'Jesus Calling' Author in 'Rapidly Failing' Health, Publisher Reveals

The author of the highly successful “Jesus Calling” devotional, Sarah Young, is in “rapidly failing” health, her publisher, Thomas Nelson, revealed this month.

“We know that Sarah really believes in the power of prayer and prays for her readers every morning,” the publishing house wrote in a statement shared on Facebook. “Now, we have the precious privilege to lift up Sarah and her family. Please join us in prayer.”

Young and Thomas Nelson recently celebrated a major milestone, revealing the sale of 45 million copies of “Jesus Calling,” the 365-day devotional book first published in October 2004.

The 77-year-old author described publishing her devotional book as “a long, prayer-filled journey.”

“Ever since its publication,” she said, “I’ve prayed daily for people who are reading ‘Jesus Calling’ or any of my subsequent books. I consider it an amazing privilege and a God-given responsibility to pray for readers.”

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Thomas Nelson is slated to publish “Jesus Listens for Advent & Christmas” this fall. The holiday-themed book is a follow-up to Young’s prayer journal, “Jesus Listens,” published in October 2021.

In a New York Times profile from 2013, it was revealed Young has made few public appearances despite her commercial success as an author because of her struggle with Lyme disease and other health complications.

“There are almost no public photographs of her,” the outlet reported, “and she will not talk by telephone.”

In one interview with Gloria Gaither and Phil Newman, Young said she prays before writing, asking God “for protection of my mind from distractions, distortions and deception.” Nevertheless, she has faced some staunch critiques for her writing.

Tim Challies, a pastor and popular Christian blogger, has called her work “troubling,” while author Randy Alcorn has gone so far as to describe “Jesus Calling” as “an entire book built on falsehood.”

“The biggest problem with ‘Jesus Calling’ is very simple,” he told The Christian Post in 2018. “Jesus did not speak these words. If these were His words, then ‘Jesus Calling’ would be Scripture, which is by definition the words of God.”

Regardless of the theological disagreements and debates that might arise as a result of her writings, please be in prayer for Young and her loved ones.

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