While many in the entertainment world mock Christianity, one teenager is using her new fame to praise God.
On Wednesday, former American Idol contestant Shannon O’Hara released a new music video of her performing the Christian songs Take Me to The King and How Great Thou Art. The homeschooled 17-year-old made it to the top 24 in American Idol’s latest season – and credited God as her inspiration along the way.
“Well, here’s my first video!” the North Carolina native wrote in the video description. “I hope you enjoy watching/listening to it as much as I enjoyed making it!”
In the video, O’Hara soulfully sings into the microphone with a pianist accompanying her in the background. The refrain of Take Me to the King went:
“Take me to the King
I don’t have much to bring
My heart is torn in pieces
It’s my offering
Take me to the King”
And for the timeless How Great Thou Art hymn, O’Hara sang, “Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee / How great Thou art, how great Thou art.”
According to O’Hara, her first album is in the works.
"It's lined up,” O’Hara told a local news outlet. “Just getting the songs. Getting everything in place. Getting the money to produce it, because it's really not cheap to make a good record."
It’s bound to include songs like this one.
O’Hara has always been public about her faith. Her Twitter bio proudly proclaims, “HE is my strength.” And on Instagram, she regularly shares Christian songs, Bible verses, and prayers.
From the beginning, she used her musical talents to praise God. While O’Hara never had formal training and is self-taught, except for a couple years of piano lessons, she regularly sings at church and leads worship for her youth group, according a Charlotte Observer interview.
Her life hasn’t always been easy. During American Idol, she revealed that her family might sell her childhood home because of medical bills for her father.
“The restaurant he was the manager of shut down a year and a half ago, and not long after that, his health started getting bad,” Shannon told The Observer earlier this year, adding that he suffered “multiple surgeries” and a “lot of pain.” According to another story, her father was diagnosed with a vascular disease, and even had a toe amputated.
During the show, she revealed that she was performing for a “chance for me to bring some hope to my family in this extremely difficult time.”
