Songfacts®:

• "When a Cowboy Prays" is a contemporary Christian song with a country gait, written and recorded by Brandon Lake. It represents a notable sidestep for an artist best known for arena-sized worship moments and hands-in-the-air choruses. Here, Lake trades the swelling crescendo of songs like "Gratitude" for something quieter and dustier, blending worship music with country storytelling.
• "When a Cowboy Prays" leans into the tension between toughness and tenderness. This is a world of calloused hands and bowed heads, where humility isn't weakness but realism. Faith here is lived consistently, sincerely, and sometimes wordlessly, especially in hard seasons. Lake described it simply as "a song about faith, courage, and the power of prayer."
• Brandon Lake wrote the song with Nashville songwriters Derrick Southerland, Jacob Sooter, and Hank Bentley. Sooter and Bentley also produced it.
  
  Derrick Southerland is best known for co-writing Ingrid Andress' hits "More Hearts Than Mine" and "Lady Like." His cuts span multiple genres, with songs recorded by Joshua Bassett ("Crisis") and Hey Violet ("Clean") among others.
  
  Jacob Sooter and Hank Bentley both work primarily in modern worship music. Between them, they've helped shape songs for Bethel Music, Passion, Matt Redman, Kari Jobe, Crowder, Mandisa, Jeremy Camp, and Danny Gokey. Both are longtime Lake collaborators and co-produced over half of his King of Hearts album.
• Lake wrote "When a Cowboy Prays" in July 2025 while on his Summer Worship Nights Tour. He debuted it live a week later at the Dallas stop of the Summer Worship Nights Stadium Tour. The official solo version followed on September 26, 2025.
• When fans started commenting that the song was already halfway to being a Cody Johnson track, Lake agreed. During his King of Hearts tour in October 2025, he told them, "I heard all of your comments... You're like, 'This sounds like CoJo! You gotta get CoJo!' I was like, 'Honey, already on it.'"
  
  The resulting collaboration version was released on January 8, 2026, marking Lake's second major CCM–country crossover remix, following his Jelly Roll collaboration "Hard Fought Hallelujah."