(Editor's Note: This article was published first in the October 2022 edition of the print Stand.)
I pray for your healing, that circumstances would change
I pray that the fear inside would flee in Jesus’ name
I pray that a breakthrough would happen today
I pray miracles over your life in Jesus’ name
In Jesus’ name
It is just a simple prayer from a young woman’s prayer journal. Yet, God has touched millions of people through this prayer and the one who penned it.
Her name is Katy Nichole. She’s a 22-year-old singer and songwriter, and these lines from her prayer journal, written in times of intense physical and emotional pain, are the chorus of her hit song, “In Jesus’ Name (God of Possible).”
An internet sensation
“I’m amazed at what God is doing through this song,” Katy Nichole told The Stand. “It’s so exciting – but a little bit overwhelming too.”
Being overwhelmed is understandable, considering that barely a year ago Katy Nichole played and sang part of a song she was writing on social media. It quickly went viral, with over 150 million streams.
“During the pandemic,” she said, “I started posting my music weekly, but I never expected such an amazing response.”
That feedback inspired Katy Nichole to finish and release “In Jesus’ Name (God of Possible)” in January 2022. Remarkably, a national Christian radio network played it the day it was pitched – a historic first for that network.
The song soared to #1 on Christian music charts and reached #2 on iTunes’s overall Top Songs chart. Only 10 weeks after its debut, it was awarded the national radio network’s Worship Song of the Year.
Katy Nichole also signed on with Centricity Music in June 2021, and they produced her first extended play (EP) project, featuring “In Jesus’ Name” and four new songs.
A painful process
But long before Katy Nichole’s meteoric rise to fame, God was working in her life.
Diagnosed with congenital scoliosis in kindergarten, her spine curved so severely during adolescence that kids and even adults made unkind remarks.
“I tried to hide the pain,” she explained, “but the curve put such pressure on my lungs that one night, during a competition, I almost passed out singing the big parts.”
In 2015, Katy Nichole had spinal fusion surgery, but the metal rods placed in her back to cure the curve made the pain more debilitating for the 15-year-old.
“It was such a dark time,” she said. “I cried out to God for healing and restoration over and over. I also started journaling my prayers back then.”
A healing breakthrough
After more than three years of pain and deep depression, doctors surgically removed the rods, cautioning her family that the outcome could be even worse.
“When I opened my eyes after surgery,” Katy Nichole declared, “I knew the darkness, depression, and pain were gone.”
Recovery was a process, but she never looked back – until she started writing a new song.
“Looking back in my prayer journal,” she recounted, “I realized this song came straight from my prayers. God not only heard and answered the most painful and loneliest cries of my heart, but He made them into this song.
“Usually, it takes me a few days to finish a song, but it took almost five months of rewriting to try and get this one right.”
It’s safe to say, Katy Nichole did just that with “In Jesus’ Name (God of Possible)” because listener testimonies of God’s healing and hope continue to pour in.
