How Going to Church Inspired This VOICE Winner’s Love for Hymns

Published: January 12, 2026

By Kayla DeKraker

Jordan Smith won THE VOICE in 2015, but his heart for music goes much deeper than the singing competition.

In an interview on “The Jesus Calling” podcast, the singer reflected on his humble beginnings and how worship has always been a part of his life.

“During that time growing up, I can remember so many moments where I would sit in a worship service, and I would hear a song that would speak to me and speak to my heart,” he described. “It’s really funny because most often it would be one of my parents that was singing that song. I really had a strong relationship with them, and they really poured into me spiritually through not only our time as a family, but through their ministry in our church.”

As Smith grew, he developed a great love of hymns and worship. He explained how his mother would sing hymns and he would “be moved to tears every time.”

When Smith competed on THE VOICE, he experienced a pressure that he hadn’t before.

He explained, “You come from singing in front of America and your songs start charting and all of a sudden you wake up one morning and you’re number one on iTunes ahead of Adele’s ‘Hello,’ and the offers are rolling in, and people are pulling you in all these different directions. And there’s a lot of pressure and a lot of worry that comes with that.”

Amid that pressure, he had to guard himself and be sure to rely on God.

“I had to be really careful because I found myself in moments where worry was stealing the joy of what God was doing in my life,” he admitted. “Worry was taking away the happiness that I should feel in doing what God created me to do. And I wasn’t feeling fulfilled in all of those moments because I was concerned about how I was going to top that in the next project or how I was going to continue to accomplish and receive.”

In those moments, Smith emphasized the importance of being in God’s word.

“I heard someone say recently — it was a great reminder for me — ‘When you can’t hear God, read Him.’ Even though there are days where it feels like maybe my prayers only hit the ceiling or maybe I’m not feeling very spiritual that day and I’m having trouble connecting with God, I open my Word every single day and I read His words to me.”

He added, “I think that it is a powerful thing to be able to go to Scripture and understand that it’s living and breathing and that it’s been Holy Spirit inspired and we can always find something we need in there.”

Last year, Smith took his love of worship and God’s word and created an album titled The People’s Hymnal. The tracks include covers of popular hymns such as “I Surrender All” and “Great is Thy Faithfulness.”

For the album, Smith received a Dove Award for the “Inspirational Album of the Year.” In a post to Instagram, he shared the exciting news.

“Honored is an understatement,” he began, “This album was a vision from God and was a labor of love for Him. Thank you to @gmadoveawards, my incredible @macklamfeldmanmgmt family, the @gaithermusic team, the folks at @jratouring, and my wife, friends, and family for making this project possible. And finally, THANK YOU for all of your support for this album- I could not do this without each of you.”