Harris Faulkner 'struggled mightily' with her faith until she found father’s Bible
Fox News host Harris Faulkner says that finding her father's Bible after his tragic death reignited her faith in God during the pandemic.
The host of the FOX News shows "The Faulkner Focus" and "Outnumbered" released her new book Faith Still Moves Mountains: Miraculous Stories of the Healing Power of Prayer on Nov 15.
The writing highlights several accounts illustrating the miracles of faith.
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Although Faulkner believes that God can move mountains, she revealed that she wasn't always strong in her faith.
"To be completely transparent, I struggled mightily with my own faith journey during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when my dad passed away on Christmas morning in 2020," Faulkner told The Christian Post.
The journalist's grief was compounded by the fact she hadn't seen her dad for a whole year due to the pandemic lockdowns.
"Many Americans like myself understand the excruciating realities of lockdowns and restrictive living. My father was by himself in his senior living apartment in Dallas, Texas," she explained. "I was some 1,600 [miles] away in New Jersey. We spoke by phone on Christmas Eve and we laughed. He sounded great. That was the last time anyone talked to him."
With her father's death, Faulkner no longer has a living parent because she lost her mother a few years prior on Thanksgiving day.
"My heartbreak was overwhelming. And with churches locked down across my home state of New Jersey, it was very difficult to have spiritual connectivity and support," she said. "I began to pray less and cry more in my loss. It was a ridiculous recipe for someone who was raised by parents who taught the opposite."
The Emmy Award winner said she was instructed by her mother throughout childhood to give all her worries and sorrows to God. She said she was also reminded to "pray when things are going well" and "do battle with the tough times, not with God."
Faulkner found herself drifting from those ways until she discovered her father's Bible while packing his belongings at his apartment.
The Bible came "complete with handwritten notations about scriptures that he loved. I began to read his interpretations and expressions of faith," she said.
"Dad was always the North Star our family — constantly setting the example and a standard of excellence in every aspect of life, including his relationship with the Lord. And now, in death, dad was guiding me again," Faulkner stressed.
"The more I prayed and read his Bible notes, it felt like pieces in my life, however broken, were being knitted back together."
Faulkner said that things changed for the better as she rekindled her faith by praying and reading Scripture.
"So, yes, I say boldly, through it all, faith still moves mountains!" she declared.
Faulkner penned the book, which debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times Advice, How-To & Miscellaneous bestseller list, to provide readers with moving examples of fortitude and resilience in devotion. It was all birthed from the outgrowth of her "divine assignment."
"God has given me what I have coined — a divine assignment," Faulkner told CP. "He has called me to be a witness and to disseminate information truthfully from what I see and further question or investigate."
When executives at the newly-formed Fox News Books offered her the opportunity to write a book, she jumped at it. Faulkner recently learned of the reports about increasing shares of Americans losing their belief in God over the past 70 years, so she felt led to pen a book on faith.
A 2022 Gallup survey suggests that belief in God in the United States dipped to a new low at 81%.
"Gallup found that far fewer people than ever no longer believe that God intervenes in our lives or hears our prayers," Faulkner said. "But as a journalist covering people's hardest times and their most victorious moments, I have been reminded time and again that the power of prayer is real, and so are miracles."
Faulkner warned that Americans have seen too much "chaos, loss and deception," stating that the "current wave of random crimes and lack of baseline humanity disturbs millions of Americans to our core."
"Our peace has been taken. And without peaceful moments, our lives can feel meaningless," she said.
Faulkner shared a prayer in her book called PEACE:
"Lord God, you said to your apostles that the peace you would give them was not the peace of the world. But my heart aches for this world as I know your own heart ached when you walked the earth. You see the brokenness of this world, and you grieve for all the victims of war, violence and oppression, wherever they may be. Soften the hearts of those who make war of the world so that piece on this earth may be a reflection of the peace of your heavenly kingdom. Make me an instrument of that peace in my own family, in my work and in my church. May your Holy Spirit wrap this earth in the mantle of your peace that all may know and worship the Prince of peace. Amen."
One section of the book includes a few short original prayers.
"The original prayers are included in my book because it's important to know that if you've leaned away from your faith, there is a way to effectively connect with the Lord again," she said. "You don't need to speak perfect words, but you do need to be specific. And you need the ability and patience to listen for the Lord to respond per His will and timing."
"That's what I hope people get out of my book," Faulkner added. "I love reading the responses people are posting in social media or telling me in person on the book tour. They tell me Faith Still Moves Mountains is helping them begin or renew a beautiful relationship with the Lord through fervent prayer."
Faulkner, who is unapologetic about her faith, says, "no apology [is] necessary for living out my divine assignment."
"Wouldn't it be preferable to hear the news from journalists who would be open to telling the truth about themselves before reporting the facts about others? After all, we sure have learned a lot about people at high positions in television news that's way TMI! Too much information about their untoward habits, infidelity, sex investigations and all sorts of things," she concluded.
"When someone asks me the foundational way that I get through the darkest hours of life, I find it truthful and wholly appropriate to tell them that I pray. And, I will never apologize for that."
Faith Still Moves Mountainsis now available everywhere books are sold.
Jeannie Ortega Law is a reporter for The Christian Post. Reach her at: jeannie.law@christianpost.com She's also the author of the book, What Is Happening to Me? How to Defeat Your Unseen Enemy Follow her on Twitter: @jlawcp Facebook: JeannieOMusic
