Rewilding Prayer
God Beyond Gender, Faith Beyond Formulas
Rewilding Prayer disrupts the idol of pretending that God is a man and upends the delusion that prayer is about wishful thinking, vending machines, or reciting words. Grounded in her experience as a biblical scholar, theologian, minister, and student of contemplation amidst the mess of living, Sally Douglas offers a collection of stunning prayers, blessings, and liturgies for use in daily life and for the gathered community. This book shows that there are faithful and expansive ways of naming the Triune God that do not rely on gender.
Rewilding Prayer takes seriously that a life of prayer is not static but circles through seasons of emptiness, growth, dryness, nourishment, and difficulty--often in quick rotation. With insight and honesty, questions about what prayer is for, what prayer does and does not do, and what we can do when we cannot pray are explored. Exuding a gritty hope, Douglas demonstrates that prayer is the call to the real. This book is for the curious, the "spiritual not religious," the faithful, the disenchanted, and those who thirst for more.
Rewilding Prayer is available at all good book stores. It can also be purchased online at all the usual places, and directly from Wipf and Stock.
What people are saying.
“There is deep pastoral and biblical wisdom in these honest, unfussy prayers and reflections. Accept Douglas’s invitation to plunge into prayer anew!”
Amy Plantinga Pauw, Henry P. Mobley Professor of Doctrinal Theology, Louisville Presbyterian Seminary
“In Rewilding Prayer, Sally Douglas weaves theological reflection with practical resources: blessings, liturgies, and daily prayers designed to anchor the spiritual life in honesty, silence, and community. It is both a critique of how prayer has been tamed by habit and hierarchy, and a gentle yet insistent call to rediscover prayer as wild encounter with the divine.”
Tim Nash, Founder, Nomad Podcast
“Sally Douglas teaches us that prayer is a ‘call to the real.’ With passion and honesty, she invites us to ‘live close to the fire’ of liberating divine grace. She challenges us to shake off habits of rote words and exclusively male imagery for God. Her prayers and liturgies are deeply scriptural and wildly poetic. These are living springs, to which I will return again and again.”
Steven Shakespeare, Professor of Continental Philosophy of Religion, Liverpool Hope University, United Kingdom
“Rewilding Prayer invites the reader into a deep and honest conversation about our understanding of prayer. Encouraging us to be authentic, embedded in Scripture, and theologically engaged, Douglas brings to the fore the important questions of how and why we pray. Rewilding Prayer offers fresh language, gentle promptings, and ways to embody prayer individually and in community. More than a book about prayer—Douglas has gifted us a challenge, an invitation, a treasury.”
Cathie Lambert, Director of Pastoral Theology and Ministry Studies, Uniting College for Leadership and Theology, Adelaide
“Rewilding Prayer is a gift and rich resource! Sally Douglas inspires us to pray with ‘guts and integrity amidst the chaos’ of everyday life. The book is a wonderful blend of theology, praxis, and personal experience. Indeed, a rich resource that inspires prayer and brings us back to the heart of praying to a ‘God beyond gender’ and to ‘faith beyond formulas.’”
Seforosa Carroll, Acting Principal, United Theological College, Charles Sturt University, Australia
“In Rewilding Prayer, Sally Douglas turns the eyes of prayer to the world. Here are prayers for insomnia, tea breaks, confession, change and receiving terrible news. Sally’s vast intellect—linguistic, theological, secular, prayerful—is attuned to human experience, and concerned with shaping language that is sensitive, straightforward, devout, and daring.”
Pádraig Ó Tuama, Host, Poetry Unbound