Omari Hardwick Reflects on Conversations With God as a Little Boy
Long before he became the star of the hit Starz television show "Power," actor Omari Hardwick was a 10-year-old boy praying to God. Now, the actor believes those prayers have come to fruition in his adult life.
In an introspective Instagram post, Hardwick revealed that as a 10-year-old boy in Decatur, Georgia, he used to take long walks home to speak to God about traveling far away from his home.
"When I was about 10 years old I used to ask my mother to stop the car & let me out so i could walk the rest of the way home.....alone. I never told her but i would use this time to talk to God & myself quietly, making stories up in my mind (ala my wildly & beautifully imaginative daughter) about far away lands," the 43-year-old actor wrote. "I would ask Him if He wanted me to travel far away from home & to bring with me whatever stories i had. I kept asking Ma to allow this walk home faithful i would get this answer."
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Hardwick said God answered his prayers by providing guidance in his life through the people closest to him. Looking back, the actor is still in awe that conversations with God as a little boy have resulted in real life travels.
"God's answer was granting me tutelage from wise family members, from coaches, from teachers mastered in science & history, from hood kings mastered in life & hard knocks. His answer was loaning me pain, death, resilience, understanding, passion of a kid, joy of a kid, and the power of a man who possesses ALL the above," he wrote. "I was born a proud little dusty Georgia boy who would write & run & dream my way into long walks. As much as i was assured & confident in God's answer as a YES....It will forever blow my mind He deemed my dusty boots strong enough & chilly enough to walk these stories ALL the way from my mother's car in Decatur to Monaco."
Hardwick was raised in a household with a Methodist Episcopal church attending father and Catholic mother. The football player turned actor alternated between his parents' churches each Sunday growing up and has given God credit for his acting career, according to a previous Indie Wire report.
"I began to ask myself the question, 'what does God want me to do with my life,'" he recalled. "I kept on hearing the voice of God saying if you are going to be the minister that your mom mentioned... then you have to act. My pulpit is acting."
According to Hardwick, it took some prayer and leaning on God to convince the once homeless actor and football player to take on the character of drug dealer James "Ghost" St. Patrick in "Power."
"Truth is: I was hesitant to say yes to this show initially. Perhaps it truly was an example of what it looks like when we run from our call, in this case...mine-to be of high stature in this business," Hardwick wrote in an Instagram message.
"I was cool with the decade of work being 1 where my craft & presence played its part. Between the 45 days of prayer from a one @mrsjaeh asking God to 'help me embrace my Power & Dominion' (yes, that word: power), & sitting down even a month after THAT with a one @ckagbohofficial & then talking to a one @50cent .....God had answered that prayer & spoke to me."
