Book Review: One Year Alone With God

With Christmas only a few weeks away (!), many of us are starting to think about gifts and are making out those wonderful shopping lists. If you know somoene who enjoys devotional books that help them learn in bite-size pieces on busy days, then check out One Year Alone With God: 366 Devotions on the Names of God by Ava Pennington.

Plenty of books and Bible studies look at the different names of God and what they mean. What sets Ava’s book apart is the way she handles it. One Year Alone With God explores 122 names and attributes of God in three different ways over a period of three days. In the first devotional for each name or attribute, the reader “looks up” as Ava says, to see how and why God describes Himself the way He does. On the second day, the reader “looks in” to see how that name or attribute applies to his own life and how it changes his relationship with God. Finally, on the third day, the reader “looks out” to see how that deeper knowledge of God and himself can be shared with others.

I like the way each name is broken into smaller pieces of study; for me, it seems like it’s easy to read a devotional, spend a few minutes thinking about it, and then go on with my day. One Year Alone With God makes me more conscious of how I can put the things I learn into my everyday life, and I like that. I also like that the devotionals are so short they only take a few minutes to read, but you can also read all three for the same name or attribute if you have time.

Ava’s publisher sent me a copy of One Year Alone With God to read and review. I’ve used it for personal study time, with my middle/high school girls at church on Wednesday nights, and as a short devotional as part of ladies night dinner at church. I’ve enjoyed learning new things about the names and attributes of God, especially those I didn’t know much about or don’t think about as much.

I would certainly recommend it, but don’t just take my word for it. Right on the front cover of One Year Alone With God is an endorsement from Kay Arthur herself. And it says, “Can you imagine what will happen if you spend a year, day by day, focusing on your God and Father? May Ava’s devotional deive you to His Word.”

With an endorsement like that, you know there’s something good about the book. Visit Ava’s website for more info, or get your copy online or at a local bookstore.