Why does she yearn for something more than God’s inspired Word?

Sarah Young’s devotional book Jesus Calling is immensely popular among Christian readers. I used to read her book daily, but I stopped reading it after discovering serious doctrinal issues with it. The following is a list of some of these problems.

1. Jesus did not speak the words she says He revealed to her. If He did, they would be in the Bible and labeled Scripture.

2. She said that her inspiration came from a booklet called God Calling. The authors of this booklet used the occult practice of automatic writing to receive their messages. This is a form of scrying. She is doing the same thing by writing down the words she said, “Jesus lovingly laid on her heart.”

3. Evidently, Sarah Young did not take seriously these Bible passages in Revelation 22:18–19 (KJV), about not adding or subtracting anything from the Word of God.

For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:

And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

4. She admits that her work is different from God’s Word in the Bible. However, she doesn’t explain how or why it’s different. This generates confusion because she says her words are from God Himself. It also shows that Sarah Young doesn’t feel that the Bible is sufficient, which is a direct contradiction of 2 Timothy 3:16–17 (KJV).

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

5. Her book Jesus Calling has had several revisions. If her words are really from Jesus, why would they need to be revised?

6. She promotes mysticism by encouraging readers to seek a subjective experience with God instead of reading the Bible.

7. Her focus in this book is on personal feelings and personal peace rather than on Christ’s work on the cross and the need for obedience to God’s will.

Conclusion

While God has spoken audibly to Biblical figures such as Moses and the prophets in the past, it was rare and something out of the ordinary. When people say that God has spoken to them or is speaking to them audibly or in their thoughts, we might ask them if they have tested this voice, as the Bible says in 1 John 4:1 (KJV):

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

We might also remind them that Satan masquerades as an angel of light, as the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 11:13–14 (KJV):

For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

God speaks to us through our conscience, through events, and through other people; however, the written word of the Bible is considered God’s special revelation, serving as the primary way for people to know God’s will.