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Travis Greene Explains Why God Isn’t a Genie and How to Truly Receive His Blessings
- Maina Mwaura CrosswalkHeadlines Contributor
- Updated Jun 21, 2024
To many people who know and love the music of Travis Greene, they have come to know him as the artist and multi-award winner and nominee in all three categories of music (Dove, Grammy, and Stellar). He is also a mega-church Pastor in Columbia, SC, and loves teaching and pastoring to his congregation at the Forward City Church, where he feels at home. For this season of his life, Greene has written a new book titled “Are You Praying for The Wrong Thing,” although Travis admits it has nothing to do with prayer but the issue of stewardship.
Crosswalk Headlines: When did you know God called you to write the book?
Travis Greene: Here’s the thing, it is not really a book on prayer. It’s a book with prayer in the title, but it’s more of a book on stewardship. Many people are asking themselves, why isn’t God answering my prayers and it could be, you’ve been putting your energy into the miraculous instead of management, by putting your focus on stuff and not strategy. If you can tap into my wisdom, like Solomon, you could graduate from being loved by me, used by me, and graduate to a place that I like to call being trusted by God- the trust zone.
CWH: What do you want the audience to get out of the book?
TG: I hope they walk away from reading the book, asking how they steward what God has given them and not see him as a genie when they pray to Him, hoping that he’ll answer all their desires. I think we love to focus on the he’ll give you the desires of your heart and not on the delight part.
CWH: What does the Trust Zone look like?
TG: When God trusts you, you can be trusted with heaven’s resources, get in a position to be entrusted by God as a steward, be able to handle more, and finally hold in our hands what we’ve been holding in our hearts—that’s the premise of the book.
CWH: You’re a husband, dad, artist, pastor. How do you make it all happen?
TG: I don’t just need more money or something else to do. That’s not why I wrote the book. I’m really burdened by [the question]: what does it look like to be trusted by God?
I just love God. And I’m stewarding what he’s placed in my now, and I’m not just begging for my next; I’m delighting in him. Then he’ll give me the desires of my heart. So often, we think that God is Santa and not sovereign. And when it says that he’ll give you the desires of your heart, it does not mean he’ll give you what you want. It means he’ll give you what to want. There’s a difference. I tried hard to segment my life, but God just decided to pour multiple things into my life; I think many times we try way too hard to overcomplicate things.
CWH: You write about when God called you to start your church in the book. How did you know that you were being called to do it?
TG: I gave God a list of reasons why it was a horrible idea. There are numerous people in the Bible who thought that what God was calling them to do was a bad idea.
So, my initial response was, this is a horrible idea. God, you know, let me tell you why this is a bad idea. And the graciousness of God countered all my excuses. So I called my wife and asked, “Hey, do you think we’re going to start a church?” She’s like, “Yeah, I’ve always known. I’m just waiting on God to tell you.” And then from there, it’s one step at a time. When God calls us to something, it’s one step at a time.
Go, and I will show you where to go, which is liberating, as I don’t even have to know necessarily where I’m going to go. I’m just trying to see if you have enough faith to even start walking.
CWH: What are you working on musically?
TG: I’ll be in Nashville next week recording. It’s been a while since I did a solo project. I’ve been working hard with our church worship team for the past two to three years. I’m ready to get back in the studio.
Photo Credit: ©Facebook/Travis Greene Tagged Photos
