why Andrew Carter prays for people on social media
meet andrew,
he prays for people on social media. but don’t get ahead of yourself - there’s much more to it, and yet it’s simple at the same time. if there’s anything i’ve learned (and Andrew will tell you the same thing), it’s that you should never judge a book by its’ cover.
we’ve been told and have come to believe that instagram is a highlight reel, but behind his viral Tik Tok posts and words of wisdom on Instagram is a man who has learned to wear his scars proudly yet humbly, for they are the reason this man of God stands before you today. he wears his heart on his sleeve, his spirit makes up his armor, and through his actions, you’ll learn that your past doesn’t have to define you and through God, but the best is yet to come.
Hi Andrew. So to start, I found you through Instagram, where you pray for people on your account. I have to ask, what led you to start praying for people on social media?
Well, the thing that led me to start praying is that I shared my testimony on TikTok one day. And when I shared my testimony, there was such an outcry, there was such an outpouring of people sharing their own personal stories with me, telling me how much hope or encouragement it was to them. I felt like it was a great time and opportunity to start sharing my faith a little more openly.
For those who haven’t seen it on TikTok, can you share your testimony?
I was born to two drug addicts; both of my parents were drug addicts. My mom was actually a prostitute, and my dad was her pimp. I was the product of their weird love entanglement, or whatever you want to call it. I was also born addicted to drugs. And so from a young age, I had asthma because I had underdeveloped lungs. I was bounced around from house to house as my mother struggled with drug addiction. I was in and out of foster care. I never really had an experience or a relationship with God. I didn’t know who God was; I felt like He was just like the Easter bunny or the tooth fairy or even Santa Claus, just a fictional character. I was in and out of trouble, group homes, foster care. When I was seventeen, I actually accepted Jesus into my life and I didn’t live for God after that, but I had finally heard the gospel, and I gave my life to Him. And then everything changed. There started to be consequences for all of my actions because before I felt like I was kind of on auto-pilot. I started to have a conscience, so doing the things that I was doing before didn’t sit right; there was something kind of looming over me. I started to have this guilt and anxiety and depression. I struggled there. I ended up getting married, having some kids. And then when I was in my early twenties, I was called to ministry, so I started going to church. I was going avidly, four to five days a week, with outreach and all of these things. And during that time, an evangelist came to our church and out of all of the people in the church, he pulled me out and he prophesied over me. He said that I have a calling on my life to be in ministry and that I would speak words of gold, that I would win souls to Christ, and just this wild prophecy. And it scared me, so I left the church. I didn’t accept that. I didn’t receive it because I wanted to play sports. I took my family, left the church, went to school, and I excelled. I got a college basketball scholarship, played four years of basketball. I got two different college degrees along the way. I started my own business, started making six figures a year. I was pretty proud of myself, being this kid who grew up in the streets and in foster care.
I had built this great kingdom of Andrew, but God’s calling was still heavy on my life.
There was a time where I messed up. I hit somebody with a bottle at a party and I actually went to prison for eighteen months. While I was in prison for eighteen months, I lost everything – my wife, my business, my everything. I lost everything. During that time, I wasn’t one of those guys who was just like, “Oh, God, help me.” I was angry; I was hardened. I kind of turned my back on God while I was in prison. It isn’t one of those “He found God in prison kind of thing.” It’s like, I was upset. When I came home and I had lost everything, I spent a good year of just kind of trying to figure life out, trying to figure out my identity outside of marriage, outside of a husband, outside of a father, outside of a business owner. And I found myself doing online training, social media influencing, and that’s where it kind of all ties together. At the end of a breakup is when I started doing this TikTok and sharing my testimony, and it was kind of like, I had enough. I tried things my way. And before I posted that TikTok, I had like 200 followers. The next morning, I had like 20,000 and this lightbulb kind of clicked and it was just like, “You were called to ministry fifteen years ago. You know the word of God, you know what’s right. You know what you’re supposed to be doing, and now, here’s another opportunity to follow that.” And so I just kind of went all in, and since then, I went from that to 500,000 followers on TikTok. I went from 3,000 followers on Instagram to almost 65,000. God has increased my influence and really, he’s coming true on the prophecy from over fifteen years ago.
It’s so interesting, too, because I think sometimes when people think of social media, they think of like, “I, me, mine.” It can be such a self-generated thing. And you mentioned the kingdom of Andrew, whereas now you’re utilizing the platforms not for you but for God, and for your testimony to help other people.
What’s crazy is I had done social media for six, seven years, faithfully. Posting every day, doing the exact same thing I do now, but the content was geared towards me. It’s funny how it didn’t grow. It was so stagnant. And it’s like, one mention of God and nobody can tell me that it wasn’t the life of God breathed into it and it’s all Him. It’s all about Him. it’s not about me. The posts that I post about me, nobody wants to read. It’s all centered around Christ and when I exalt him, it’s like he’s increased my reach as long as I keep my eyes and my focus on him.
It’s incredible how social media can reach so many people. For example, we aren’t the same age; we aren’t from the same town. We’ve lived different lives in a lot of ways, and yet we’re able to talk and meet each other where we’re at and have an honest conversation. What you do and what you share helps bring people together because you’re honest and vulnerable. On the other hand, the media showcases things in a way that divides people. We’re going through so many global and national struggles, and we should be uniting and collaborating, but we’re not. Do you think we can all come back together and put our differences aside for the greater good?
I think that it starts with the foundation of what the Bible teaches, and that’s where I think a lot of people miss. I think people are scared to talk about faith or they’re scared to share their faith, or speak about Jesus. There’s this whole cancel Christianity movement and when people start living for God, there’s almost this backlash. I’ve experienced it and I’ve seen other followers and friends who experience the same backlash from friends and family and people in the community. The most criticism that I get on social media is from other Christians. It’s not usually atheists or devil worshippers or anybody; it’s other Christians that I get a lot of stuff from. They comment on my earrings or my tattoos or things like that. They focus on my outward appearance and not my message or my heart or anything that I’m doing.
I think you have to find that boldness and that courage within yourself to stand on your truth.
It makes me wonder why the backlash from within the community exists, because things can be difficult enough as it is. When you pray on social media, you pray for everyone, and you touch on big problems as well as individual struggles, like depression. That being said, what would you say to someone struggling right now?
There’s hope. Whatever you’re dealing with, whatever issue it is, whatever struggle… it’s momentary.
Looking back on adversities you’ve overcome, what has been a lesson that has stayed with you through all of that?
The one thing that I think that has stood out to me is actually my slogan. It’s to keep grinding. That’s the hashtag shirt that I have, #KeepGrinding, because the longer you wallow in your sorrow or you feel bad for yourself or you sit in it, it doesn’t make it any better. You just have to keep pushing because it seems like there’s always a brighter day on the other side.
You mentioned earlier that your childhood was filled with adversity. You’re a parent, and you are a parent now. You became a dad at nineteen. And there’s no love like that of a parent. There’s no unconditional love like that of a parent. In one of your posts, you mentioned how you didn’t have an example to help show you the way. To kind of reverse it a bit, what is something that your kids have taught you?
To have fun. Life is short. They’re such good kids and they’re lighthearted. Their childlike faith in me and so it’s kind of like a parallel from my kids to how they view me is how I should view God, is that childlike love and trust and faith. No matter what I do my kids love me and they have faith that I’m going to provide. I’m going to be there, and I could see how that would translate or correlate to my relationship with God and having faith and trust and believing.
And the way kids always forgive people. They see the best in you. How do you give yourself grace when you feel like you stumble or you fall short?
That’s a hard one. I find myself in my Word. I drive down to the beach every morning. That’s where I work things out, is in my Word and in prayer and in worship, just getting in the presence of God, trying to understand what it is that He wants or what he’s trying to pull out of me. There’s a lot of self-reflection.
Right. Do you have a favorite verse?
Colossians 3:23 - Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.
You’re also a fitness coach, so it’s safe to say that you balance mind, body, and spirit in all that you do. How do you hit all three - mind, body, spirit – each day?
Every morning I get up at 5 and I drive down to the beach. While I’m there, I read the Word. I listen to worship on the way. I get into my devotional. I usually do a couple of videos down there, and then I usually run or exercise while I am down there.
What does the rest of your day look like?
After the beach, I usually come home, eat lunch. I’ll usually take a nap, maybe work out again. Create content, answer emails. I work from my phone, so I don’t have a job that I have to be anywhere. It’s a lot of prayer, worship, exercise, and relaxation, honestly.
Working from your phone, you’re never really off, though. It’s a 24/7 thing. There’s so much work, time, and effort that goes into being on social media, especially because what you do is so uplifting and encouraging and honest. It’s not a picture of materialistic objects; your heart and soul is a part of everything you post on your platforms every single day. Outside of social media, what is one thing that you wish people knew about you?
I feel like my life is highlighted; I don’t think there’s anything secret about my life at this point. I think everyone knows everyone about it. That’s what it feels like. I love to eat; that’s something that I don’t know if people know. I’m a health guy, but I really enjoy nachos and tacos and pizza and things that aren’t good for you, necessarily.
Hey, it might not be good for the body but sometimes it’s good for the soul. What is one thing everyone should know how to do?
Write a letter. I think that there’s a lot of people who have never written a letter. It’s a lost art. Unfortunately, I got a lot of practice when I was in prison and there’s so much intimacy. I think everyone should know how to do it, and practice it more often.
There’s so much value for someone to take time out of their day and to write another human being a letter, rather than a text message or a phone call.
I agree. I did see a sign on a street the other day to become a prison pen pal. That’s something people should do, especially with quarantine and how visitations are so limited. There’s such a stigma around prison and I think as a society, we’re learning how systemic things are. It’s not the way people think.
In there, I’ve met some amazing human beings who just made a mistake. They made a mistake and they were there. I also met some really terrible and evil human beings who deserve to be there. But there is the misconception that everybody’s just a terrible person, and it couldn’t be further from the truth, and that’s coming from someone who… I’m an educated individual. I’ve gone to college. I have two degrees. I’ve been on the Chamber of Commerce. I’ve succeeded in the eyes of man. And so going into that atmosphere from that perspective and seeing and it’s just like, wow. It’s not what I had anticipated or thought, either.
That’s an interesting visual that you pulled. You have succeeded in the eyes of man, but you’ve also done what some would judge harshly. You’ve climbed to the top and fallen back again. I don’t want to put words in your mouth, but you’ve found that everything pales in comparison to your relationship with God. That’s what real success is.
If you could put that on a shirt, that would be spot-on, because that’s exactly, that’s the root of my testimony. I feel like that’s a point where I can say, people who are struggling with drugs or alcohol or sex or depression… like, I’ve done all that. I have.
I’ve succeeded and I’ve taken trips and I’ve dated Instagram models and I’ve traveled to these places and I’ve made a quarter of a million dollars a year. I’ve done those things, and there’s nothing like serving Jesus Christ and living in God’s will. Nothing compares.
That’s kind of where the SHIFTED acronym comes from, right? For those who don’t show, SHIFTED stands for Selfless, Humble, Inspiring, Fearless, Thoughtful, Empathetic and Disciplined. Reading it resonated so deeply with me, and it’s something that everyone should know. Students are in distance learning right now, but as someone who has been successful on paper and now knows what success really is, how do we go about teaching people what they actually need to know? Because algebra might get you success on paper, but your heart and integrity matter most at the end of the day.
I think there has to be a total reform in school and in curriculum. I can’t tell you when the last time I used really anything that I learned in high school, college there’s a few things, but very, very little, unfortunately. I think there has to be a complete reform and we have to start from scratch and really weigh out what’s important. I think there should be a class on taxes, something that is very real, or saving money or getting out of debt, or not getting into debt. More financial things, more practical knowledge.
And you are a fitness coach as well, and that mind, body, spirit, and soul connection should be taught as well – regardless of what you believe in. Being dedicated to your health and wellbeing shows disciple and dedication. Have you always been passionate about that as well?
Yeah, I would say that fitness was my saving grace when I was a teenager. I found sports and lifting weights and although I still partied and whatnot, it was definitely a reprieve from my home life and then into college. That’s what my degrees are in, the health field. It gave me stress relief, a way to calm my mind.
My family are addicts. They’re all addicted to drugs. I believe that fitness and exercise is what I became addicted to – the high of that, rather than the high of drugs and alcohol.
Wow. And when you think back on your past, you really are in a lot of ways self-made. Everything to God, of course, but your life could have been very, very different. For those who may read this, what is one thing we could do to help someone else? What should people do when they see someone who maybe doesn’t look like them, or seems to be living through more adversities?
Don’t judge a book by their cover. I’ve met a lot of people who might not look the part, or they might not appear to be able to add value, or that you could add value to, but they could become very reliable pieces of your life journey and life puzzle. I’ve run into countless people who I might have overlooked or not given them enough credit, and they’ve become some of my better friends, people I can rely on, or people who are key figures in shaping and molding me in my journey. You have to approach everybody with that same reverence and respect. We all die at the end of the day, we’re all born the same; nobody is above each other. We have to remember that.
Amen to that. And to kind of bring it full circle, but earlier I asked you what you would say to someone who is struggling, and you said to have hope. I have to ask you – what gives you hope?
Eternal salvation. This isn’t the end. What gives me hope, is that this isn’t all there is.
seven questions with andrew carter:
I can’t go a day without… exercise.
Everyone should see… The Peanut Butter Falcon.
Life is better with a little… sun.
Everyone in their 20s should… travel.
One insider thing to do in LA… go to the beach. I moved here after the pandemic shut down, so that’s all I’ve been able to do. That’s all I know to do, is go to the beach.
What the world needs right now is… Jesus.
One way to spread love is… less judgement.