Is Prayer For Sports O.k.?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Exporter
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
E

Exporter

Guest
I havee been praying various prayers for performance of athletes for maybe 50 years. Not praying to win so much but praying for relaxation of the athlete and , yes, to do their best. Yesterday I was told we shouldn’t pray for athletics.
  1. Have you prayed for an athlete or a team in the past year?
  2. Do you have a good reason for NOT praying for good athletic performance? If you do not pray for atheletic performance do you also not pray for performance of an ill person to get well?
 
I think it’s Ok to pray for athletes. And watching sport can also be turned into prayer. We can try to praise God for the good things in sport. We can thank God for the goal , touchdown etc. We can praise God for the gifts of athletes. We can thank God for all things.
We should moderate the time spent viewing, and not curse etc.
A little quote from St Josemaria,
There are countless ways of praying, as I have already told you. We children of God don’t need a method, an artificial system, to talk with our Father. Love is inventive, full of initiative. If we truly love, we will discover our own intimate paths to lead us to a continuous conversation with Our Lord.

May God grant that what we have contemplated today will not pass over our souls like a summer downpour — a few drops of rain, then once again the baking sun and the fields are as dry as before. The water of God’s grace needs to settle, to seep through to the roots and bear fruit in virtues. If we let it do this, our years on earth — made up of days of work and prayer — will be spent in the presence of Our Father. If we falter, let us turn to Holy Mary who loves us and teaches us how to pray; and to St Joseph, our Father and Lord, whom we venerate so much. In this world he was the one who was closest to the Mother of God and, after Mary, to her Divine Son. Together they will bring our weakness to Jesus, so that he may turn it into strength.
 
When I was in Catholic High School…we had a Priest that would say Mass for us before each baseball game and he blessed us and our bats, gloves, etc. during each game…I don’t believe there is anything wrong with this…especially since we won the State Championship 🙂
40.png
Exporter:
I havee been praying various prayers for performance of athletes for maybe 50 years. Not praying to win so much but praying for relaxation of the athlete and , yes, to do their best. Yesterday I was told we shouldn’t pray for athletics.
  1. Have you prayed for an athlete or a team in the past year?
  2. Do you have a good reason for NOT praying for good athletic performance? If you do not pray for atheletic performance do you also not pray for performance of an ill person to get well?
Click to expand...
 
40.png
Exporter:
I havee been praying various prayers for performance of athletes for maybe 50 years. Not praying to win so much but praying for relaxation of the athlete and , yes, to do their best. Yesterday I was told we shouldn’t pray for athletics.
  1. Have you prayed for an athlete or a team in the past year?
  2. Do you have a good reason for NOT praying for good athletic performance? If you do not pray for atheletic performance do you also not pray for performance of an ill person to get well?
Click to expand...
When I played, I tried not to pray for specific results (although i sometimes did), but more for relaxation, etc. like you said. I would pray that i would get my pitch, but I wanted to take it from there myself. I figured, I was playing sports for my own enjoyment, I wanted to hit the ball, i didn’t want God to do it for me:D . That takes all the challenge out of it!
 
LOL…I hear ya…I must admit, before batting sometimes…I prayed that I would be the hero of the game by hitting a homerun, etc…🙂 I think we all may be a little over zealous sometimes 🙂
40.png
Genesis315:
When I played, I tried not to pray for specific results (although i sometimes did), but more for relaxation, etc. like you said. I would pray that i would get my pitch, but I wanted to take it from there myself. I figured, I was playing sports for my own enjoyment, I wanted to hit the ball, i didn’t want God to do it for me:D . That takes all the challenge out of it!
Click to expand...
 
40.png
dumspirospero:
LOL…I hear ya…I must admit, before batting sometimes…I prayed that I would be the hero of the game by hitting a homerun, etc…🙂 I think we all may be a little over zealous sometimes 🙂
Click to expand...
Yeah, the more the game was on the line, the more my “don’t pray for results” rule went out the window:o .
 
It is 100% acceptable to pray not only for sports, not only pray for certain results, but also to pray that your team sends the other team crying home to their mommies.

Scott
 
Scott Waddell:
It is 100% acceptable to pray not only for sports, not only pray for certain results, but also to pray that your team sends the other team crying home to their mommies.

Scott
Click to expand...
I remember when I played HS football our coach would pray “protect us from injury and the other team from serious injury.”😃
 
Generally? Yes… in that they are part of my prayers for reparation of sinners, conversion, the sick, suffering and dying, etc…

Specifically? No…personaly for me theres much more serious stuff to be specific about in my prayers than athletes. I dont fault anyone who does, but atheltes as “specifics” dont make my list of intentions.
 
All of my son’s CYO basketball games began with a prayer. I thought it was a nice way to begin. 🙂
 
A prayer to the patron saint of athletes, St. Sebastian (my favorite and my confirmation name):

Dear Commander at the Roman Emperor’s court, you chose to be also a soldier of Christ and dared to spread faith in the King of Kings - for which you were condemned to die. Your body, however, proved athletically strong and the executing arrows extremely weak. So another means to kill you was chosen and you gave your life to the Lord. May athletes be always as strong in their faith as their Patron Saint so clearly has been. Amen.
 
When we were in Catholic school, run by Dominicans, and criticized for Hail Marys before crucial plays, prayer before games, Mass for athletes etc. the priest explained to kids and to critics that the prayer is always that whatever the endeavor, sports, games, study, tests, dramatic presentation, dance etc, that it be done for the greater honor and glory of God, so that each athlete, student, performer etc. may do his best for that reason, to reflect God’s glory.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top