When I Dont Desire God: How to Fight For Joy by John Piper

When I Dont Desire God: How to Fight For Joy Reviews

• 
  Natalie Vellacott

  I'm abandoning this. I picked it up from our church bookstall for 50p thinking I couldn't go wrong at that price. I was also curious because I really didn't like Desiring God which made me feel that I wasn't saved because I didn't experience certain feelings and emotions that are apparently essential.
  
  Beginning this book, there was a familiarity to it. It is basically exactly the same as Desiring God. The same principle of Christian hedonism which I can't find in Scripture, the same emotionalism and the same repetitions. The title is obviously different and maybe the author is coming at the subject from a different angle, but the material is the same. I feel cheated out of my 50p!
  
  I know there are a lot of Piper fans out there and I have read a few of his earlier books which were quite helpful. I don't, however, recommend this or the prequel.
  
  
• 
  Elizabeth

  Have you ever gone through a period of time in which you had little desire to read your Bible? Or maybe a time when you pondered which book to pick up next but just felt kind of "blah" about the whole thing? I went through a phase like this about six months ago. I was more aware of my failures than God's grace. I knew that I needed to focus on what God has done for me through the blood of Jesus Christ rather than reading another Christian living title that would reveal my many shortcomings in my marriage, parenting, and every other area of my life. A short time later, I began reading When I Don't Desire God by John Piper. It was hard reading for this sleep-deprived mama, and it was slow going most of the time. However, it was well worth the effort. God used this book to encourage me greatly. It was comforting for me to realize that "...no one ever desires God with the passion he demands" (pg. 13). Ironically, when I realize that I don't desire God enough, I'm actually in a better place spiritually than when I think I'm doing well, even if I do feel worse.
  
  This book is classic Piper; he's singing the same tune: "...God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him" (pg. 19). The first half of the book is largely foundational and philosophical while the latter portion is immensely practical. For example, we all know that the greatest commandment is to love God with all of our heart, so why is Piper writing a whole book about fighting for joy? I'll let him answer:
  
  "The apostle Paul said, "If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed" (1 Cor. 16:22). Love is not a mere choice to move the body or the brain. Love is also an experience of the heart. So the stakes are very high. Christ is to be cherished, not just chosen. The alternative is to be cursed. Therefore life is serious. And so is this book" (pg. 19).
  
  As for the practical, there's nothing essentially new here: we fight for joy mainly through God's Word and prayer. However, Piper does have many helpful insights as to how the Word and prayer help us in our fight for joy and how to use them to this end. As usual, Piper says many thought-provoking things making this a book in which you’ll likely want to spend some time. I’ll leave you with a quote that was meaningful to me in my situation; may it whet your appetite.
  
  “The fight for joy always involves both [prayer and meditation]. Prayer without meditation on the Word of God will disintegrate into humanistic spirituality. It will simply reflect our own fallen ideas and feelings—not God’s. And meditation, without the humility of desperate prayer, will create proud legalism or hopeless despair.
  
  Without prayer we try to fulfill the Word in our own strength and think we are succeeding and so become proud Pharisees; or we will realize we are not succeeding and will give up in despair” (pg. 149).
• 
  Jerry

  An excellent look at what Christian joy truly is.
• 
  Devin

  I was originally introduced to this book when I was informed that a small group I had been put in would be studying it week to week. I should've been very familiar with John Piper. I've read Don't Waste Your Life; in my church back home, the pastor referenced and quoted him regularly; and now, I find myself going to Bethlehem College and Seminary, a school under John Piper's church in Minneapolis, MN.
  
  When I first began reading this book, I was skeptical. I thought that this would turn out to be another Christian-themed self-help book. However, reading Piper's foreword and prayer at the beginning of the book changed my perspective. From the very beginning, Piper seeks to let his heart for Jesus shine through the text on these pages, and he does so wonderfully. He often speaks of his personal experiences in his own quest to find joy in God, but he never lets his experiences validate Scripture. He always is sure to interpret events in light of what the Bible teaches.
  
  The very last chapter was the most impacting in my reading. Though the rest of the chapters in this book make a great case and outline for how a Christian ought to live and fight in this life, the last chapter is a guide of what to do if all else fails. Piper speaks very practically of how a person ought to help his depressed Christian neighbor and offers tips of how to live in a way that exercises Christian hedonism even when we aren't enjoying God. The last chapter is riddled with stories of influential pastors of old and their part in people's struggle for joy. Seeing that these giants of the faith dealt with these issues just as Christians do today was very encouraging and motivating.
  
  I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who needs to find a new excitement in their faith. This book is both for people who are themselves depressed and without joy and for those who don't know how they ought to reach out to neighbors and friends who are going through this type of struggle.
• 
  Micaela Hardyman

  It’s fine for what it is.. but goodness coming back to Piper after the other stuff I’ve learned and read is, well, interesting. It’s a bit pessimistic, and a bit presumptuous - I particularly enjoyed the caveat of “he doesn’t have right theology because he’s Roman Catholic and anti-Calvinist” after a book recommendation. And honestly while I appreciate what he is trying to do and I genuinely see that his heart is in the right place I just really do wonder when we as Christians are going to wake up and realize that fear-mongering is way more anti-gospel than Armenians are.
  
  Maybe, just maybe, if we weren’t so terrified of God it would be easier to experience him, and since he’s God I imagine we’d enjoy him. But the view represented in this book - well intentioned as it is - makes any questions your fault, any lack of joy your fault, and the answer is to repress yourself and use tactics to try and drum up joy for God. Maybe we have trouble finding joy in him because our view of him is just really messed up? Maybe fear tactics don’t line up with a God who says “fear not” more than anything else? But, well, that’s probably just my sin nature talking 😉
  
  Again, I respect what he’s trying to do. But I know from experience that positioning joy as a requirement and lack of joy as evidence of a one-track road to eternal damnation breeds a lot of fear, and fear and joy don’t really mix.
• 
  curtis

  Though this book has been on my radar for quite a while now, I never really pulled the trigger on it, because when I first began hearing about it, I didn't feel that the title described me very well. This is unfortunate (and my only real quibble) because this is a TERRIFIC book. The fight for joy in Christ is something worthy of careful, earnest consideration at ALL times by ALL Christians. Piper does a tremendous job of demonstrating that the fight for joy is the central, ongoing conflict of every Christian. His counsel for how to fight is among his wisest anywhere, and as always he offers the reader a gold mine of other resources (lamentably in end notes rather than footnotes! Grrrrrr...) for further reading and consideration. I can't recommend this highly enough. Definitely a candidate for my "Must-Reads (Kind Of, But Not Really, But Almost) for Every Christian" list.
• 
  Jonathan McIntosh

  My second time through and I've decided that this is my favorite book by John Piper. When I Don't Desire God takes all of the concepts of Desiring God and puts those in real-world scenarios.It believe it's certainly his most practical and helpful.
  
  You want to be one who hungers and thirsts after Christ, so what practically do you do when you don't? Piper answers that question here with warmth and challenge combined with his years of pastoral insight. Distilling the wisdom of Puritans like Richard Baxter and John Newton, as well as drawing on heavy doses of Martyn Lloyd-Jones and C.S. Lewis, Piper teaches us practically how to fight through times of depression and spiritual darkness so that we might truly "taste and see that the LORD is good."
  
  My one (minor) complaint with Piper in general (and it shows up here in the chapter on How to Wield the World in the Fight for Joy) is that he sometimes comes off as somewhat Platonic in his view of the world and enjoying the gifts of the world.
  
  For example:
  "We must make it our aim that the joy awakened by music be joy in God. Not all pleasures of music are pleasures in God."
  And...
  "This is what we pray toward even now - that all our joy in the things of this world would be because, in and through them, we see more of the glory of God."
  All our joy in the things of this world must be joy in God? I can never listen to and enjoy music simply because it is?
  
  Often food, drink, friendship, sex, and music point me to the glory of God. But I also think that these things are gifts from God to be enjoyed in and for themselves. When I give my children a present, I do want them to thank me... but often the best way that they can thank me is to go play with the present!
  
  Sometimes I can come away from reading Piper not quite feeling free to enjoy the good gifts God has filled our world with for fear that I might not be enjoying them for God or his glory. I think this is potentially due to slight neo-Platonic influences in his teaching.
  
  That being said, this is a tremendous (and I will say once again deeply helpful) book that God has used over and over again to stir my affection for Christ. I wish all Christians would read it and find new tools that will help them delight in Christ.
• 
  Matthew Huff

  This book is marvelous - certainly my favorite Piper read thus far. His chapters are organized clearly, and his approach is filled with practical advice and deep biblical insight. I would say, for me, this is Piper at his most straightforward and encouraging. I found myself at many points convicted and relieved, paradoxically.
  
  I would recommend this book as a starter for anyone interested in Piper and a must-read for anyone seeking to experience deep and lasting joy in Christ. Covering topics such as prayer, discipline, early mornings, Bible memorization, reading, poetry, depression, repentance, grace, and much more, this book stands as a powerful tool for drawing the Christian closer to his God.
• 
  Samantha Barnes

  I purchased this book my junior year of college, and after four or five attempts to read it over the past nine years, I feel a keen sense of accomplishment of having finished it. I struggle to read Piper, as he can be repetitive and dig into the tiniest nuances that feel perhaps unnecessary, but the content of the book and the flow of the book are excellent. It helped me to make notes as I went along so that I did not get confused by his logic or forget what stood out to me. Not sure I would reread it, but it’s a book I will certainly go back to and reference. I am thankful for how often Piper quotes the Word and bases his words on the words of Scripture.
• 
  Laura

  I LOVED this book. I may not align 100% with John Piper theologically but I cannot think of another well-known pastor that has ministered to my weak soul the way Piper has. I am so thankful for this saint.
  
  There were a few suggestions in this book that feel a bit unrealistic for a mom of 4 kids 4 and under (namely, hours of solitude to pray and meditate, what is solitude again??) but there are so many wonderful, encouraging principles to draw from this book.
• 
  Tori Samar

  "If we were perfect—if there were no remaining corruption in our hearts—there would be no fight. There would be no obstacles to overcome. We won’t fight for joy in heaven. But we are not there yet."
  
  Joy, affections, desire, delight—all are essential parts of biblical Christianity. We are called to love God more than all else, to desire Him more than all else. We are called to joy. But on this side of heaven, joy must be fought for every day. A multitude of idols and sins constantly seek to lure us away from our one true Treasure. Thankfully, God has given us the gospel, His Word, prayer, the church, good books, and even our five senses to help us in this fight for joy. But what He gives, we must be willing to take up and use. God works, and we work.
  
  I was as blessed reading this book for a second time as I was the first. It is certainly one I will refer to again as I fight for joy. Thankful for Dr. Piper’s commitment to helping Christians see and savor God.
  
  Excellent book!
• 
  Hannah H.

  Here’s the thing: I felt pretty guilty when I began reading this book. I’m my mind, only a weak Christian would find it beneficial to read about not desiring God. But Piper not only encouraged my soul, he revealed the truth that all Christians go through periods of spiritually dryness and that the Lord has given us great tools to fight through them. I found this book surprisingly practical, yet biblically eye-opening. Many lines and phrases made me pause and agree out loud—they resonated that strongly.
  
  This is a book I will no doubt read again, as it’s truths are numerous and its wisdom, far too thick to absorb in one read. Thank you, John Piper, for making me feel less alone in my walk with the Lord and more equipped to fight spiritual war fare along the way.
• 
  Luis

  This is precious book to me. I recommend it for anyone, especially to those whom have tasted and have partaken of the Holy spirit in savoring Jesus Christ , but have at some after this experience have become downcast in spirit, losing Joy in there salvation.Ive learned from this book that God is very tender in mercy through Jesus Christ and if we wait upon the Lord to revive our spirit by prayer and supplications, we will eventually be lifted up in due season by Gods mercy according to the loving kindness of His only son Jesus Christ.
• 
  Rachel

  The first half of the book isn't helpful, but the second half is better. Honestly, if you want to read a book about finding joy in God, I wouldn't recommend this. I don't like the author's approach-it seems more focused on "doing" (academic) than "feeling" (heart/emotions), and it just doesn't inspire joy in the Creator. It just bogs you down with information you already know. However, there are a few good quotes in the book. I still think The Pursuit of Holiness by A.W. Tozer, while not a book explicitly about joy, inspires more joy and gratitude in God than this one does.
• 
  Lily

  I found this book encouraging during the difficult times of quarantine and the loss accompanied with it. There is nothing fancy about what John Piper proposes, but it is the simple reminders that can be most helpful sometimes. Piper can be unnecessarily wording and clearly writes with a male audience in mind.
• 
  Jenny Hartfelder

  I struggled with Piper's theology in the beginning chapters of this book; however, I am glad I pressed on. His exposition on prayer in chapters 9-10 made the entire book worth the read. I also appreciated the broader perspective given by his use of pertinent quotes from other classic authors.
• 
  Ben Omer

  This book came at a critical time in my life when I simply didn’t desire God. I experienced the loss of my grandfather, stress with school, and emotionally wore down.
  
  John Piper has been essential to my spiritual journey so It’s no surprise this book had an impact on me. John combines sound theology with extreme practicality. He brings a Christian hedonist twist the fight for joy in the Christian life.
  
  The fight for joy is essential for the Christian life and John does an excellent job of rooting this joy in Jesus Christ, where ultimate joy flows. Fantastic book I recommend for all people. The last chapter is especially good, entitled “when the darkness doesn’t lift.”
• 
  David Slice

  An enjoyable Piper book that brings the theological as well as the practical to help the average Christian fight for joy in everyday life. Recommend for all believers!
• 
  Margaret

  Sometimes I find a Christian non fiction to be the best in the first half and rather lack luster or redundant in the latter half. Not in this case for this book! I was pleasantly surprised that it was good to the very last. This is a book that I wouldn't mind owning.
• 
  Joy Rojas

  "Ah my deare angrie Lord,
  Since thou dost love, yet strike;
  Cast down, yet help afford;
  Sure I will do the like.
  I will complain, yet praise;
  I will bewail, approve:
  And all my sowre-sweet dayes
  I will lament, and love.
  
  Or as the apostle Paul put it for all the saints who fight for joy in this fallen world of pain and suffering, we live and minister “as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing” (2 Cor. 6:10)." - (When I Don't Desire God: the Fight for Joy, John Piper
• 
  Bambi Moore

  Every page of this book was wonderful. I probably underlined more than half. Highly recommend.
• 
  Brian

  This was my third time all the way through Piper's book on fighting for joy. I find chapters 6-12 very practical and helpful, but think the first five chapters aren't quite as good. While I really appreciate Piper's passion and zeal and have benefited immensely from his ministry, my enjoyment of his writing style and particular emphases has diminished over the years. This book will be helpful for some people in certain seasons of life (as it has been for me), but there are other books that I think will better accomplish the same purpose (help a person fight sin and delight in God). Three stars.
• 
  April Knapp

  I think every Christian should read this book! It is great for both young and mature believers. It is deeply convicting and motivating and hard to ignore.
  
  Piper is an eloquent writer, but what I like most about his books is that he always writes based on scripture. He doesn't use rhetoric it merely use scripture to back up what he says. Instead, he studies scripture and writes accordingly. And it is completely based on the Gospel of grace.
• 
  esther

  READ this book & prepare yourself!! So much valuable insight & guidance on the importance of fighting for joy to glorify God through Christ. "Preferring anything above Christ is the very essence of sin. It must be fought." If you're thinking this is a light hearted devotional to make you feel good, this ISN'T it. This book will challenge you in how your walk with God should look according to scripture.
• 
  Alex

  Filled with lots of Scripture, research, and great truth, this book is easily the best of any book by Piper that I've read. He uses much compassion to talk about Christian's who lack joy at times, even suggesting that he, himself, is in a constant fight for joy. And while a majority of this book is just a long way of saying read your Bible and pray more, there's much practical advice to take away from it.
• 
  Josiah

  Helpful book. A bit repetitive at points, but Piper does a really good job of analyzing why it is that we sometimes (often?) don't desire God, explaining what elements of this we can and can't control, and explaining how we can best cultivate a joyful mindset that delights in God regardless of present circumstances.
  
  Rating: 4 Stars (Very Good).