closer I grow to God, the more I’ve falsely believed I would somehow sin less or that life would get easier. This book reminded me that intimacy with God doesn’t remove the struggle, but transforms it.
Many of the themes in Befriending God affirmed what the Lord has been revealing to me over the past few months, and it truly felt like a breath of fresh air. I especially loved the emphasis on the “hidden and obscure life,” which is so counter to the world’s message and a beautiful reminder that if He sees it, that’s all that matters.
October 23, 2024
[ 4.5/5 stars ]
This book made me vulnerable in so many ways, with fluid prose that allows easy understanding and deep dive into the words. I enjoyed the study times and how practical this guide is. Additionally, the discussions invite moments of reflection. By also focusing on prayers, this is good for times of hardship in an attempt to surrender.
I recommend this book for those longing for an authentic connection with God and desire to have a unique encounter and develop intimacy beyond just words. Great for spiritual growth.
[ I received an ARC from the publisher - Tyndale books . All thoughts are my own ]
This book made me vulnerable in so many ways, with fluid prose that allows easy understanding and deep dive into the words. I enjoyed the study times and how practical this guide is. Additionally, the discussions invite moments of reflection. By also focusing on prayers, this is good for times of hardship in an attempt to surrender.
I recommend this book for those longing for an authentic connection with God and desire to have a unique encounter and develop intimacy beyond just words. Great for spiritual growth.
[ I received an ARC from the publisher - Tyndale books . All thoughts are my own ]
February 21, 2025
I believe this book is a handbook for every home to help us tackle all of the different phases of life and circumstances we go through and to know where to go in God's word to receive from Him what only He can give through the intimacy of friendship.
July 1, 2025
Summary: Befriending God calls us to discover close relationship with God in all things—whether joy, suffering, doubt, or all in-between.
Despite that we may not always feel it, our Creator desires to befriend us. Taking the reader into the author’s own experiences and the stories of Scripture, this book seeks to help us “navigate the struggles, questions, and complexities of modern life while deepening [our] connection with God.” God yearns for our broken relationship with Him to be made whole after sin’s resulting separation.
Godsey’s family’s stories of God’s faithfulness were hope-building. Even more, they remind us to draw near to the Father, where our true home and hope is found. In every chapter, Godsey’s heart for the reader to grow through hardships and build friendship with God is not only obvious but tangible.
Highlights:
“…what makes exile a tragedy is not a change of scenery but a change in intimacy, the ache of separation. At the heart of spiritual homesickness is the sting of relational distance and our yearning for wholeness with God as a person.”
“Failure is frequently an opportunity to become more fully formed.”
“Fear is at the root of our reach for anything that captivates our hearts more than the Great I Am . . . We prefer systems that guarantee outcomes and formulas that offer foolproof results.”
“Prayer is that holy and honest space where God ceases to be a concept held only in our minds and instead becomes a person we talk to and engage with.”
“…the person who learns how to engage with God amid mystery and suffering will have a fuller and more complete grasp on what it means to truly befriend Him.”
“A heart centered on the fear of the Lord is unhindered by the need to prove, the desire to be relevant, or the trappings of fear.”
“Surrender releases us from the bondage of our need for control and into the intimacy of radical dependence and trust.”
Total: 4 Stars
Readability: 4
Impact: 4
Content: 4
Enjoyment: 4
Thank you to the publisher and author for gifting me a copy of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily and was not required to leave a positive review. All opinions are my own.
Despite that we may not always feel it, our Creator desires to befriend us. Taking the reader into the author’s own experiences and the stories of Scripture, this book seeks to help us “navigate the struggles, questions, and complexities of modern life while deepening [our] connection with God.” God yearns for our broken relationship with Him to be made whole after sin’s resulting separation.
Godsey’s family’s stories of God’s faithfulness were hope-building. Even more, they remind us to draw near to the Father, where our true home and hope is found. In every chapter, Godsey’s heart for the reader to grow through hardships and build friendship with God is not only obvious but tangible.
Highlights:
“…what makes exile a tragedy is not a change of scenery but a change in intimacy, the ache of separation. At the heart of spiritual homesickness is the sting of relational distance and our yearning for wholeness with God as a person.”
“Failure is frequently an opportunity to become more fully formed.”
“Fear is at the root of our reach for anything that captivates our hearts more than the Great I Am . . . We prefer systems that guarantee outcomes and formulas that offer foolproof results.”
“Prayer is that holy and honest space where God ceases to be a concept held only in our minds and instead becomes a person we talk to and engage with.”
“…the person who learns how to engage with God amid mystery and suffering will have a fuller and more complete grasp on what it means to truly befriend Him.”
“A heart centered on the fear of the Lord is unhindered by the need to prove, the desire to be relevant, or the trappings of fear.”
“Surrender releases us from the bondage of our need for control and into the intimacy of radical dependence and trust.”
Total: 4 Stars
Readability: 4
Impact: 4
Content: 4
Enjoyment: 4
Thank you to the publisher and author for gifting me a copy of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily and was not required to leave a positive review. All opinions are my own.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews