Leanna Crawford - Honest

Christian Music

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About Leanna Crawford

Leanna Crawford is an award-winning contemporary Christian singer-songwriter known for honest, personal storytelling; she won New Artist of the Year at the 2025 GMA Dove Awards.

Faith journey and beliefs

Crawford has described her songwriting, including 'Honest', as growing from her own struggle with anxiety and the realisation that God wants people to come to Him as they are rather than presenting a polished front.

What this song is about

Crawford has said 'Honest' came from realising believers don't need to 'have it all together' to come to God, citing Psalm 34:18; the song voices doubts about prayer and worship feeling empty, concluding that God wants raw honesty rather than a performed faith.

Sources

This sits in the Music collection on Face of Faith, films, documentaries, music and books that shaped one person's journey into Christianity. If it lands with you, explore real testimonies, bite-sized faith snippets and why Christianity.

Reflection

Honesty before God is a theme scripture returns to repeatedly, often in surprisingly raw form, such as the psalmist's complaints and questions scattered throughout the Psalms. Psalm 62:8 encourages believers to pour out their hearts before God, trusting him as a refuge rather than presenting a curated version of themselves. A song simply titled Honest suggests this same unguarded posture, resisting the pressure many Christians feel to appear consistently faithful, joyful or resolved. Real faith often includes doubt, frustration and confusion, and pretending otherwise can create distance rather than closeness with God. Music that models honesty gives listeners permission to bring their actual selves into worship rather than a polished version they think God prefers. This kind of vulnerability tends to deepen rather than damage faith, because it reflects a relationship built on trust rather than performance. Songs like this remind believers that God is not asking for perfection before conversation, only for truth.

Questions to sit with

What do you find hardest to be honest with God about?
How does pretending to have it all together affect your relationship with God?
What would change if you brought your full, unfiltered self into prayer?

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