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Used by permission: Play LIke A Champion Today, Inc.
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Praying with your team can be a helpful way of reminding your players of God's presence on and off the playing field. Take these things into account when praying with the team:
- Prayers can be spontaneous or prepared ahead of time.
- Invite team members to lead the team in prayer.
- Pray to play well rather than to be granted a victory.
- Pray for your opponents.
- In games, invite the opposing team and officials to participate in the prayer.
Sample PLC Pre-Game Prayer
"Please bless today's game, our opponent, our team, and all watching our play. Thank you for the opportunity to compete and bring out the best in each other. May we play hard and fair. Please keep everyone safe from injury and harm. We pray in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen."
Sample PLC Post-Game Prayer
"Thank you, Lord, for the chance to compete and use our talents through sports. Remind us that we are called to give our best and to finish the race while caring for others along the way. We pray in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen."
"Dear Lord, in the struggle that goes on through life
We ask for a field that is fair,
A chance that is equal with all the strife,
The courage to strive and to dare;
And if we should win, let it be by the code,
With our faith and our honor held high;
And if we should lose, let us stand by the road
And cheer as the winners go by.”
- Knute Rockne, Prayer to Play Fair in the Game of Life
"Lord Jesus Christ, help these athletes to be your friends and witnesses to your love. Help them to put the same effort into personal asceticism that they do into sports; help them to achieve a harmonious and cohesive unity of body and soul. May they be sound models to imitate for all who admire them. Help them always to be athletes of the spirit, to win your inestimable prize: an imperishable crown that lasts forever. Amen!"
- John Paul II, Homily at the Jubilee for the World of Sport, October 29, 2000
"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."
- Prayer to Saint Sebastian, the Patron Saint of Athletes
"Help me play the game, dear Lord, with all my might and main;
Grant me the courage born of right, a heart to stand the strain...
Send me a sense of humor, Lord, to laugh when victory's mine'
When silence or some other thing wins plaudits from the throng...
When foes are tough and fighting fierce and I am getting weak,
Dear God, don't ever let me show a broad, bright, yellow streak.
And teach me, Lord, life's game to play just one day at a time.
With Thee as coach and trainer, Lord, real victory must be mine."
- Athlete's Prayer, FISEC Games - Malta 2008
Proverbs 8:27-31
"When he established the heavens I was there, when he marked out the vault over the face of the deep; when he made firm the skies above, when he fixed fast the foundations of the earth; when he set for the sea its limit, so that the waters should not transgress his command; Then was I beside him as his nursling, and I was his delight day by day, Playing before him all the while, playing on the surface of his earth; and I found delight in the human race."
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
"24 Do you not know that runners in the stadium all run in the race, but only one wins the prize? Run so as to win. 25 Every athlete exercises discipline in every way. They do it to win a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one. 26 Thus I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight as if I were shadowboxing. 27 No I drive my body and train it, for fear that, after having preached to others, I myself should be disqualified."
Hebrews 12:1
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus."
1 Timothy 1:18-19
"I entrust this charge to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophetic words once spoken about you. Through them may you fight a good fight by having faith and a good conscience."
1 Timothy 4:7-10
"Avoid profane and silly myths. Train yourself for devotion, for, while physical training is of limited value, devotion is valuable in every respect, since it holds a promise of life both for the present and for the future. This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance. For this we toil and struggle, because we have set our hop on the living God, who is the savior of all, especially of those who believe."
1 Timothy 6:11-12
"But you, man of God, avoid all this. Instead pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness. Compete well for the faith. Lay hold of eternal life, to which you were called when you made the noble confession in the presence of many witnesses."
2 Timothy 2:5
"Similarly, an athlete cannot receive the winner's crown except by competing according to the rules."
2 Timothy 4:7-8
"I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearance."
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