Renee Andrews's Blog - Posts Tagged "godly"
High School Football...and God
Mondays with Jesus 2015
“The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” James 5:16 (NLT)
The local football team has a former attorney for a coach. Not your typical criteria for a high school coach’s resume. He was also a collegiate player at the University of Alabama, so he has the athletic merits as well, but when I learned that he’d given up practicing law to coach high school football, I had to ask why. It turns out that this man wanted to touch the lives of teens, to be a Godly example and help them be successful, and he chose to do that with the best way he knew to relate to them, football.
I’ve seen a change in this team since they’ve gained Coach Ozmint. He is their supporter both on and off the field, but he is also their guide, steering them in the right direction and admonishing accordingly when they head down the wrong path, both on and off the field. Coach Ozmint also allowed and encouraged a group of parents and local citizens who also wanted to have a spiritual impact in the athletes’ lives to start a “Praying Moms” group. This group gathers each Thursday morning at 7:00 a.m. at the football field to pray over the team and the opposing team, to ask God to grant good sportsmanship and to keep the athletes safe. They put Bible verses on each athlete’s locker. They remind the boys on the team that the “game” most important in life is the one that involves living for their Lord.
Has the spiritual coach and the praying moms caused the team to automatically win every game on the field? No, though they have won every game this season. But we aren’t promised that we will always receive a “yes” to our requests. We are promised, however, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us (1 John 5:14).
Those athletes step on the field each night knowing that their coach has prayed for them, knowing that the community is praying for them and ready to face whatever obstacle is ahead, both on that field and off. How awesome is that power of prayer!
Faith Step: Form a “Praying Moms”, “Praying Dads” or “Praying Fans” group in your local community. Watch the bond form in athletes and community with the awesome power of prayer.
Author Renee Andrews
This devotion is from Mornings with Jesus 2014. Next year's devotional, Mondays with Jesus 2015, is available now online wherever books are sold (Amazon, BN, Kobo, iTunes, etc.), and autographed copies are available at www.MondayswithJesus.com ($3.99 ebook, $9.99 print)
