FAITH NEWS SERVICE – I wrote The Heart in the Bible because I became increasingly aware that many people know Scripture intellectually but have never encountered God at the level of the heart.
As a Christian counsellor, I kept seeing the same pattern, deep wounds, broken relationships, and spiritual confusion rooted in a misunderstanding of what the Bible means when it speaks about the heart.
This book was born out of a desire to bring clarity, healing, and hope by showing that the heart is central to God’s redemptive story.
My writing journey actually began back in 2013, when I started writing my own testimony. At that time, it was very raw. It was healing for me to pour out the hurts in my heart, but I sensed the Holy Spirit gently
saying, “This is for you right now.” I knew there would be a book one day, but not yet, and not in that form.
Years later, I understood that God wasn’t asking me to write from my wounds, but with Him. The Heart in the Bible emerged not as a personal story alone, but as a Spirit-led exploration of what Scripture reveals about the heart, and how God meets us there.
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The HEART in the BIBLE by Joanne Finch
What did I sense God wanted to
accomplish by having me write this book?
In January 2025, at around three o’clock in the morning, I had a very clear dream, or vision, where I sensed God instructing me to write about the heart in the Bible. I was to look up every reference to the heart in Scripture and begin to write.
From that moment, the direction was unmistakable. I used Bible databases, theological resources, and Scripture itself to follow that prompting. What became clear as I wrote was that this book isn’t just about the hearts of biblical characters, it’s about the biggest heart in the Bible: God’s own heart. I believe God wanted to reveal His heart more fully, so people could understand His love, His intentions, and His desire for relationship and healing.
How did writing this book benefit or heal me personally?
This book marked a different season of healing for me. By the time I began writing, I realised that I had been healed enough to return to parts of my testimony that once felt too painful. As I wrote, I could see how my own experiences mirrored the biblical narratives, the wounded heart, the searching heart, the restored heart.
Writing alongside the Holy Spirit allowed me to reflect without reopening old wounds. Instead, it brought deeper healing, clarity, and gratitude for what God had done. It confirmed that healing is not just about moving on, but about allowing God to redeem what once hurt.
What do I believe the reader will receive from this book?
I believe readers will receive a deeper understanding of both their own hearts and God’s heart. They will see that Scripture speaks directly into the human experience, pain, longing, hope, and restoration. My prayer is that readers will feel safe to bring their whole heart to God and discover that He is gentle, faithful, and deeply present in the healing journey.
Ultimately, I believe this book invites people into a living, heart-level encounter with God, one that brings truth, restoration, and hope.
Closing statement
This book reflects God’s timing in my life. What once felt too raw became something redemptive when written with the Holy Spirit. The Heart in the Bible is an invitation to encounter God’s heart and trust Him with your own, just as He promises in Ezekiel 36:26 “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you.”
Amazon’s summary about The Heart in the Bible
What if the key to understanding your own heart is hidden in the hearts of the men and women of Scripture? The Heart in the Bible is a deeply personal and Spiritled journey into the places where God meets us, in our wounds, our longings, our questions, and our desire to be fully known and fully loved. Drawing from decades of Christian counselling, ministry, and her own encounters with Jesus, Joanne Finch invites you into a tender exploration of the human heart as revealed through Scripture.
This book is for anyone who has ever wondered: Why do I feel broken when I love God? Can God heal the parts of me I hide from others? What does it really mean to love God with all my heart? How does God see me when I struggle, doubt, or fall apart? Through biblical reflections, personal testimony, and Holy Spirit revelation, Joanne shares how God met her in childhood trauma, physical scars, emotional pain, and seasons of deep surrender. Her visions, including the Striver, the Survivor, and the Observer, reveal the inner battles many believers face but rarely speak about.
In these pages, you will discover: The truth about God’s heart toward you; How the hearts of biblical men and women mirror your own; Why surrender, not perfection, is the doorway to healing; How God restores the fragmented places within us; What it means to live fully alive, fully known, and fully loved.
Whether you are a lifelong Christian, a seeker, or someone longing for healing, The Heart in the Bible will help you encounter the God who sees you, understands you, and calls you His beloved. If you’re ready to experience God’s love in a deeper, more personal way, this book will meet you right where you are.
