When You Can’t Stop Thinking About Someone Famous, Pray Instead

Everyone has done it: gone down a rabbit hole about someone they’ve never met, felt strangely invested in a stranger’s story, kept refreshing for the next update. AXL’s Label team has a name for redirecting that instinct: intercession over infatuation.

The practice is simple to describe and harder to live: when you notice you’re fixated on someone — a public figure, an artist, anyone culture has put in front of you — take that fixation and turn it into prayer instead of more consumption.

One tool AXL uses for this is what team members call a “saturation” prayer — an unhurried, extended prayer time treated less like a quick request and more like sitting down for a real conversation. Bring what’s actually on your heart. Ask God what’s on His heart for the person or situation. Stay in it longer than feels efficient.

Kenny DeShields, a St. Louis-based artist connected to AXL’s community, described what it looked like to write music from this place rather than from pure creative ambition. He didn’t have professional studio gear — just an iPad and GarageBand. “You can start anywhere,” he said, encouraging other creatives who feel like they need better tools before they can begin. What mattered more than the equipment was the posture: writing from a place of asking God for His heart for someone, rather than starting with a clever concept and building backward.

The underlying conviction is one AXL returns to often: the fixation culture already has on certain people isn’t something to be ashamed of noticing — it can be redirected. Instead of scrolling for more, intercede.

This article draws only from the general teaching and Kenny DeShields’ account of his own creative process at AXL’s July 2025 Creative’s Intensive, with his approval.