Prayers from the Middle

Bria opens a new series on nuance as a discipline. She introduces it as love with depth perception as opposed to an ideal. She shares honestly about ministry and motives and talks a lot about the Pharisees and how Jesus embodies the Law with both holiness and compassion. This episode is a soft landing and a reminder that Jesus sees every tree, every person, and still loves the whole forest. Includ...

In this episode, Bria explores what happens when power looks away - and what happens when love chooses to see. From a quiet moment on a Paris sidewalk to a painful exchange in a recent Judiciary hearing, to the story of the bent-over woman in Luke 13, this episode traces the difference between eyes that restore dignity and eyes that protect themselves. It's an invitation to slow down, notice, and...

In this episode, I sit down with author, speaker and mental‑health advocate Chris Morris to talk about a moment that changed everything for him. In 2020, during one of the darkest seasons of his life, Chris attempted to end his life. What came next were two conversations - in the psych ward, in the middle of shame, anger, and despair. Chris heard God speak the words he least expected: “I still lov...

Most of us were taught to tell our testimony as a tidy before-and-after story. Before Jesus I was a mess. Then I met Jesus. Now everything is better. But what happens when that's not your story? In this two-part conversation, author and mental health advocate Chris Morris joins Bria to tell the truth about a life that stayed messy even after he met Jesus. Chris shares his long-term struggle with d...

This one is for those who grew up learning that following Jesus meant performing for God. If the world feels unsafe right now, you’re not imagining it. And if this is somehow bringing up old fear around God, you’re not the only one trying to make sense of that. This conversation is for the ones who are trying to untangle all of that and still believe that Jesus steps into the middle of real life....

Guest: Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor, Ruth Friend This episode is a tender, honest, and deeply grounding conversation with Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor Ruth Friend. She brings more than two decades of clinical experience—and her own lived story—to the topic of spiritual deconstruction. We talk about what actually happens emotionally when your faith begins to shift, crack, or...

If you’ve felt overwhelmed by the nonstop news cycle, unsure what you believe anymore, or lonely in your questions about church, faith, or Jesus, this episode is for you. In Episode 14, Bria names the exhaustion so many of us are carrying — the nervous‑system overload, the spiritual confusion, feeling like we're watching the world unravel while trying to hold onto what’s true. Through a week of re...

In this final episode of our four‑part series on the image of God, we’re taking a hard, honest look at how the American church has shaped our understanding of evangelism—and how that shaping has quietly distorted the way we see people, ourselves, and even God. For many of us, evangelism has always felt like a strategic, spiritual sales pitch we were supposed to perfect. But what if that weight was...

This week left my heart in knots — a week of mass shootings, public cruelty, and grief that felt too heavy to hold. I found myself angry, tangled, and unable to find the right words, until I returned again to the prayer that I have found shaping me to my core:“Search me, God… and lead me in the way everlasting.” In this episode, I talk honestly about righteous anger, the kind that rises when leade...

In this second installment of our four-part series on the image of God, Bria explores the profound connection between Genesis and the Declaration of Independence. If every human being is created in God’s likeness, then the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are not privileges—they are woven into our very being. This episode wrestles with the ways we’ve forgotten that truth: in h...

What really happens to the image of God in us when sin enters the story? In this episode of Prayers from the Middle, Bria wrestles with a teaching many of us grew up hearing—that sin renders humanity worthless. Through Scripture, reflection, and a vivid metaphor of a corrupted photo file, Bria explores whether “worthless” is the right word, or if “corrupted” better captures the truth. You’ll hear ...

Brianna is taking a little breather this week. Even though this is technically Episode 9, it marks 10 weeks in a row of Prayers from the Middle which feels like something worth celebrating! So Bria is stepping back to rest her brain and do a little behind-the-scenes dreaming. She's planning the next 10 episodes where we'll focus on the idea of safe spaces. Like what happened to make so many of us...

In this continuation of Bria’s conversation with Sarah Bucy Klingler, they dive deep into the ache and awe of spiritual reformation. They name the loneliness of questioning and talk about the courage it takes to pull theological threads. And they discuss the longing for spaces where doubt isn’t dangerous. Sarah shares how seminary became her sanctuary—a place where she could be her full, questioni...

What happens when the roles you were handed—pastor’s kid, missionary kid, “good Christian woman”—start to feel like a costume? In this episode, Sarah Bucy Klingler shares her story of spiritual formation, inherited faith, and the slow, painful realization that her gifts didn’t fit the box she was told to live in. We talk about protective suits, people-pleasing, and the ache of shrinking yourself t...

This one’s short. No deep dive, no theological takedown, no poetic lament. Just a pause—and a question. I’ve been naming hard truths, inviting Jesus into the mess, and watching this little podcast grow into something tender and bold. But before I go further, I want to listen. To you. So today, I’m asking for your help. I made a weird, honest, slightly mischievous survey to find out why you listen,...

What does God’s voice actually sound like—and why have so many of us stopped listening for it? In this episode, Brianna shares raw stories of longing, silence, and quiet nudges that just might be divine. She traces how the American Church traded intimacy for formulas and created a culture of its own, turning discipleship into a checklist and revelation into a rulebook. If you’ve ever felt like you...

We used to trust certain pastors and Christian leaders of institutions to tell us what we should believe. Now we trust our feeds. In this episode, Bria Wasson explores how curated truth, tribal loyalty, and algorithm-driven discipleship have distorted the voice of Jesus in the American church. From Paul’s warning to Timothy about itching ears to Joseph’s unjust silence in Genesis 39, we trace the...

What if God keeps His promises and makes His name known even when sinful people do crappy things? Today, Bria struggles openly with the idea that maybe God was truly glorified and made Himself known at Charlie Kirk's funeral even though hatred and discord were also spoken from the same stage. She talks about God's pattern of faithfulness to always keep His promises even though the brokenness of si...

It's Episode 3, and Bria dips her toe into the tricky waters of Christian Nationalism. She talks about the line between love and idolatry and what happens when we try to make America the Kingdom of God. She's been reading through Genesis and keeps seeing this thing we do where we try to keep God’s promises for Him. Where we step in, take over, and try to control what only He can. And lately, she's...

In this episode, Brianna steps into the MRI machine—literally and spiritually. She talks about the moment she woke up to the reality of hypocrisy felt like it entered her world. It started with a pair of tiny metal feet. She was twelve. They were the size of a ten-week-old fetus, pinned to a brochure that told her what righteousness looked like. She believed it. She debated it. Because Christians...

We're finally here! And we're going deep. This episode is for those of us who are still standing in the rubble. Who are questioning, but still praying. Who want truth—not because someone told us what to believe, but because it stands up to Jesus. I’m calling Him my line of truth. And I’m inviting you to come with me.

Welcome to Prayers from the Middle. In this episode that's not an episode, Bria invites you in to the middle where it's tangled up with the junk we woke up to in this mess of everyday America. Somewhere in all of that she is holding on to and looking to follow the real Jesus.