When we think about prayer books, we likely picture a book published some time ago, nestled in a pew, waiting for us to turn to the right page. We probably don’t imagine something written recently with the word “rage” in the title. Yet Elizabeth Ashman Riley, an Episcopal priest, has authored that very book.
Rage Prayers (Morehouse Publishing, 2024) is a collection of prayers that readers can borrow and use for a variety of moods and circumstances. In the section “Raging Through the Human Condition,” readers find prayers for parenting teens, losing a job, suffering anxiety and heartbreak, among other topics. “Raging at Mortality” features a prayer for chronic illness and one for inconvenient grief. “Raging With Faith” and “Raging for Justice” put words to many deep questions and struggles in our churches, our minds and hearts, and our world. She ends with “Petty Rage,” with prayers for such common annoyances as late fees, car alarms, and the beginning of daylight saving time.
Though readers can use Rage Prayers as they would any other prayer book—borrowing its words to talk with God—Riley wants to encourage people to expand their idea of what they can talk to God about and what emotions are acceptable when doing so.
Living Lutheran caught up with Riley to get insight into Rage Prayers, how she started rage-praying, and how she’s hoping people will interact with her book.
Living Lutheran: Could you tell us about your book and how it came about?
Riley: Rage Prayers came out of a practice I started on TikTok. There was a trending song called “Numb Little Bug” with cheery, poppy music and lyrics like “Do you ever get a little bit tired of life / Like you’re not really happy, but you don’t want to die?” In an offhand video, while lighting a candle, I used that song to invite people to reject toxic positivity and rage-pray with me.
People resonated with the idea that prayer could be a place to express negative emotions. I kept making videos using other song lyrics and my own words to create rage prayers, and it became a part of my personal prayer practice. Eventually I was approached about turning those prayers into this book.
How do you hope people will interact with your book?
I want the book to be a starting point. Too much of spirituality and religion is restrictive, and I hope that rage prayers give people some freedom and creativity. It’s meant to inspire others to express all of their feelings in their prayers and spiritual life. My prayers are just the starting point for people to create their own.
What is the process of writing a prayer like for you? How do you come up with a topic?
I’m so used to just speaking my prayers that writing them down felt harder than I expected. Rage prayers should almost include typos and crossed-out lines. They are messy. It’s hard to convey that in a published text. But I spent time talking to friends and online followers about the things they needed to rage about. I looked at my own Episcopal tradition and the prayers of the people to inspire some groupings and categories of prayer. Ultimately I found that they came together in the topics of the human condition: faith, mortality, justice and petty rage (my personal favorite).
What do you think Lutherans can learn from engaging with prayer in this way?
God invites us to bring all of ourselves to our spirituality. We don’t need to edit or perfect our prayers. They can be messy—we can be messy. Our relationship with God can be made even stronger when we allow even our messiness into our prayers.
What would you say to those who feel inspired to compose their own rage prayers after reading your book?
Alleluia! I love hearing other people share their rage prayers. I hope more people will feel inspired to find their own words in their conversations with God. Whether we are sharing our rage or our joy, I pray we can share our lives authentically with God.
