Rihanna Once Said She Likes Kicking Her Mornings Off With Some 'Devotion and Praying'

Rihanna has garnered fame throughout the years after delivering some stellar albums over the years, which went on to earn her award after award. Her humble beginnings, followed by her method of trial and error and the determination to never give up, have shaped her to be one of the most inspiring artists of this generation.

The Love The Way You Lie singer gives due credit to her faith for getting her to where she is. In a heartfelt conversation with Interview Magazine in June 2019, Rihanna confessed that she was rather religious and that she’d often start her daily routine with devotion. The conversation between interviewer Sarah Paulson and Rihanna began with a few formal exchanges of pleasantries. The duo had acted alongside each other in the powerhouse film Ocean's 8. Amid their lively conversation, Paulson asked Rihanna, “What’s the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?” To which Riri immediately answered, “Pray." 

This appeared to have bewildered the Birdbox actress, and she asked once more to confirm, “First thing?” Rihanna then replied with humor, “Unless I have to pee or something,” earning a slight giggle from her interviewer. She then continued to explain her habit. “I always want to start my day with a little devotion. I buy these devotion books and they’re dated, so you just pull up the date and that devotion is for that day,” elaborated the Work singer. 

Then Paulson asked if Rihanna had “always been a person of real faith.” Rihanna confirmed that she had always been that way and even reminisced about her first experience with her faith. “My first time praying and fasting was when I was 7 years old. I did that on my own, because I wanted to go to New York, and I knew that this was a sacrifice I had to make in order for God to make sure I could get there.” 

Paulson then asked if there was a point in time where Rihanna had doubted her faith or felt God had perhaps abandoned her. The singer claimed that although there was no doubt as such when it came to her beliefs and faith, she did feel like she had “disappointed God so much that we weren’t as close." Rihanna also pointed out this was around the time she was working on her eighth studio album, Anti. She described this whole experience as a “hard time” but was thankful that she got through it. 

Paulson then posed a final question on the topic, “Now that you’ve experienced that feeling, do you now feel like your faith can’t be lost?” Rihanna pondered over it for a moment and responded by saying that there may be times when the "devil just has a way of making you feel like you’re not good enough and that you’re not worthy of god being close to you," but in the end, such feelings were meritless.

She then talked about how her grandmother was the one who encouraged her to explore her spiritual side. The Needed Me singer said, “My grandmother was the one who started me on this. She gave me a devotion book, a physical one. It was the last thing she gave me before she passed away."

The Diamonds singer reportedly lost the original copy but eventually bought the same version on her iPhone. However, she noted one bittersweet detail to conclude. “The only sad part was that her handwriting was in it, but someone is going to be blessed with it, so it’s fine."