The other day I pulled out some books that have had some deep impact over the years in my theological thinking. There are a couple that impacted me because of the place in life I find myself currently.

If I had to have an essential reading list, these would be on it.

Not pictured: Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home by Richard Foster. This is the most influential book on prayer I’ve ever read and it is a gem.

Some books are representative. I would say “all things NT Wright” and “all things Dallas Willard,” so I picked two from each.

Strength to Strength and Falling Upward are two books that have deeply aided me at this stage of my life. Less theological, but deeply impactful in my thinking.

James Cone and Howard Thurman are my introduction into black theologians (influencers and thinkers) and represent so many more who are newer and will impact the next generation in their thinking. People such as Esau McCaulley, Dennis Edwards, Jemar Tisby, Lisa Fields, Lisa Sharon Harper, Patricia Taylor, and so many more.

Merton’s Seven Storey Mountain and Peterson’s The Pastor are spiritual memoirs that are incredibly well written. Ones I would add to it are Yancey’s Where the Light Fell and Beth Moore’s latest, All My Knotted-Up Life, which I have on audio and read by the respective authors. Listening to the authors read them is gold, so I don’t have the books as yet.

Fleming Rutledge is a phenomenal thinker and writer and would represent many other women who write deeply and influence me, such as Tish Harrison Warren and Marlena Graves.

If I had to hold onto just a few books in my life, these would lead the way.