In the Field of Prayer

Relating Prayer to a Sport – Part 5

The Sport of Prayer – Part 2.5

In football there are boundary markers and when you cross those lines it means a couple of things. Depending on whether you’re the offense or defensive opponent it’s the difference between a score and a penalty. It could mean you’re out of bounds, in bounds, qualified, or disqualified. In prayer, there are boundaries and a field of play that must be considered. If you wish to improve, go to the next level, in this sport, you will need to consider and understand how the field of play works. Have you considered the field of play when you pray?

The Sport of Prayer Has a Goal
Does prayer have a goal? In other words, do you have a way to measure your prayer results? You may not know this, but if the truth is spoken, most people go into prayer expecting very few results. In fact, most are surprised when the outcome they prayed for comes back favorable. If you’d been praying for your biopsy to return cancer free, when all signs pointed to it being cancerous, and the doctor returns saying you’re free of cancer, one is usually surprised. Listen to this, we’re more surprised when our prayers are answered than when they are not. What in the world? What kind of God would give us such lousy results when we’re praying to Him and using His great name? Sounds to me like there must be a problem. Could it be that we’re not familiar with the boundaries and goals set forth in the sport of prayer?

When I volunteered to keep score in softball years ago, not only did we keep score, but we kept stats. When was the last time you took a look at your prayer stats? Yes, I said prayer stats! What’s your scoring percentile? How many games have you won when it comes to prayer? These numbers are important. For they reveal what kind of player you are: good, bad, average, terrible. Besides this, it will tell us if you need some additional training or whether you should be training others. This is next level prayer. If I had a weak scoring percentage in prayer, I’d be praying to God to send me someone who can teach me how to get my average up. The disciples did just that, when they asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. We do this everywhere else. So why then are we not doing it in prayer? Would you like to become a better pray-er (person who prays)?

Every sport has a goal or a way to determine if you’ve won or lost. Are you praying as a winner or a loser? Let’s say it a different way. I had the opportunity to help inspire a high school girls’ volleyball team. What I noticed was their attitudes. When they took the court, they expected to lose. So the first lesson I gave them was on attitude. I trained then to serve the ball with the expectation that it would go over the net. At each stage of the game I gave them a perspective on how to win at that stage. So during the game, when they did something good, they could count on me yelling from the stand. “I see winners!” When you go to God in prayer, are you praying as a loser or are you praying as a winner? Are you praying with the expectation of winning or is your expectation that of being all hope is gone? Change your attitude and I promise I’ll be in the stands yelling for you. “I see a praying winner!” That’s what a next-level pray-er is!

The Sport of Prayer Has a Field of Play
Does prayer have a field of play? In football, there’s the football field. In soccer, there’s the soccer field. In baseball, the baseball diamond. In volleyball, the volleyball court. In chess, there’s the chess board. What about prayer? Does prayer have a field of play? A field to pray?

It’s not flesh and blood that’s the problem.
Remember, next level prayer is taking what we already know to the next level. We know that prayer is not natural nor is it physical. Prayer is spiritual and impacts the natural from the spiritual, which is the unseen. Therefore, in order to be effective we must go into it knowing we’re requesting spiritual support for a natural problem in the same way the military requests air support to impact what’s happening on the ground. Allow me to insert a narrative I found in the message Bible.

“Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own.
Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over…you’ll still be on your feet.
[The weapons you have] Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them.
You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon.
In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.” ^[1]

In the sport of prayer, knowing where the field of play is, is super critical. I like that this narrative ends with “keep each other’s spirits up.” In other words, when you take the field, have the right attitude. Even though you’re up against some unnatural stuff, prayer is what places you on the field so that you can “still be on your feet.” This is next level prayer.

Your Words Are at Play
This concept is very rarely mentioned. But did you know that praying uses words? Prayer uses words. If prayer uses words and it does, that means we must be aware that our words, even in prayer are at play on the field. It’s said that life is produced from the words that come from our mouths and so is death. ^[2] What are your prayers producing? Could it be that you’re receiving the results you’re praying even though it’s not what you desire because instead of praying life to your situation you’ve been praying death?

When you plant seeds of prayer, you reap fields of prayer results.
Let’s look at it from another angle. Your words are seeds that are sown into spiritual ground, in an invisible field that produces a harvest no matter what you plant in it. If you plant death seeds, you reap a death filled harvest. Have you been praying that you’ll never get out of debt, so your harvest is a mound or stockpile of debt? If you plant life seeds in prayer, you reap a life filled harvest. Have you been praying over how you manage your resources and now you have a harvest of abundance? When you plant seeds of prayer, you reap fields of prayer results.

I often say this to the prayer team Pamela and I serve. It’s our job to plant as much prayer as we can, rows of prayer. Like rows of corn. So when we begin to harvest, it’s unending. If you pray little, you receive little results, but when you pray much, you get much results. This is next level prayer.

I hate I’m ending this way, it should have probably been first, but anyway. Have you taken the field to pray? Some people I’ve learned are scared to take the field. Scared to pray. I hope that something I’ve shared in this message will at least inspire you to want to take the field. Let’s put on our uniform and be the best pray-er on the field. Your results in prayer depend on how you take the field. In order to go to the next level, you must take the field of prayer like a winner, because winning in prayer is what a next level pray-er (person who prays) does!

Question: Are your prayers offered in the field of play?

Reference #1: Ephesians 6:13-18 MSG‬‬‬‬‬‬, Bible.com, accessed February 15, 2022, https://www.bible.com/bible/97/EPH.6.13-18.MSG

Reference #2: Proverbs 18:21 NLT‬‬‬‬‬‬, Bible.com, accessed February 15, 2022, https://www.bible.com/bible/116/PRO.18.21.NLT

All Scripture references used by permission, see our Scripture copyrights