Sacred Thorns

A podcast for when the healing doesn't come. Sacred Thorns explores faith in chronic illness, infertility, grief & lasting suffering. No toxic positivity, just honest hope. When prayers go unanswered and suffering won't end, where is God? Host Rachel Walters draws from ancient Christian wisdom to offer companions for the journey. If you're tired of being told to "just pray harder," you'll find understanding here.

Sacred Thorns is a religion podcast hosted by Rachel Walters, with 13 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Rachel Walters hosts Sacred Thorns, a religion show with 13 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

• 

  Episode #10

  Living in the Sacred Middle

  Feb 8, 202639 minS1

  <p>In the season one finale, Rachel explores what it means to live in the sacred middle, the long, uncomfortable space between unanswered prayer and resolution. Inspired by a listener's question about navigating infertility while holding onto faith, she turns to Elisabeth Elliot as a guide, a woman whose life was marked by devastating, repeated loss and who spent her life wrestling with the question: Is suffering for nothing?</p><p>Rachel unpacks Elliot's profound concept of offering our suffering as sacrifice, not as a problem for God to fix, but as an act of worship. Drawing from Elliot's teaching...

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #9

  Prayer When Heaven Feels Silent

  Jan 25, 202643 minS1

  <p>In this episode, Rachel explores what happens to our faith when the prayers we've whispered for years seem to go unanswered, and Heaven stays silent. She shares the personal moment of standing in an empty bedroom after a third adoption fell through, realizing she had finally run out of words to say to God.</p><p>She unpacks the difference between prayer as transaction and prayer as abiding, challenging the idea that persistence means repeating a request until God gives in. Drawing from the lament Psalms and the "nevertheless" of Gethsemane, Rachel reframes prayer not as performance or petition...

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #8

  Valleys and Mountains: Reframing Spiritual Geography

  Jan 11, 202636 minS1

  <p>In this episode, Rachel challenges the spiritual hierarchy we've created around valleys and mountains, assuming that God primarily dwells on the mountaintop and only "still" remains with us in the valley. She explores what it means that God doesn't just tolerate being in the valley with us, but actually dwells there.</p><p>She unpacks the popular "you were assigned this mountain to show others it can be moved" theology, examining what happens when the mountain doesn't move and your testimony doesn't have a triumphant ending. Drawing from Psalm 23 and the physical reality of valleys as sheltered, fertile places...

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #7

  When Light Breaks In: Christmas and the Scandal of Hope

  Dec 28, 202546 minS1

  <p>In this episode, Rachel explores the whole Christmas story, not just the comfortable parts with angels and shepherds, but the violence, grief, and impossible circumstances that surrounded Christ's birth. Through her own story of refusing to put up a Christmas tree for three years during infertility, she examines why the Church places the Feast of the Holy Innocents right in the middle of Christmas celebration, refusing to separate joy from sorrow.</p><p>She unpacks what it means that Jesus entered the world through a barren womb, why Rachel's refusal to be comforted is recorded in Scripture without rebuke...

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #6

  Advent: Learning to Wait Well

  Dec 7, 202538 minS1

  <p>In this episode, Rachel explores what it means to wait well during Advent—and what we've lost by rushing past this season of preparation. Through the image of a rose blooming out of season, she shares how to engage your actual season rather than the one you wish you were in, why Mary's blessedness came from her faith rather than her fertility, and the difference between passive endurance and active waiting.</p><p>She offers practical ways to practice Advent when Advent itself feels painful—from lighting candles to praying the O Antiphons—and permission to do this season differ...

  ListenShow Notes

Recent guests on Sacred Thorns. Study who booked and why before you pitch.

Based on semantic analysis of episode topics and host coverage, this show is a strong guest fit for executives in:

Industry fit is computed by PitchCentric using vector embeddings of the show's episode catalog.