Canadian Christian author, speaker and Bible teacher Grace Fox has released her 14th book which examines the unique challenge of illustrating the various titles God takes throughout Scripture and explaining how they can help readers vanquish fear from their lives. 

The latest interactive devotional study from the Alberta native, titled Names of God: Living Unafraid (Aspire Press), lays out seven distinct names God is given in the Old Testament and, through the use of word studies, prayers, life applications and her own experience, Fox looks to demonstrate how readers can better understand and subsequently trust in the Lord.

While the book officially hit the shelves July 9, the seed that would eventually become Fox’s latest offering was planted long before her pen ever hit the paper. 

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“From the time I was in sixth grade, I felt like God was calling me to be a missionary some day. I prepared for that by going to Bible College at Prairie in Alberta and when I met my husband, we started our marriage off in Nepal as missionaries in the 1980s,” Fox said. 

Now residing in Richmond, B.C., Fox revealed that during their mission work in South Asia, she and her husband were forced to return home after their second child was diagnosed with hydrocephalus following her birth. 

“We had to get her back to North America on the first available flight for surgery that she needed to save her life. When the airline found out that I had a C-section to deliver her, they said I was a high medical risk and they did not want me on the plane,” Fox said. “My husband took her home and I was forced to stay, not knowing if I would ever see my daughter again. I remember crying, saying that whatever happens, I was going to trust that God was going to be faithful — I think that was the pivotal point for my spiritual journey.” 

While her daughter received the life-saving surgery she needed, the experience Fox underwent solidified her plans of better understanding who God is and how fostering that understanding can bring peace in any situation.

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The book is broken into seven chapters, each dissecting a specific name of God in the Bible: Yahweh, Yahweh Tzidkenu, Yahweh Roh, Yahweh Tzevaot, Yahweh Yireh, Yahweh Shammah and El Elyon. Each section contains the names’ pronunciation, Scripture reference, translation, prayer and word study along with its cultural context, various action steps and reflection questions to help readers apply their understanding to their own lives. 

“Even still, I find myself immersed in these different names and roles that God takes on. It makes me think that if God is truly who He says He is and if that knowledge is this rich, then I should be facing life with confidence, without being afraid but rather with peace and with rest,” Fox said. “The ultimate answer to my prayers is having my readers be able to feel this way as well.” 

Included in each chapter is accompanying video insights that can be accessed online, an interesting component that gives the book another avenue to explain the complex word of God engagingly. Fox revealed the process she and her team took to deliver these video explanations. 

“When the managing team pitched me the idea, my eyes were glazing and my ears were ringing as it was something where I knew my brain did not function that way,” Fox said, speaking to the process of filming her video insights. “With the help of my pastor and others on my team, it reminded me of the name Yahweh Yireh which is explained in the book, that God will provide us with what we need to do what He has called us to.”  

Fox also revealed that Names of God: Living Unafraid is the first book in a three-part series, with the others also unpacking seven different names of God for a total of 21. The second book is tentatively titled Names of God: Finding Peace with the third and final offering teased to focus on names that relate to growing in strength. 

Although the first seven names were chosen due to Fox’s personal experiences with their corresponding traits, she hopes the upcoming releases to the Names of God series provide readers with similar revelations into the truth about who God reveals Himself to be. 

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“We tend to view God through that lens of our upbringing that was less than perfect. Using ‘Abba’ (which means Father) as an example, if we had a father who disappointed us, we might automatically think our heavenly Father will disappoint us too,” she explained. “However, the thoughts we entertain about who God is are the most important thing about us and this book will help us align those thoughts with the truth of His character and teach us how to apply those truths because, without application, there is no transformation.” 

Names of God: Living Unafraid is available now at Christian bookstores. For an online copy and to stay up to date on Fox’s upcoming sequels, see gracefox.com/.