The Lord’s Prayer And Football

The Lord’s Prayer and Football

Faith and football seem to go hand in hand. There is something about the battlefield of football that drives the highest profile coaches and players to huddle before a game and recite the Lord’s Prayer. If you’ve ever been in the locker room or on the field with sixty-plus men bowing their knees and reciting this famous prayer in unison, you will never forget it. But what are they really praying?

David Jeremiah, in his book on the Lord’s Prayer, declares that this prayer can be outlined with five words that start with the letter P:

• Praise: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.”
• Priorities: “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
• Provision: “Give us this day our daily bread.”
• Personal Relationships: “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”
• Protection: “And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”

The prayer ends with a promise: “For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”^a

One of the truths that has ministered to me the most through the years is the last part of Matthew 6:8. Keep in mind that this verse comes right before we are taught this prayer by the Lord. Matthew 6:8 states, “Your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!”

Keep that in mind when you pray. It should stir you to praise. It should challenge your priorities and give you confidence in God’s provision. It should allow you to enjoy pardon in your personal relationships. It gives confidence in his protection and great meaning to his promises.

Your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!

Matthew 6:8