Home Christian News Judah Smith’s Guided Prayer Takes Aim at Anxiety, Fear

Judah Smith’s Guided Prayer Takes Aim at Anxiety, Fear

The guided prayer features music softly playing in the background, and it wouldn’t be too far of a stretch to compare it to a guided meditation (without the long pauses of silence). 

It’s clear that the Smiths had the person who struggles with the instructions to “simply talk to God” in mind when they made the guided prayer. The statements Judah instructs listeners to repeat and the mental imagery he instructs them to conjure are likely attempting to address the problems with fear and anxiety with which many Churchome Global members have admitted struggling. 

Justin Bieber Is a Fan of the Guided Prayer

In September, Justin Bieber posted a few of Judah’s guided prayers on his Instagram account. The celebrity said the prayers “have really been helping me.” Bieber has been mentored and pastored by Judah and has even led worship at a physical Churchome service in Beverly Hills, California. (Churchome has locations in Seattle and California, and Judah and Chelsea took over the pastorate from Judah’s parents, Wendell and Gini Smith some 10 years ago. Judah took the church through a rebranding—changing the name from the City Church to Churchome in 2017). 

Bieber has opened up more and more recently about going through “trials” and struggles with mental health. When he led worship at Churchome, the singer said “God is pulling me through a hard season.” Apparently, the guided prayers are helping Bieber navigate this season.

The Rise of Churchome Global 

While the launch of Churchome Global last year drew a bevy of comments from those either for or against the idea, the app has grown considerably. We already mentioned the 200,000 downloads in a year. The prayer feed has seen 460,000 prayers posted to it (users can post a prayer request or pray for the prayer requests of others, including a way to indicate they are praying). People have downloaded the app in 200 cities around the world and all 50 states in the U.S. The majority of users (60 percent) are female and 45 percent are under the age of 34.

Judah said when Churchome Global was launched that the idea came after being asked repeatedly when a new Churchome location would come to various cities in the U.S. The Smiths have also indicated the app is a response to Millennials who say they no longer go to a physical church for services. It’s clear from the development of the app and now with the guided prayers that the Smiths are trying to listen to the needs of their followers and attempt to meet them.

In the near future, Churchome Global will have a Pastor Chat feature, where users can send questions or chat with someone on the Churchome pastoral team. According to a press release, a “dedicated pastor will be on-call to respond to incoming requests, questions and needs nearly 24 hours a day.”