(Astonishing Your World with Christ’s Love)
Daily Devotionals with Powerful Stories for Real-Life Application.
Your heart longs to join Jesus on an adventurous mission. So, what if God slowly opened your eyes and ears to the hurting people in your world? And what if you began surprising them with God’s love?
God wants to answer your prayer. He wants to surprise you first. And then He wants to help you see, hear, and love the broken people around you. “Surprise me, God” -it’s not just prayer: it’s a life of walking with our surprising Jesus and introducing Him to others. Join me on this surprising 365-day journey, with powerful stories sprinkled in.
Overview
At the center of Surprise Me, God is a simple but transformative prayer: “Surprise me, God.” Julie Ann Rose invites readers into a life of spiritual attentiveness where Christ is not confined to church walls or extraordinary moments, but discovered in the ordinary rhythms of daily living. Through personal reflections, testimonies, scripture, and intimate conversations with God, Rose encourages believers to open their eyes and hearts to the hurting people around them—and to become vessels of Christ’s surprising love.
The book speaks directly to a modern spiritual disconnect many Christians quietly wrestle with: the desire to share faith, yet uncertainty in how to truly live on mission. Rather than offering rigid formulas or performance-driven evangelism, Rose models a deeply relational walk with God rooted in listening, compassion, surrender, and presence.
Interwoven throughout the devotional are reflections on suffering, healing, spiritual awakening, and the enduring encouragement found in the “great cloud of witnesses” who strengthened her during seasons of cancer recovery and personal trials. Influenced by voices such as C.S. Lewis, Henri Nouwen, Brennan Manning, and St. Francis of Assisi, Rose crafts a spiritually rich narrative that feels both intimate and universally relatable.
Why This Book Matters
• Mission Through Everyday Life: Encourages simple, authentic ways to reflect Christ daily
• Spiritually Intimate: Blends devotion, testimony, and relational faith with emotional honesty
• Encouraging & Accessible: Offers hope without pressure or religious performance
• Rooted in Scripture: Grounds personal experience within biblical truth and spiritual reflection
• Healing-Centered Perspective: Speaks powerfully to readers navigating pain, illness, recovery, and renewal
Perfect For
• Devotional readers seeking a deeper relationship with Christ
• Small groups, women’s ministries, and church discipleship studies
• Christians longing to become more active in sharing their faith naturally
• Readers drawn to spiritually reflective memoir-style devotionals
• Individuals seeking encouragement during hardship, recovery, or seasons of uncertainty
Final Note
Surprise Me, God is not simply about witnessing to others—it is about allowing God to awaken the heart first. Julie Ann Rose offers readers an authentic journey of faith marked by vulnerability, wonder, healing, and spiritual attentiveness. This devotional reminds believers that some of the most powerful expressions of Christ’s love happen quietly, unexpectedly, and in the ordinary places where God is already waiting to move.