Melissa Joan Hart shared her faith story with former news anchor Paula Faris on the podcast ‘Journeys of Faith with Paula Faris.’
Hart grew up in the public eye with starring roles on television series like Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Melissa & Joey. She shared with Faris that faith has been a part of her life since childhood. She grew up in a Catholic town, went through confirmation and has always been had a relationship with God.
“I was always very curious,” Hart said. Although she struggled to connect in church growing up, she developed a rich prayer life.
“Anytime I’m talking to myself in daily life I’ve always been setting that up as a prayer,” Hart said. “So whatever I’m…thinking about I’m always thinking of it going to God and having [an] open conversation with God.”
Hart’s faith changed drastically once she married her husband, musician Mark Wilkerson, and they began attending a Presbyterian church together. As she dived into Bible study and made friends who valued faith, her own faith deepened.
“I feel like with my walk with Jesus I’ve never had one ‘aha’ moment,” Hart said. “It’s just been this growth, this continual growth, of getting to know him.”
Surprisingly, one of the most difficult faith experiences Hart went through came as she was filming and promoting the Christian movie God’s Not Dead 2. Her family didn’t want her to do the movie and she struggled to reconcile that with feeling called to work on the film.
“Doubt started to sneak back in,” she said.
She’s also felt challenged by her children asking difficult questions about faith. However, she doesn’t let these questions keep her from faith. She shared with Faris how she deals with doubt.
“I close my eyes and go to my gut feeling and tap into the Holy Spirit,” Hart said. “[I] feel that warmth..and all of a sudden I can go on blind faith.”
In the end, she credits faith with sustaining her throughout her life and career.
“I feel like right now I might be just as anxiety ridden over certain things as I was when I was an angsty teenager,” Hart said. “But now I have [an] understanding that it’s going to be okay.”
“Every time something bad has happened I’ve come out of it because of my faith.”
