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Phil Wickham Shares Reflections on Faith: ‘The World Needs For People To Pray’

Photo from Phil Wickham’s Instagram

Phil Wickham Shares Reflections on Faith: ‘The World Needs For People To Pray’

By Movieguide® Contributor

Christian artist Phil Wickham recently shared his thoughts on examining his own beliefs and getting closer to God. 

Wickham’s song “Battle Belongs” became an anthem for Christians all over the world during the COVID-19 lockdowns. 

“It became such a fight song and a faith-building song for me,” he explained. “Almost immediately, I started … getting all these DMs and messages and emails from people saying, ‘This has given me words to my prayers. I didn’t know what to pray when I was in the hospital bed, by the graveside, or when we lost our job, and we just prayed this song.’ And it was just moving.”

However, witnessing others’ connections to his song caused Wickham to look more closely at his own relationship with God. 

“As I was hearing people say, like, ‘I was going through this, but I just kept crying out to the Lord and it was great,’ I was just thinking, ‘Man, I’m the one singing the song … but is it really true for my life? Is this my go-to playbook when I hit a wall or face a metaphorical mountain?’” he explained. 

The singer continued, “I just started going to the Scriptures and said, ‘I need more of this in my life. I want to sing ‘Battle Belongs’ with so much conviction and confidence that this is true for my life.”

As Wickham examined his relationship with his religion, he found out others were equally curious about the nature of their faith. 

“A lot of my friends in ministry and pastors were kind of shaken out of the … formula, or the things that we just do,” he explained. “Because we had to be like, ‘What are we really doing here? What’s important? What do we need to strip away? What’s the fluff? What’s the stuff that lifts my ego up? What’s the stuff that really helps, what’s really Kingdom here?’ At least a lot of my friends, and myself, were asking those questions and didn’t really even know we had to. But in an exciting way, we’re saying, ‘Life is short, it could change any minute. We just want Jesus, and we just want to be about the Kingdom stuff.’”

Wickham is now sharing his reflections on faith in a new book, “On Our Knees: 40 Days to Living Boldly in Prayer.”

“Writing this book helped me to remember [the power of prayer],’” Wickham said. “I would hope that this book would help people to understand the beauty of it, the joy of it, the intimacy of it. That it’s not this religious act, but it’s this communal act with God. There’s an urgency; the world needs for people to pray.”

As Wickham looks ahead to the future, the singer is praying that he and his musical peers stay strong in their own faith. 

“I just pray that they … lay aside the things that weigh us down and just keep moving forward because they’re the guys that inspire me when I call them and talk to them,” he said. “They’re the guys that I say, ‘Hey, can you pray for me?’ So that’s what I just hope — that it’s the behind-the-scenes stuff people stay faithful to.”

He concluded, “I think all the music, it’s going to come, and people are going to keep pushing each other to make more and more, better and better and more beautiful, and I love all that. But I just want people I can trust to lead me. … I think we all really just want to see God’s Kingdom here on earth through the songs, and everybody’s rooting for each other.”

Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.


Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.