labelled "Praying" "very important", adding that "[Kesha] will have no trouble collecting many new fans as she enters this next phase of her career." Issy Sampson of The Guardian noted that the recording was to Kesha's oeuvre what "Fighter" (2003) was to Aguilera's. The New York Times Jon Pareles described "Praying" as "a perfectly aimed missile of revenge and career rebooting." HuffPosts Daniel Welsh wrote that it was an "empowering and haunting ballad" which "may come as something of a surprise to more casual Kesha listeners, who are perhaps more used to hearing her glittery songs about partying and having a good time." According to Matthew Rozsa of Salon, "'Praying' is likely to be remembered as the moment when Ke$ha became Kesha — that is, when her overproduced image of a party girl transformed into that of a soulful artist". Caroline Framke of Vox said that "as Kesha embraces her pain and rage, the song becomes something much more intense and weird and furious and hopeful — something that feels much more like Kesha herself." Kesha's vocals and emotional delivery were also praised by reviewers. Eve Barlow of Variety commented that the song would "be enough to induce goosebumps in even the harshest of cynics." Weiss of Billboard similarly commended the track, saying: "It would hard for even the biggest pop agnostic to not be rendered speechless by Kesha's new video and song 'Praying.'" In a separate Billboard article, Gil Kaufman thought that the song was "pure ecstasy for your ear buds." Times Raisa Bruner called "Praying" "powerfully emotional", adding that "when she breaks out into a flawless whistle tone, it pretty much seals the deal: this new Kesha is stronger than ever, both as an artist and, seemingly, as a human." The Atlantic praised it for being "deeply felt", and said that "Kesha's voice is powerful here—and more capable than people might expect". William Ferrer of The Seattle Times said that "Praying" was "a bone-chilling must-listen," writing that "we're only one single into Rainbow...and I'm already certain her record is going to be one of the year's finest." According to Sampson of The Guardian, "Praying" is "a full-on chest-thumping, foot-stamping inspirational ballad, and [Kesha's] voice sounds better than ever....and it's good enough to make you forgive her for 'Timber' ." Pitchforks Jillian Mapes said that the song was "a powerful statement of resiliency, even if the resulting song's familiar