In the world of sports, many teams, athletes, coaches, and others that are involved in the world of sports sometimes look for guidance in order to perform well and excel at whatever task that is at hand. When searching for guidance, a lot of athletes will look to God to provide the strength and help that they need.
Many times, teams or individual athletes have certain prayer rituals and religious activities that they will carry out before engaging in their sporting event. As an athlete myself, I can honestly say that I too pray before basketball games, and sometimes during games as well. Any athlete who does this would tell you that it provides a sense of comfort and relaxation after communicating with God, making their job a lot easier to handle.
Not only are prayers said when players are looking for help or guidance, but also when a former player has passed away, teams and organizations will fellowship with each other and engage in prayer asking God to provide peace for them and for the loved ones family. Also, out of respect for the former teammate that was lost, teams will pay tribute to them by most of the time having a black stripe placed on a jersey, or the jersey number of the former player placed near the shoulder of the jersey.
Prayer in sports is actually a common thing. Many of the best athletes in the world look to God and talk to him through prayer before going and performing. As you can see, these athletes give credit to God and to prayer for them being so successful at what they do, and it is evident in the way they perform.
If you have faith in God and pray, you can achieve a great amount of success, especially in the wide world of sports. - Eddie Johnson
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This is a real strong valid point that gets overlooked and unacknowledged especially in the heat of the moment. Coaches and players often show a very competitive, "win at all costs" attitude and the fans and critics might only see that side of them. But behind closed doors and in the locker rooms, prayer and the presence of God with athletes is a huge factor in the way they perform. Nick Swisher of the New York Yankees, for example, enters the batters box and looks up to the sky before each, in acknowledgement of his grandparents. It takes a great deal of faith and to believe that God and anyone you've lost is watching down on you at all times. The little things from making the sign of the cross before you step on the field or court, to praying before the games all adds up to that extra love that sometimes we need in the heat of the moment to give us that extra step.-Joe Ntti
ReplyDeleteMany athletes look for guidance from God. I also do this before a soccer or basketball game. As a team, we do this and I also do this right before the game starts. Usually I will make a sign of a cross and pray for my team and myself. Many people use God to help them from all evil and obstacles that will present them at that moment.-John Jaramillo
ReplyDeleteWhat does it mean to seek guidance from God? What type of guidance do we seek? This would have been a great place for an indepth look at prayer and how it is used within the American sports culture. Does God take sides? What are we actually praying for? Is our sports prayer selfish? One intersting note. I had this discussion with one of our senior athletes this year and he said he never prays to win, just for his teammates, to have a good game, to be injury free, and for all those connected to the game. He taught me a great deal about sportsmanship and prayer.
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