The prayer life of a Christian can feel exhausting sometimes. Here is one of our simple prayers written to help you grow in your prayer life and connect with God, especially if you don’t feel like praying. Check it out!
Game Time
You just got out of church, and now you’re rushing to pick up the pizzas and put on sweats. This is what the weekends are for, right?? Kicking back, hanging with friends, and watching grown men run around with a ball for a salary that could feed a small nation.
There’s a reason that athletic competitions have been a part of every civilization throughout history. Aside from the obvious benefits of exercise, sports are highly symbolic. Rooting for a team is a way we’ve modernized mythology, creating folk heroes and watching stories of good vs. evil unfold every week. And even though it’s not literally a battle between good and evil (unless your team is playing the New England Patriots), a game of football shows a 60-minute wrestling match that resonates with the deepest parts of ourselves. The parts that wrestle. The parts that are injured. The parts that hope for an unlikely miracle.
So, why write a prayer for watching a football game, if not to call down God’s judgment on our rivals? Well, it’s a way of inviting God into the parts of ourselves that struggle. In Genesis 32, there’s a striking story of Jacob wrestling with a man, often considered to be God himself. It’s a strange scene in which Jacob wins against the man, but the man injured his hip permanently. All the while, Jacob won’t let go until the man blesses him. In this story we see struggle, pain, hope, and identity all bound up in a wrestling match with God. So we can take courage that, from our experiences of lifelong pain, to our most mundane hours of entertainment, God is there with us, rooting for us against all odds.
“So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, ‘Let me go, for it is daybreak.’ But Jacob replied, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’” (Genesis 32:24-26).
A Prayer Before Watching a Football Game
Strong, swift, and victorious God, thank you for the gifts of the human body, friendly competition, and unlikely comebacks. Please protect the players on the field, and help me not to turn into a jerk because of the outcome of this game. As I consider the forces that stand between me and the good life you offer, give me the blessing that is your nearness. As we wrestle through my weaknesses, break what must be broken and heal what must be healed. Remind me also of your presence even in lazy afternoons. And, if edifying for my ego, allow my team to sweep the floor with their opponents. Amen.
At some point, everyone feels that they don’t know how to pray, feel free to visit this page for more everyday prayers to explore how you can connect with God in the ordinary, extraordinary, everyday moments of life!
