Midnight Hallelujah: Why Hope is Still Worth the Risk

by Ebie Hepworth

If you're disappointed with your life, struggling with faith, and frustrated with a seemingly silent God, Midnight Hallelujah dares to speak hope into the silence. Ebie Hepworth invites you into her dark nights and imagined conversations with Sarah, the mother of Isaac, who kept her company through them as she bridges our modern struggles with timeless biblical truths.

If you are navigating life's deepest valleys this book will help

feel less alone as Ebie confides her own stories of grief showing up when least expected;know what it means to struggle with faith fatigue, and how to recover from it;experience the life-changing truth that, even in the heavy silence, God is not absent; andgain practical tools like "hope therapy" for navigating life's challenges. 

This book is for you as you stand in the tension between faith and reality, between what you thought God would do and what remains unseen. If you have felt the ache of silence and wondered if hope is still within reach, come and rediscover real hope in Christ Himself.

Genres: Faith, Nonfiction

240 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 29, 2026

About the author

Ebie Hepworth is an author, speaker, and host of the Let Me Ask You This podcast. Her words rise from the trenches of real life with a tender invitation to notice hope in the quiet, unseen places. With a heart for the weary and those on the margins, Ebie champions the kind of hope that does not rush past sorrow but learns to meet God within it. She makes her home in Boise, Idaho, with her husband, Zac, and their four children.

Reviews

[Theresa McInnis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Midnight Hallelujah is a must-read for every human being.

Whether you’re in the midst of pain and unanswered prayers or caring for someone who is grieving, there is something in this book for everyone.

Ebie has such a tender way of speaking biblical truth while also honoring the complexity and vulnerability of the human condition. Her ability to gently guide the reader toward seeing Jesus more accurately, while using creative liberty much like C.S. Lewis, is truly unmatched.

I wish every person were required to read this book. I genuinely believe it would challenge us to become more like Christ—not just in what we believe, but in how we love and care for people.

Thank you, Ebie, for putting words to things that are often difficult to articulate and for challenging the Church to care for people in their most vulnerable moments. This book is such a gift. 🤍

[Carla Beck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Midnight Hallelujah offers readers a rare opportunity to walk with an author through her imagination while also delving into the truths scripture reveals. Throughout the book, Ebie breaks the silence of suffering alone with reminders of God’s voice spoken through His word, His people, and His presence. She unapologetically admits the hard moments exist, often accompanied by unanswered questions and unrelenting tears; however, those moments are not wasted. “But hope, like healing, does not rush to prove itself. It works slowly. Quietly. Faithfully. In places no one else can see. And when we learn to tend those unseen places–to honor the grief, to contend in the wrestling, to await without hardening, to give thanks even when it’s an unbearable sacrifice–we are not wasting our breath; we are investing in what lasts.”

Readers will appreciate the warmth of her words and the sincerity of her questions as she points back to the One who is the source of ultimate hope. Although she writes with the confident assertion that “hope is still worth the risk,” she does not offer a tidy ending with easy answers. Rather, her story, like ours, is still unfolding, with all the messy bits that come along the way. Perhaps that is why God reminds us that we are in a daily walk with Him, and why Ebie shares that “God’s hope is the only risk worth taking.”

[Rachel Hall]

A beautifully written offering full of hope and heartache. Ebie writes with such fluidity and prose that it makes you feel like you’re right there sitting on the front porch with her.

[Sarah Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Midnight Hallelujah walks with you in grief and pain. It doesn’t offer hope from outside suffering, but rather from within it. While the “solution” she offers is new, after all it’s always been Jesus, this book is not full of empty platitudes. It’s a hope won through suffering offered to us. When she shared insights from Scripture they were meaningful and deep. It’s a moving, relatable, and encouraging book—mine is filled with highlights—and it shows you can grieve deeply and still cling tightly to Jesus.

[Lacy Timpano · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book truly for the weary-hearted — the lyrical, poetic nature of Ebie’s writing voice is both allegorically rich yet lands humbly in a way that makes you feel seen and at home in her writing. Relatable on a million levels — keep your highlighters, pens, and tissues handy for the journey.

[Hannah Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review of advanced copy received from NetGalley
This book is truly a treasure and a must-read! Ebie doesn’t shy away from the hard parts of faith, offering her own story as a testimony of how God bridges the gap between hurt and hope.
No matter what season of life you’re in, or how dark it feels, the truths in this book are an anchor to cling to when you wonder if hoping is still worth it.

[Shanieze · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an invitation into those dark, sleepless nights when it feels like all hope is gone, yet somehow leaves you with a sense of restored hope.

Through imagined conversations with Sarah, a biblical woman who also experienced the feeling of barrenness, we follow Ebie as she navigates her own journey during these dark, sleepless nights.

At times, the imagined conversations felt confusing. Was Ebie dreaming, or perhaps experiencing a hallucination? Because of this, there were moments when I felt disconnected from the story.

This was a book of vulnerability. Ebie opened up her heart and laid it all bare for us to see. This is the kind of testimony that so many would be afraid to share, but it was very much needed because her journey has touched the hearts of many, myself included.

I enjoyed the callbacks to scripture, linking moments of grief, sadness, and difficult decisions to those who came before us. However, I would have loved to see more scripture throughout the book, but that's my one nitpick.

Something I really appreciated was that the book was narrated by the author herself, which made the experience feel more real and raw. This wasn't simply the retelling of an experience, but the reliving of it.

[Jenny M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ebie's journey and testimony weave the most beautiful tapestry of hope. I loved the DNA of hope, the practicality, but also the dive into my own heart that it invited me to.
Her words and vulnerability gave me permission that I didn't know I needed in my own heart to exhale a "me too."

This book feels akin to the sisterhood of the traveling pants. Hope comes in all shapes and sizes, but it always fits. Hope is always worth the risk.
Thank you, Ebie, for spilling your heart on paper.

[Tami Genry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to #NetGalley, #ThomasNelson and #WPublishingAudiobooks for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook before publication.

I didn't know anything about Ebie Hepworth or this book before I began listening, so I had no preconceived ideas before diving in! Honestly, I didn't have very high expectations either, since this was a debut book, but I was so pleasantly surprised. Ebie Hepworth opens her heart and bares her soul, vulnerably sharing her journey of high hopes (of growing her family), and low valleys (as multiple surgeries made it difficult and unlikely for her to conceive and then her adopted son received an unwelcomed diagnosis). Even when sadness was pressing in, Ebie found a way to take the next step, leaning in to our faithful, gracious, merciful Father. As a reader, I soon felt as though knew her, as one would when sitting down for chat with a friend, sharing stories, struggles, and joyful moments together. What really made this book special for me was the way she selected beautiful, rich language to describe her family, pain, loss, hope, faithfulness, love, God, and more. She wrote poetically, with each word carefully curated and painting a picture--no words wasted, but instead encouraging, unveiling, and pointing readers to a loving God who writes each of our stories perfectly. The first few chapters of her conversations with Sarah seemed a little "hokey" to me at first, but as I continued to listen I found myself looking forward to the wisdom Sarah would share with Ebie, and was impressed with Ebie's creativity in developing the ideas for these chapters! Overall, I would highly recommend this book to those who like to read about the lives of others, those in need of hope and healing, and those who have faith but still need strategies and encouragement to make prayer and gratitude a consistent rhythm in their lives. Loved it!

[Abby | Beloved Books & Things · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book you will be highlighting. A lot. It points to Hope Himself - Jesus! I highly recommend it to anyone. I read it so fast, and have already purchased it as a gift for various friends! Bonus, the author narrates the audiobook if that’s more your jam!

Ebie introduced her book best in the opening pages, and this is a beautiful sample of what you fill find in the pages of this treasure of a book.

“This book isn’t composed of tidy answers or neat formulas, but of stories and laments scraped together from the dusty floor of my real and ordinary life. It’s for those of us who have stood in the tension between faith and reality, between what we thought God would do and what remains unseen. It’s for the weary souls who have long waited for His promises to come to pass, who have felt the weight of silence and wondered if hope is still possible. I wrote this book to remind you, as well as myself, that even in the stillness, even in the waiting, even in the ache, God is not absent. This is a story of rediscovering hope—real hope—not in the answers we seek, but in the God who stays when the weariness finds us. Because hope—true, unshakable, soul-deep hope—has a name, and it’s Jesus. Always, only Jesus. The breath behind every promise, the presence through every delay, the pulse beneath every longing. When our worlds fracture and our dreams expire like sand slipping through our fingers, His unchanging nature and promise remains—unshaken, unmoved, and unbreakable. This book is for the one still sitting in the dark, whose hallelujah sounds more like a sigh than a song. If your heart feels more like a battlefield than a sanctuary, you are not alone, and you are not late. You’re in good company. As you crack open these pages, I invite you to gently unwrap your own heart. Bring the questions you’ve learned to hide. Bring the doubts you’re tired of defending. Bring the devastations that have made hope feel dangerous. It is my deepest prayer that you will discover, as I continue to, that hope is still, and always will be, worth the risk.“

[Rhema Limon · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

Like a beautiful poem for a grieving heart.
Glimmers of hope and nuggets of wisdom for people walking through grief, unexpected, heavy seasons.
The words in this book truly were like healing balm to my soul

Will be rereading and soaking it all in again

I do wish there were a tad bit more to her personal story - but overall amazing for people walking to different types of grief and allowing God to show his scars

Thank you to the publisher/author for the opportunity to read and review this book.

[Kamryn Quackenbush · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book felt like a challenging and loving encounter with a friend whose story is so real and raw. We are all walking through such hard things in life & this book helps orient us to what can keep us joyful and sustaining through it all, while at the same time being a memoir of sorts or what it looks like to live out various trials of suffering well.

[Zac Hepworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a delicate balance of honesty, creativity, and a deep commitment to the biblical narrative of hope. It often seems the conversations about hope within the church can be overly simplistic and assumptive as though we must either be hopeful all the time or resign ourselves to the idea that there is no real hope until Jesus returns.

This book delicately holds that tension we see in the life of Jesus. It celebrates the beauty and goodness of life without looking away from its pain and suffering. The words create a kind of symphony, allowing each emotion; joy, grief, longing, and wonder to play its part in the human soul. And somehow, together, they become a beautiful song.

What a wonderful book. Thank you for the thought, care, and hard work you poured into it!

[Kellie Bick · Rating 5 out of 5]

From overhearing whispers of who would take care of me when my mom almost died of cancer at 3, to being asked often in childhood who would walk me down the aisle because my dad was 55 when I was born…feeling like I drew a bad deck of cards in life has been a bit of a lifelong battle. My heart has felt missed in so many conversations where Christians didn’t know how to talk about grief or lament. I felt I needed to mask and fake a smile. In all honesty, it felt easier to chat with people that didn’t know the Lord, because nobody said praise God the tumor is benign. They wept with me. But you know what, Jesus did too.

Midnight Hallelujah is everything that little girl needed. It is raw authenticity in the darkest night. It is risky hope when cynicism would be the easiest choice. It’s knowing lament is holy too. Doesn’t everyone want to sit down with someone that has gone before them and ask “how did you do it?”

Pull up a chair with Ebie and Sarah, Abraham’s wife, and get a two for one master class of keeping your heart tender in the deep longing for the healing that sometimes doesn’t come on this side of heaven. Ebie’s imagined conversations with Sarah were some of the most thought provoking excerpts I’ve ever read.

“The womb that would lead to Jesus, our one and only hope, a promise that would one day split the sky with light, began in the sound of an old woman laughing in her waiting. It was the sound of heaven inviting joy to come take its rightful place at the table of waiting—where sorrow and promise sit side by side and laughter becomes the bread that keeps hope alive. Because joy nourishes what suffering tries to starve. It feeds the fainthearted, strengthens the weary, and reminds us that God's goodness is still warm on the table, even when the feast feels far away. Sarah's laughter was the first taste of redemption's meal—a foretaste of the joy that would one day be served in full through Jesus, the Bread of Life Himself.”

And Asa. Oh, sweet Asa. We all could learn from his joy-filled light.❤️

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely, little book with a whole lot going on. Hepworth, no stranger to disappointment, sorrow, and waiting in the unknown, writes convincingly on the “risk” of hope, particularly during those darkest times. Tenderly, empathetically, she validates lament and grief. Readers are not exhorted to think positively, count their blessings, or shrug and say (cheerfully) everything happens for a reason. Instead, Hepworth describes hope as an active, wrestling thing. A risky but worthwhile thing.

Imaginary conversations with Sarah of the Old Testament brought an interesting angle. I wasn’t sure the approach would work, and these scenes are indeed a tad overwritten, but the Sarah thing worked for me, mostly.

Some minor quibbles. For maybe the first third of the book, I had trouble figuring out where we were in time or in the trajectory of events when Hepworth was in memoir mode. (“Wait, after WHAT surgeries?” or “Wait, so Asa’s treatment already started?”) Second, and perhaps this would only bug me, Hepworth has a writing habit that sets up many, many sentences with “It’s not X; it’s X." Sometimes four or five times on a single page. This structure can be very effective when used judiciously, but not at the frequency seen in this text. Lead with the truth, not the “not” thing! Of course, once you’re annoyed by the set-up, you can’t stop seeing it. And that’s distracting.

I particularly liked Hepworth’s view of “testimony” (I prefer the term “telling,” because the other word is a little too evangelical youth group-y, but that’s a personal thing): “This is why testimonies must be normalized in the life of faith. Not whispered. Not postponed until resolution arrives. But spoken with the same reverence as the miracle on the mountaintop. Because there are saints who will not see restoration on this side of heaven, and their staying [hoping, awaiting] is no less faithful” (p. 201). Current suffering, wrestling with hope, and taking yet another chance for disappointment should be shared, validated, and for the love of all that is good, not dismissed with platitudes. Throughout, there’s a strong sense of in-the-thick-of-it-ness that will surely resonate with many readers.

Recommended.

(Thanks, NetGalley, for the preview and chance to review.)

[Sara Porter]

A Midnight Hallelujah is written with such care, tenderness and ability to bring you to the feet of Jesus. Ebie weaves Sarah from the Bible throughout the book in such a beautiful and creative way, adding a certain depth to the story. Ebie’s writing quickly captivates you and draws you in, giving words to feelings, that have been hidden, waiting to be seen. Her writing is warm, genuine and honest. Ebie shares from her heart in such a rich way. This is a must read for all! Hope is truly worth the risk! Bravo, Ebie!

[Katy Rollins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This books puts words to the struggle of walking WITH God in every up and down of life. Our culture has demanded pretty bows at the end of every story, but Thanksgiving is done through every story despite an outcome. It was a very easy read with profound wisdom. It is helpful for people within a struggle, supporting a struggle or just learning how to walk with God outside of circumstances. HIGHLY recommend.

[Taylor Magnuson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t think anything I could write would do it justice. Not many people are willing to write their story without tying it together with a pretty bow, before it has a happy ending. But thats exactly what Ebie has done.
It’s raw, vulnerable, and poetic. She put words to every feeling of wrestling with the Lord I’ve ever experienced. It was a gift.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title: Midnight Hallelujah
Author: Ebie Hepworth
Narrated by: Ebie Hepworth
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Length: Approximately 6 hours and 59 minutes
Source: Thank-you @wpublishing @ebiehepworth @tlcbooktours for the review copy of the print book of Midnight Hallelujah by Ebie Hepworth. Audiobook copy through Amazon Music monthly Audible selection.
What do you find comforting in dark moments in your life? For me I would say prayer, reading, pets, and family.
In Midnight Hallelujah, Ebie Hepworth invites the reader to witness her struggles with life and faith through turbulent times in her life. How can you rediscover hope in the midst of darkness?
My thoughts on this book:
• The book starts with a great introduction that sets up the book and the imaginary conversations she has with Sarah from the Bible while sitting in her rocking chair on her front porch. I liked how Sarah really inspired Ebie and “spoke” to her. Her imaginary conversations with her were enlightening
• Midnight Hallelujah is a creative book to help people to be more Christ like and to find inspiration in the Bible to move on through the darkest hours.
• This is the memoir of a woman who is having fertility issues as well as her son suffering from a rare debilitating illness. It goes through how her faith journey has helped her through dark times.
• I enjoyed the Bible quotes and stories throughout the book and how they related to everyday life and times of stress.
• This was a thoughtful memoir that worked wonderfully on audiobook. Author Ebie Hepworth narrated the audiobook herself and did a fabulous job. I really enjoy when authors narrate their own memoirs.
• The memoir was very personable and felt like the author was a friend pouring out her thoughts.
• The memoir did not shy away from describing grief and pain and finding hope from within and through her Christian faith.
• The afterward said the author did not write it from the other side of the story, she and her family are still living it. This really struck home to me.
• I would classify this a nonfiction, memoir, inspirational and Christian.
Overall, Midnight Hallelujah by Ebie Hepworth is a beautifully written inspirational memoir that discusses dark times in life, but ultimately leaves the reader with hope.

This review was first posted on my blog at: https://lauragerold.blogspot.com/2026...

[Ella Verner · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who picked up this book feeling hopeless in a lot of areas of my life, I finished it with a renewed sense of hope. 🤍 The author’s many analogies surrounding Sarah helped paint such a beautiful picture of what renewed hope looks like and, more importantly, what it looks like when our hope isn’t fickle. It gave me a whole new perspective on how hope remains at the center of our faith, rather than something we only cling to when life gets rocky. Hope is our anchor. The way the author wrote this book, more like a conversation than a beautifully crafted piece of literature, helped my ADHD brain connect with it so much easier. It felt like dialogue, like I was sitting across from someone having a real conversation. And THE QUESTIONS she asked God throughout this book!! Quite literally, she read my mind. She put words to some of my deepest, most confusing feelings about hope in the midst of suffering, feelings I didn’t even know how to articulate myself. I’m finishing this book with a renewed sense of hope, so much encouragement, and the reminder that I’m not alone in the hardships that life inevitably brings. A beautiful reminder that hope isn’t something we find only when life is good. It’s something we can hold onto because of who God is. 🤍

[Molly Yardumian · Rating 4.75 out of 5]

This book is for anyone who has every struggled to hope -- in other words, it's for everyone. While the premise is couched in Ebie's own personal heartbreaking journey navigating the terminal illness of her son, she generously creates space for the stories of others, and I found myself recognizing places of hopelessness within my own heart and story, too. Still, this book neither leaves us wallowing in self-pity, nor does it hand us didactic cliches in the face of real heartache. Instead, this book reads like a companion offering a sound way forward: therapeutic and personal and embedded in Scripture. You'll leave wanting to spend more time with Jesus, and yes, even with a desire to risk hope again - despite everything.

[Kendra Christiansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. If you’ve ever had something difficult in your life…..(so, like, all of us humans?)…you just have to read this. I’d read chapter by chapter and have my mind flooded with life instances where this seemed to be salve to my soul with those particular wounds. This wasn’t an “over your head” book about hard and grief and holiness. It wasn’t dumbed down. It was just- one of the best books I’ve ever read on spiritual growth, in hard circumstances. I took my time. I wanted to metabolize each chapter or two. I’ll read it again. I’ll recommend to anyone I know.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most profound book on faith within life's midnights that I've read.