Second Conversation With Wendy Blight

My friend, Wendy Blight, is releasing a new Bible Study, I Know His Name: Discovering Power in the Names of God. Wendy teaches how the very names of God reveal His character and heart.

Wendy is a member of the Proverbs 31 Ministries’ First 5 Writing Team and serves as the Proverbs 31 On-Line Bible Study Small Group Ministry Training and Development Coordinator. She is the author of 3 books and most enjoys helping women, through Bible study, gain confidence so that they can tackle life’s problems through God’s Word.

I’d love to share with you A Conversation with Wendy Blight about her passion for Bible Study:

What led you to be so passionate about teaching God’s Word?

At age 21, just days after my college graduation, I survived an attack by an armed masked man hiding in my apartment. The acts committed against me that day spiraled me into a place of fear and despair I lived in for years. I tried so many avenues for healing. It wasn’t until I began reading, believing and praying God’s Word that freedom, wholeness and healing came. God’s work in my life, through His living and active Word, ignited a passion to help other women do the same. I’ve been teaching and writing ever since.

What ideas do you have for women to find time for Bible study in their busy days?

Discipline. That’s what it takes. It’s hard to carve out the time. But we must. God breathed every word of this beautiful love letter for us. Every word, from beginning to end, comes directly from His heart with the desire it land in ours. Bible study is simply setting time apart each day to be with God in His Word … early morning, carpool line, lunch behind closed doors in our office, bedtime. We can do it alone or walk alongside a group of friends. What matters is that we set aside time to meet with God in His Word because it changes, rearranges and renews us in unimaginable ways!!

As a part of Proverbs 31 Ministries’ First 5 App writing team, what is your hope for the over 500,000 worldwide that spend their #First5 with you each morning?

To fall in love with God’s Word and to understand how every word of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation is God-breathed and points to Jesus. Every story, every person, every chapter and verse reveals God overseeing His plan of salvation for His people … to regain what was lost that day in the Garden.

Do you have a favorite Bible verse or Life Verse?

I have a few. Psalm 40:1-3. Romans 8:28, 37-39. Isaiah 26:3.

You have such a heart for prayer. What is one suggestion you would offer women who struggle to spend time with God in prayer?

Understand prayer is simply talking to God. It’s sweet time with the One who created us, who loves us and understands us more than anyone else. And He WANTS to talk with us. He is waiting.

Because prayer made me uncomfortable at first, I started by writing my prayers in a journal, writing my thoughts to God. That got me more comfortable with praying. And then as I grew in my faith, I learned about praying God’s Word. And I began to take God’s Word and pray it back to Him.

For example Romans 8:37 says, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” We can pray, “Thank You, God that no matter what I am walking through right now, because You love me and live inside of me, empowering and equipping me, I will be more than a conqueror!”

Just for fun: Salty or Sweet?

Oh, so hard. I’ll combine both. Dark chocolate with sea salt.

Tell us one thing about you that would surprise your readers.

I’m a lawyer by trade. When I practiced law in Dallas, Texas, a group of women in our firm asked me to join in, for the first time, to buy lottery tickets. The jackpot was 33 million dollars. I didn’t have any money in my wallet. So I said ask me next time. The next morning, I was out of the office and called in for my messages. It was hard to hear the receptionist through all the commotion. The 12 women who banded together to buy the tickets had the winning numbers! They won $33,000,000!!! There is no way to put into words the feelings that overcame me that day. But what I can say is if I had won, I never would have moved to Charlotte, NC. I never would have been part of Proverbs 31 Ministries, and I most certainly would not be celebrating the release of I Know His Name. What seemed such a great loss at the time, God has worked together for such great good in my life! He has done exceedingly, abundantly above all I could ever ask or imagine.

I invite you to check out Wendy’s newest Bible study, I Know His Name. Visit her blog to get a sneak peek of I Know His Name and also sign up for her FREE companion devotional, “5 Days to Knowing God More Intimately.”

 

 

 

A Conversation With Wendy Blight

My friend, Wendy Blight’s new Bible Study was released today,  I Know His Name: Discovering Power in the Names of God. Wendy teaches how the very names of God reveal His character and heart.

Wendy is a member of the Proverbs 31 Ministries’ First 5 Writing Team and serves as the Proverbs 31 On-Line Bible Study Small Group Ministry Training and Development Coordinator. She is the author of 3 books and most enjoys helping women, through Bible study, gain confidence so that they can tackle life’s problems through God’s Word.

I’d love to share with you A Conversation with Wendy Blight about Writing Books and Bible Studies:

I Know His Name is your 3^rd published book. How is writing Bible studies different from writing a book?

My books are an interesting combination of both. They are Bible studies because they require digging deep into God’s Word and contain challenging and practical application questions. But they are also filled with personal stories, anecdotes and my beloved and nerdy research, which I love, to bring alive what we are studying. I don’t just want women to read a book. I want them to meet and experience God in the pages of my book. I want them to develop a hunger and a thirst to continue in the Bible long after they turn that last page of my book.

What part of I Know His Name was the hardest to write and what was the easiest?

The research was much more intense for this book. My past books had me mostly in the New Testament. This book is filled with many Old Testament stories, and it stretched me more than ever before. But I absolutely LOVED it!! I learned so much, and I can’t wait to share all God taught me with my friends who read I Know His Name.

Do you like to write “old fashioned” with pen and paper or do you write electronically?

Before I begin a book, I sit down at my antique dining room table, covered with my grandmother’s handmade lace tablecloth, and pray, inviting God into every step of my book-writing process. My initial note taking is pen and paper with hardcopy commentaries and books stacked all around me. My second phase is electronic research. And then when the writing begins, I actually “write” on the computer.

What are your favorite Bible study tools to use for research in your writing?

Commentaries. Bible dictionaries. Biblegateway. Logos. Books by my favorite authors who have written on the topic. My journals. Notes I have taken along the way.

What do you like to do when you need to take a break from writing?

I walk over to my couch, have a snack and watch an episode of one of my favorite shows. It might be an old show like Murder She Wrote or Matlock. It might be a new episode of Hawaii 5-0 or NCIS Los Angeles. Sometimes even Bewitched or I Dream of Jeannie. Something to stop thinking and just relax and rest.

I invite you to check out Wendy’s newest Bible study, I Know His Name. Visit her blog to get a sneak peek of I Know His Name and also sign up for her FREE companion devotional, “5 Days to Knowing God More Intimately.”

Purchase your book here or other locations TODAY!

Wendy Blight is a member of the Proverbs 31 Ministries’ First 5 Writing Team and serves as the Proverbs 31 On-Line Bible Study Small Group Ministry Training and Development Coordinator. She is a national speaker, Bible teacher, attorney, and author of 3 books including her newest Bible Study: I Know His Name: Discovering Power in the Names of God. She most enjoys helping women, through Bible study, gain confidence so that they can tackle life’s problems through God’s Word.

Wendy’s favorite place to be is at home in Charlotte, North Carolina writing and enjoying time with her husband, Monty, and their two children, Lauren and Bo.

 

 

Praying to God Our Promise-Keeper

Do you believe in the power of prayer?

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. James 5:16 (NIV)

I invited my friend Wendy Blight to share with you today about Praying to God Our Promise-Keeper.

Knowing God by name. Calling upon God by name. Praying His Word … His Promises … back to Him are powerful and effective ways to usher God’s life-transforming work into our lives because our God is a Promise-Keeper.

But prayer is hard. It doesn’t come naturally to most women. I know it didn’t for me. The thought of praying out loud intimidated me. Made me feel uncomfortable.

But I have also learned that without prayer, we will never get to know the promise-keeping side of God. In order to know our Promise-Keeper, we’ve got to interact with Him. Pray to Him. And more than just pray, pray His promises … His Word … back to Him. It’s the substance of His promises that transform our prayers to be those powerful and effective prayers James talks about in James 5:16.

This truth came alive to me last year at a women’s conference in Houston.

The women’s ministry leader invited me to share my testimony. It’s a hard story for me to tell. In 1986, just days after my graduation from Baylor University, I fell victim to an armed, masked man hiding in my apartment. The horrific events of that June day locked me in a prison of fear for years. I hated God. I felt abandoned and forgotten by the One I grew up believing loved and cared for me.

A few weeks after my attack, a friend gave me this promise: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you” (Deut. 31:6, NIV). But at the time, it meant nothing. In fact, I saw it as a lie. He had forsaken me. He sat on his throne in heaven and watched what happened to me and did nothing.

Thankfully, God did not leave me in that dark place. As time passed, my heart slowly opened to God’s Word. It was a long and arduous journey, but over a decade later, through much prayer and the transforming power of His Word healing came. Freedom came. My test became a powerful testimony.

As I closed my message and stepped off the stage, a woman walked up and shared her story. Little did I know it was my story too.

She had been a student at Baylor at the time of my attack. She was part of a ministry whose leader invited them to pray for the young woman who had been attacked (me). They prayed a passage from Psalm 62 over me every week … for two years!  They prayed the promises of the Promise-Keeper.

Grasp the miracle here. At the very time I felt abandoned by God, He had raised up believers to pray. And not just pray, but pray God’s Word. His promises. She showed me her Bible. Yes, she still had it! Next to the passage was 1986 and my name.

As I read the passage, I saw clearly how each promise had come alive in my life. My promise-keeping God had honored each and every one.

I pray my story not only encourages you to pray but also opens doors for you to invite others to pray. Because you never know what God is up to in the midst of all those prayers!

Will you join me in praying God’s Word back to the One who is our Promise-Keeper? He always honors His Word. In fact, Isaiah 55:11 promises His Word will never return void and will accomplish everything He desires and achieve every purpose for which He sent it … even thirty years later!

 

In addition to God Our Promise-Keeper, there are hundreds of Names of God. I invite you to visit Wendy’s blog to get a sneak peek of her newest Bible study, I Know His Name and also sign up for her FREE companion devotional, “5 Days to Knowing God More Intimately.”

 

Here is a link to Wendy’s public page.

I Know His Name: Jehovah Shalom

Are you ready to experience God in fresh new ways? Then you are in for a treat today!

I Know His Name: Discovering Power in the Names of God is a new Bible study written by my friend Wendy Blight. Wendy teaches how the very names of God reveal His character and heart.

I’ve invited Wendy to share with you today about Jehovah Shalom: The One Who Brings Me Peace.

A few years ago I found myself in one of those busy seasons of life. You know, the kind where your calendar is void of white space. Where you spend your days trying to balance the daily tasks that have to be done with the fun events that keep you a well-adjusted, delightful-to-be-with co-worker, girlfriend, wife, and/or mom.

Mentally, I felt like I was balancing it all well. Reading my daily devotional and praying my neatly ordered list of prayers.

But physically, my body said otherwise.

My spirit felt uneasy. Anxious.

My heart beat erratically.

My symptoms escalated with each passing day.

Night after night, I lay awake counting my heartbeats, faster and faster they came. Lack of sleep led to exhaustion. Exhaustion to withdrawal. I felt disconnected from everything around me.

One morning I stepped into the shower.  Within moments, I struggled to breathe. Inexplicable panic ensued. I flung open the shower door, enveloped myself in a towel, and collapsed on the tile floor. Tears poured forth uncontrollably.

What was happening to me? I felt as if my life … my faith … the very core of who I am was unraveling. I felt like a failure.

I mustered what little faith I could find and dropped to my knees. It was weak faith, but it was there. I needed more. More of Jesus. More of His peace.

My sweet Savior met me right there on the carpet. He turned my eyes to my bedside table where my unopened Bible lay.

My heart ached. I had not opened that precious book in weeks. I had been reading my daily devotional. Reading what another woman had to say about the Bible. But I had not been in my Bible, listening for what Jesus had to say about His Word … to me.

I had been spending very little time with Jesus.

I crawled over to my precious Bible and opened it. With each turn of the page, truths spilled into my empty, thirsty heart … truths to cling to … to pray … to quench my empty, thirsty heart.

Truths I want to share with you today.

From the Old Testament:

“For to us a child is born … And he will be called … Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6 (NIV)

“You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.” Isaiah 26:3 (NIV)

From the New Testament, not forgetting our verse for today (John 14:27):

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33 (NIV)

^“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)

Jesus is our Prince of Peace, and His Peace is ours. It’s a fruit of God’s Spirit that lives and breathes in those of us who are children of God.

Believe it.

Claim it.

Now let me share the key to believing and claiming it:

Personalizing and praying these truths. When we pray God’s Hebrews 4:12 living and active Word, His Word comes alive in us. It infuses every part of our being.

So, how do we go about personalizing and praying God’s Word?

Here are a few of my prayers:

Wendy, I will keep you in perfect peace when your mind is steadfast, because you trust in Me. (Isaiah 26:3)

Peace I leave with you, Wendy; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your heart be anxious, troubled or afraid.
(John 14:26-28)

Wendy, when you stop being anxious, when you give everything to me in prayer, My peace, which transcends all understanding, will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)

Want to learn more about Jehovah Shalom: The One Who Brings Me Peace? Wendy teaches about this Name of God in Chapter 5 of her newest Bible study, I Know His Name: Discovering Power in the Names of God. I invite you to visit Wendy’s blog to get a sneak peek of I Know His Name and also sign up for her FREE companion devotional, “5 Days to Knowing God More Intimately.”

Here is a link to Wendy’s public book page.