Are you running on empty?
In her new book The Power of Again, Em Tyler invites you to step off the hamster wheel of spiritual exhaustion and rediscover a faith that sustains. Rather than offering another formula for growth, Em walks through the rhythms of repetition— how coming back to God again and again— is what truly renews us.
Em, could you tell us a little about yourself?
I’m Em Tyler. Lots of people think it stands for Emma, but it's actually Emily. I am in my 40s, I've got three kids, I've got a bundle of fluff, anxious toy poodle/cockapoo dog called Binks.
Alongside my husband, I am in church leadership and have been for over 25 years, both in England and Auckland. My heart and passion is to see God's kids keep growing in understanding who he is so that they can really understand who they are in Christ, but also then going out on an adventure with Jesus.
I also tend to get overly excited about things that you don't necessarily think someone needs to be over excited about. I think journeying with Jesus should be fun.
Fun fact: I've been a dwarf in Amazon's Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power Season 1.
What inspired you to write this book?
I have been journaling since I was about 17, and I always knew that this not just about me, that there was going to be something in this that was going to go somehow beyond me. And then 10 years ago, I had a prophetic word at a festival where they shared a picture of me sitting at a desk writing with a pile of books with my name on the front. God just started to talk to me about writing and told me to get in the Bible and then write down my promises, and that's where it started.
I then had a really challenging move back to the UK from New Zealand and I really kind of broke. I came back and had a full-on tantrum at God and was like, if this is your will, then you do it! Then in a church service, the Holy Spirit just whispered to me, I want you to hope again, and then in 2025 God said that ‘again’ is my word for the year. So the inspiration for this book really came about wrestling with that but then discovering the delight of it and the idea of the power of again, and that again is a gift to us.
Why did you choose this title?
Because I believe there is power in again. I believe that when we accept ‘again’ as a gift, (and I appreciate it's not always fun to have to do things again) it can transform your life and it can bring freedom, because when we receive the power of again, it takes the pressure off.
This is not five steps to fix your faith kind of book. I'm not giving you a formula or more things that you have to do to have a perfect relationship with Jesus. This is an invitation and permission to come back to him again and again and not with a whole scripted list of this is what it has to look like. No, this is an invitation. Every moment, day in, day out, the hard times, the great times, the low times and the sad times, the power of again is what keeps us going the distance. It's what will grow our faith, and it is what will help us go the distance with Jesus.
Who is this book for?
It's for Christians that have been walking with Jesus for a while, but maybe faith has just started to lose its sparkle, lose its lustre. This book is for the person who wants to rediscover joy.
It is also for the person who is overwhelmed and tired with life and wants Jesus to have a really central part in their life again. Maybe God's just slipped off to the side, they've got a little distracted. Maybe they're busy doing things for Jesus but actually the relationship with Jesus has got lost in the moment.
One of the key themes of the book is that transformation happens through repeated, everyday choices. How has embracing the power of “again” changed your own faith and daily life?
In many ways! Because I, get tired, I get sad, I get grumpy, I don't always read my Bible every day. I said it, I'm a pastor's wife - I preach, I teach, I have a whole online community of women where getting into the Word and Bible studies is our jam. And yet, I'm going to hold my hand up and say, I don't always read my Bible every day and then I sometimes feel guilty about that, but it's more like disappointment because I know how great it is to connect with Jesus in the Word and I love it. So why am I not doing it?
And so for me, the power of again has looked like permission in those moments go, okay, we don't need to beat ourselves up about this. Just let's open the Word now. Maybe it's a little quick verse on the phone. Maybe it's a quick prayer in the car. Maybe it's a little dance party in the kitchen just coming back to Jesus again, just inviting Holy Spirit to refresh and refill me and to say, ‘here I am Lord, I want to know you in this moment.’
And so the power of again has helped me come back a lot quicker, a lot faster and find that peace and joy that he promises when we are fixing our minds on Christ Jesus.
You blend biblical truth, neuroscience, and personal stories throughout the book. What drew you to explore the connection between faith, behaviour and the way God designed our brains?
Great question! Because our brains are fearfully and wonderfully made, and they are fascinating. I went on a course, and I just started thinking of all these Scriptures and I realised that this isn't new neuroscience that's being discovered, but this is all in Scripture.
God's so clever, he knows what he's doing and how he's made us. And then over the years, I did a little bit of like geeky self-study, and met Dr. Lee Warren and Joe Hargreaves and I just found myself in a little community of people who were just making these connections and these discoveries and talking about it more and more. I think when we read something in Scripture, for example, , rejoice in the Lord, rejoice always, or be grateful, be thankful and everything, we can go this is what it says, so we've got to do it. But when we start to understand what's going on in our brains and how it's actually good news for our bodies, it has the potential to lift us out of a funk. It can genuinely change us for the better because of how God has made us. I just think it's incredible. I think it's fascinating. I love it because it is putting into practice the things that God tells us in Scripture and understanding what's happening in our bodies and how he's wired us and designed us, which is really cool.
The book is structured around four parts: Begin Again, Believe Again, Grow Again, and Go Again. Which of those sections feels most personal to you and why?
For me, probably the beginning again. I moved from New Zealand back to the UK and it was a very hard time for me. Having to move church communities from one side of the world to the other changes everything - you're beginning again in everything. We came to a place where we didn't know anyone, so beginning again with friendships (when you're a grown-up that is hard as people are busy, most people have got their established friendship groups and so it takes work it is hard to begin again making friends) with your church community, finding schools for the kids, it’s all these beginnings when you have a big move like that. So probably in this season, it would be begin again, but there was definitely a chunk of it where I had to choose to believe again.
I had to choose that if God had brought us here and if he is good, which he is by the way, if he loves me, then logically, there must be some good here for me as well. I had to go through that believing again season. But yes, probably begin again, because I think life is constantly beginning again with Jesus. Every day is a beginning again. We don't just say a magic prayer and then sit back and wait for heaven. Like every day, it's ‘Holy Spirit, fill me a fresh. I can't do this without you.’
You repeatedly remind readers that God delights in our return and never tires of welcoming us back. Why is this truth so important for Christians to grasp today?
Because it is. Next question. No, I'm joking! Because if we start to shame ourselves into thinking we should be doing certain things to be a good Christian and we are not, then we allow these things to stick to us like Velcro, and then we can start to hide from God and it can keep us distant from Jesus for longer than we need to be.
Jesus is coming for you. He always comes for the one. He leaves the 99 to come. The Holy Spirit is wanting to lead and guide you and point you back to Jesus. Our job is to just go, thank you. You don't need to do anything. You can just be grateful. It's important to know that God delights in you and desires to just hang out with you and be with you and to give you what you need to flourish and thrive in the spaces and places he's put you. When we know that, we get to go on adventures with Jesus and he is so creative. He's got great things for you. So that's why it's important!
Many readers will relate to feelings of overwhelm and spiritual exhaustion that you talk about. What would you say to someone who right now feels weary, disconnected from God, or convinced they ‘should be further along by now’?
I would say bless you. You are not the only one who feels that way.
God didn't go anywhere. He's still right with you. And just because you don't feel it, it doesn't take away from what is true. Throughout Scripture, God calls us to remember his character, his faithfulness, his provision, what he has done before. Because when we remember who he is and what he's done, that helps us have hope again that he will also continue to show up and be faithful and steadfast and in his loving kindness lead and guide us.
If you're feeling this, just, pause and have a pray: ‘Lord, I can't feel you, I can't sense you, I need you. I want to know you in an intimate and fun and joy-filled and delighted way, but I feel weary. I feel heavy, I feel overwhelmed. I feel like my faith is this thing that is not fun and it is a burden.’
Be real with your feelings before God and name it because then you can bring the truth to it. And in being real with God, when we get to the end of ourselves and we are fully open and fully real with God, that is where he can do some of his best work. That is where he can show up and surprise us and just remind us that he is God and he loves you. His love is not linked or associated to how well you were performing in life. Your worth comes from the fact that Jesus died on the cross for you and he rose again so that you could have life and life to the full.
Have you learnt anything new/ been reminded afresh about God while writing this book?
Yes, lots of things! On the neurological, physical side, I've learned some fun facts. I've also been reminded that I have a tendency to associate my worth to my work, and it's not cool, don't do it guys!
I have learnt so much about God. I have loved diving into the Bible and pulling out different passages that maybe I've never spent as much time in before and just being like, wow, this is cool. I'm a big believer that in order to preach a message, you've got to live a message. And in writing a book, I think you have to live it as well. But it's the power of again, and again, and again every day. So I am still living it and I still need the message in the pages of this book.
What was the biggest challenge writing The Power of Again?
I had a bit of imposter syndrome, like who am I? I just want to be the readers’ biggest cheerleader. I want to see them go all the way with Jesus and step into all of the purposes that he has for them. That is why I am the right person, but I battled with that and I had to keep reminding myself that I am the person that God asked me to steward this message. So that was a challenge.
And what was the most rewarding?
The most rewarding thing has been that I get to share this message. I get to say there's truth in here that will help you love Jesus, that will help you grow your faith, not in a heavy way, but in a life-giving way. And there's truth in here that will help you go the distance and I'm cheering readers on.
What do you hope readers will still be thinking about long after they finish the final chapter?
I hope that readers will feel free, excited and invited to come back to Jesus again and again, and that they will feel rejuvenated, their faith will be reignited and their spark will be burning brighter.
In one sentence, how would you describe The Power of Again?
I would say The Power of Again is not five steps to fix your faith, but an opportunity to come as you are, to grow your faith and to go the distance with Jesus.
Is there anything we can pray for you?
Yes, please do! Please pray that first of all, I keep giving myself to God again and again. Please pray that I will love my husband and my children well and that I will honour the people that God has put around me in a way that Jesus would.