Episode

Prayer After Deconstruction: Letting Go of the Cosmic Vending Machine

Podcast: Unbelief
Published: Jan 18, 2026
Duration seconds: 2458
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Summary

If prayer has ever felt like a spiritual performance review, this episode is for you. Jeremy talks with Wes Ellis, author of Abide in Amen, about why prayer gets weaponized into guilt, why “spiritual discipline” often turns into self-blame, and how the church trained a lot of us to treat God like a cosmic vending machine. Wes offers a different frame: prayer as God moving toward you, not you climbing toward God. Less control, less shame, more resonance.