Leanna Crawford used to measure her worth by her music, and when success didn’t arrive on her timeline, she assumed she’d failed everyone, including God.
“I put all my worth in what I do, like all of it in music,” the 31-year-old singer-songwriter told The Christian Post. “I felt like I’d let everybody down. Felt like I’d let God down, but I was also kind of upset at Him because I was like, ‘Well, what are you doing? I want to be in control.'”
Crawford’s sophomore album, Thank God, releases July 24, the same day she makes her debut at the Grand Ole Opry. The Stanwood, Washington, native arrives at this record on a real hot streak: the 2025 GMA Dove Awards named her New Artist of the Year, and the K-LOVE Fan Awards handed her Breakout Single of the Year for “Still Waters (Psalm 23),” a Gold-certified single inspired by scripture.
Rather than repeat that formula, Crawford tore up her original plans for the new album and returned to the sound she grew up on. Pedal steel guitar, ’90s country textures and story-first songwriting replace the polish fans might have expected.
“This album feels like home,” she said. “It just felt so natural…It wasn’t forced. It was just like, ‘OK, here. This is who I am.'”
Where her debut, Still Waters, was written from inside the pain, Thank God looks back at it. “A lot of those songs were written in the middle of that season,” Crawford said of her first record. “This one is me looking back now and saying, ‘Oh, that’s why I had to go through some of that.'”
Related: This Scripture Inspired Leanna Crawford’s Debut Album
The title track thanks God for closed doors and unanswered prayers, and “Revenge” wrestles with forgiveness Crawford didn’t know she still needed to extend. The song grew out of a conversation with a friend that surfaced bitterness she thought she’d already dealt with.
“Forgiveness is so hard…I was really bitter for a long time, and angry, and I had to continually give it to God and just pray, ‘God, help me with this,'” she said. “That person doesn’t even know that I’m holding onto all this, and it’s just hurting me. God was so kind to me through that.”
Crawford is also releasing a behind-the-scenes documentary series on the making of the album, with new episodes premiering on YouTube each Monday through the album’s release.
She’s thought a lot about what separates her work from secular music that tackles similarly heavy subjects. “I was listening to this record. I can’t remember what it was; it was so good, but after talking about tough stuff, there was nothing,” Crawford said. “What I get to do as a Christian artist is so special because I get to say, actually, there is this hope. It might not make sense right now, or on this side of Heaven, but it’s going to make sense someday. God’s not going to waste this season, and you’re not alone in this.”
Touring with acts like Michael W. Smith, Jeremy Camp, Zach Williams and Matt Maher hasn’t made the nerves disappear. Crawford said anxiety and self-doubt still show up before she walks onstage, and those are often the nights that stick with her most.
“The best shows we have are just when He’s leading,” she said. “When I don’t feel like I even have the strength…I have to surrender.”
She also described a habit of journaling prayers and forgetting about them until she happens to reread old entries. “I don’t always look back,” she said. “But then when I do, I’m like, ‘Oh my goodness, God answered this prayer,’ and I totally forgot about it because I’m just on to the next thing.”
That’s the thread running through Thank God: gratitude for a God who answers prayers, including the ones He answers with silence or a no. “I don’t maybe understand all that He’s doing,” Crawford said. “I don’t have all the answers, but I can trust that He’s not going to waste this season. So thank You for saying no. Thank You for saying, ‘Not yet.'”
Thank God is out July 24.
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