Lainey Wilson points fans to Jesus: ‘Through Christ we have the authority’ 

Faith has long been intertwined with country music, and Grammy-winning artist Lainey Wilson has continued that tradition this year – first by releasing a collaboration with CCM artist Brandon Lake and recently by sharing how a series of Christian books is strengthening her walk with Christ.

Casual observers might assume Wilson’s public embrace of faith is something new, but Christianity has long been part of both her life and music.

In fact, Wilson’s collaboration with Lake, The Jesus I Know Now, was not her first venture into Christian music. In 2024, she teamed up with Christian artist Anne Wilson for the faith-filled Praying Woman, and this June, she made a surprise appearance at Lake’s Cowboy Church worship service during CMA Fest, where she discussed her faith journey and performed alongside him.

She also spoke openly about her faith in a 2022 interview with Southern Living while discussing her upbringing in church, saying of her family, “We love Jesus.”

Wilson’s venture into book reviews, though, is relatively new.

“I mean, who am I – like all of a sudden, a reader?” she said with a smile in a video posted to her Instagram. 

Wilson has reviewed not one but three books by Christian authors in the past month, and in the process has delved into Christian teachings and encouraged her fans to apply them to their own lives – sounding like a Bible teacher at times.

“The Bible actually tells us that we can be transformed by the renewal of your mind – and I’m over here just trying to renew, renew, renew. Lord help me,” she said in her signature plain-spoken, country style, referencing a pair of books by Tara Sierra Moseley. 

“I’m learning that if you shift your focus to a gratitude-focused life, that you can do it, and life and death lies in the power of the tongue.”

Those books are Declarations in the Desert and House of the Forest.

“Through Christ we have the authority to speak to the problem,” Wilson said.

But it wasn’t her first Christian book recommendation. In mid-August, Wilson highlighted Your Sacred Yes by Christian author Susie Larson, which she said was helping her discern God’s will for her life, including what to say yes to and what to turn down.

“It is important to stop and pray [and] talk to God about … every little detail of our life,” Wilson said.

Larson’s book, she said, is teaching her the importance of being fruitful for God rather than simply staying busy.

“Saying no to the wrong things – it’s not selfish. It is just protecting you to be able to say yes to what God has actually called you to,” Wilson said, adding, “God’s pace, it is different than the world’s pace, than my pace.”

Wilson is one of the more decorated artists in country music, with 12 CMA Awards and 16 ACM Awards.

This month, she sang the Christian hymn Amazing Grace for an ABC special broadcast live from Manhattan on the 25th anniversary of 9/11.

(Images credit: Instagram/Lainey Wilson)