Athletes and coaches praying after competing against each other started after a Monday Night Football game between the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers in 1990. Being a Christian in the NFL wasn’t popular, but a group of believers from both teams decided to hide their faith no longer. Here’s how tight end Brent Jones recalls it: “For the very, very first time ever, five or six guys from our 49ers Bible study decided to let the world know that Christ was the most important thing in our lives, and we had the opportunity to kneel down and pray with a couple of Giants after a game, which had never been done.” The players were threatened with a $25,000 fine if they committed the same offense again. “We just felt like God was telling us to keep doing it, and we did it again. A couple of weeks later, we received letters in our lockers stating, “If you guys continue to pray, your owner will be fined $1 million,” Jones said. Because of these men’s courage, Christians across the league and even in other sports began to pray as well.

Daniel 5-6 – Unyielding Faith

Daniel also bravely prayed despite knowing it could lead to a death sentence in the lions’ den. His enemies watched Daniel’s life closely, looking for a way to weaken his influence with the king. They tricked the king into signing a new law they knew would result in his death. The law required everyone to pray only to the king, but they knew Daniel would not comply. 

Daniel could have easily bypassed prayer or made an excuse not to pray. Instead, he kept his windows open and prayed three times a day. His enemies spied on him so they could report him to the king. Daniel feared only the Lord.

The Kingdom Coach and Athlete prioritize prayer and fear God more than men. “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).

Bible Memory Verse – “And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will cause a kingdom to rise up which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself stand forever.” Daniel 2:44 (LSB)