The best books by Lysa Terkeurst

Most people turn to books for education, entertainment, or research. However, many also try to find deeper meaning and wisdom hidden in the pages of books. If you’re one such person looking to be the best of who you are through God’s word, or perhaps you’re simply interested in various Christian teachings and how they can be applied in your life, then Lysa Terkeurst is an author who may be worth reading for you.

Founder, speaker, and best-selling author—Lysa Terkeurst

American speaker and Christian non-fiction author Lysa Terkeurst was born in Tallahassee, Florida and was raised in a religious environment. Though due to the trauma of losing her younger sister, her relationship with Christianity wasn’t always as strong and started out rather disorderly. However, through a series of circumstances she formed a strong bond with Christian teachings later on. She also pursued a university education, graduating from Furman University in South Carolina.

Her first introduction to writing was through the then-small newsletter organization Proverbs 31 Ministries, which she became the president of in 1995. However, her first book did not come until the year 2000. Living Life on Purpose: Discovering God’s Best for Your Life, Lysa’s first book, is a Bible study guide meant to inspire women and help them understand and organize their life better in connection to God.

Ever since then, her books have gained a lot of popularity and success, and several of her books found themselves on The New York Times bestseller list for many weeks. Some of her popular books include The Forgiveness Journal: A Guided Journey to Forgiving What You Can’t Forget, Becoming More Than a Good Bible Study Girl, Embraced: 100 Devotions to Know God Is Holding You Close, and more, which we will discuss further into the article.

The best-selling author also has her own website lysaterkeurst.com, which focuses on her devotion to God’s words, her teachings, and her everyday life with her family. Additionally, she holds podcasts that you can listen to across different platforms. She also writes about prayers and inspirational things regarding growth and everyday living on social media. Lysa even has a broadcast called Focus on the Family that is available both as a podcast on Apple, Google, and streaming video platforms.

Lysa Terkeurst’s teachings

Lysa Terkeurst’s teachings mostly focus on women’s everyday life, well-being, goals, and devotion to God, and she herself is a Bible studies teacher. However, her approach to the Holy Scriptures isn’t simply ordinary, as she uses them to help others understand life and God from her unique perspective.

Her teachings are also aimed mainly toward women, which is another aspect of why her approach is so popular. Women who often feel left out of faith-based teachings can now look to Lysa and her words for comfort and guidance in their Christian faith.

The purpose of Lysa’s Proverbs 31 Ministries

“Know the Truth. Live the Truth. It Changes Everything.”—This is the quote presented on the website of Proverbs 31 Ministries. It’s a good first introduction to the purpose of this organization, which aims to connect with women across the world through Truth.

This goal is inked with an understanding of women’s loneliness and spiritual and religious needs. Lysa, the president of Proverbs 31 Ministries, intertwines her own experiences with the word of God, with an empathetic aim to help women figure out how to align their lives with God’s Truth.

Faith-Driven books by Lysa Terkeurst

Lysa Terkeurst’s books are, understandably, faith-driven, aiming to introduce women to the religious experience in a calming and welcoming way. So now, let’s discuss some of her bestselling books and their individual messages.

The Best Yes: Making Wise Decisions in the Midst of Endless Demands (2014)

The Best Yes is a book meant to function as a guide through a stressful life full of overwhelming schedules, demands, responsibilities, sadness, and an ultimately underwhelming feeling caused by it all.

However, in the book, Lysa Terkeurst says it doesn’t have to be this way. Through lived advice and the incredible powers of “yes” and “no” she attempts to explain that shaping your life is a process that you can accomplish with wise decisions. She also explains that saying yes to God and Jesus Christ isn’t the same thing as saying yes to others. With this, she attempts to help the readers let go of people-pleasing tendencies and overcome the guilt of disappointing others, and organize their time, their choices, and themselves with intention.

Uninvited: Living Loved When You Feel Less Than, Left Out, and Lonely (2016)

Uninvited is about rejection, loneliness, and a feeling of being left out. At its core this is a book most people can relate to and benefit from reading. In this book, Terkeurst shares her own deep and personal experiences of rejection and helps the reader discover how to move on.

This book also seeks to find the root of rejection, its negative power, and how it can also negatively influence a person’s relationship with God. It’s also a reminder that our longings for love aren’t only confined to loving others, and with this confined to possible rejection, abandonment, and hurt. Instead, we’re destined for an unshakeable love that can never reject or uninvite us—the love of God.

It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way: Finding Unexpected Strength When Disappointments Leave You Shattered (2018)

It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way is a book that deals with questions. Ponderings such as: Why do God’s timings seem so questionable? Why does He not intervene? And, why are His promises so doubtful?

It’s actually quite normal for people to lose faith after things keep getting worse and worse and life seems so different than what we expected and hoped it would be. Lysa approaches this with understanding and empathy as she invites us to further explore the context of the bigger picture of our relationship with God, and find unexpected strength.

Unglued: Making Wise Choices in the Midst of Raw Emotions (2012)

Unglued handles the question of emotions, choices, and going about things in a wise and thought-out way.

It also explores the ways in which emotions work against us, however, with this book Lysa promises that emotions can, in fact, work for us as well. She prefixes that God gave us emotions so we could experience life, and not for destruction purposes.

This book will help you find the confidence to resolve conflict in relationships with those that matter most. It will also assist you with the difficult relationships in your life and learning how to respond to things with kindness and honesty as opposed to getting offended. It will also allow you to improve your communication skills significantly, which will additionally help with handling emotions.

Listen to faith-based audiobooks on Speechify

If you want to get more in touch with your faith or spirituality, Speechify has many audiobooks you can check out. These books are perfect for listening to on your morning commute, doing chores around the house, at the gym, or to help in your prayer or meditation. From Lysa Terkeurst’s books to many other authors, there is something for everyone.

Give Speechify audiobooks a try for free today.

FAQ

Did Lysa Terkeurst adopt?

Lisa Terkeurst has two adopted sons called Jackson and Mark, who she adopted after the Liberian civil war left them orphaned and homeless.

Where is Lysa Terkeurst now?

Nowadays Lisa is continuing what she’s been doing for years with her career. However, she did have a tumultuous period in her life after finally divorcing her husband of 29 years due to his infidelity. She now says her life has been joyful since then.

What is Lysa Terkeurst’s favorite food?

Lysa Terkeurst’s relationship with food has been hard as she had struggled with her eating habits for many years. In her book Made to Crave: Satisfying Your Deepest Desire with God, Not Food she explains that food cravings can be sated with spiritual satisfaction.

Did Lysa TerKeurst have a happy childhood?

Lysa’s childhood was emotionally taxing. Her father never wanted a daughter and distanced himself from her emotionally. As a young girl, she also experienced the death of her baby sister. Turning to God helped her realize she didn’t need to feel “good enough” for others and helped her put her difficult circumstances behind her.