More Victories Than Defeats

Relating Prayer to a Sport – Part 3

The Sport of Prayer – Part 2.3

Imagine with me that prayer is a sport with games. At the end of a game an individual will experience one of two outcomes: victory or defeat. This occurs whether you play for recreation or non-recreationally. From what I can tell no matter who I ask and how many I ask, a person says they experience more losses than victories when it comes to prayer. How can this be? We all say that prayer works and if prayer works then one would think a person experiences more wins than defeats. If a game we plan ends in defeat more often than victory for us, guess what we will do? Not play that sport. With this in mind, you can imagine why most give up on prayer, they rarely see a win. This is the very reason Pamela and I began teaching this message on next level prayer. A person in the sport of prayer should see more victories than defeats. That’s next level prayer.

Adversity in the Sport of Prayer
Every sport we play has some level of adversity. It doesn’t matter if we’re playing the game as a pastime or professionally. Prayer is no different. In fact the problem with most individuals is that they only pray when adversity arises. They only engage in the sport when troubles arise. How successful can an athlete be if they only played ball against opponents who play ball every day? They’d more than likely lose each time. So why then does a person think they can have good results in prayer when they only pray against the most difficult and skilled opponents (so to speak)? They’re not going to be very good at it and lose every single time. In order to get better, you have to put the work in and be engaged in the sport regularly against a number of opponents.

Defeat is for those who are not that good at the game.
Defining defeat in the sport of prayer is not as easy as we try to make it. Most people believe that when he or she doesn’t get the outcome that they desire then that would be considered defeat. A person who’s not played the game of prayer very much thinks this way and is consequently not very good at the sport of prayer. You see, amateur pray-ers (people who pray) believe that they can command God. Lord, give me what I want…
Lord, do this for me…
Lord, if you do, then I’ll do…
Lord, I need…
Lord, can I have…
Lord, will you…
A professional pray-er (person who prays) understands that prayer isn’t about what we want, it’s about what God wants for us in the matter we take to Him. This is why defeat isn’t quite as simple in the sport of prayer.

An amateur pray-er (person who prays) will toss their prayer up to Heaven as if God works for him or her. A professional pray-er (or next-level person who prays) will toss their request to Heaven, but instead of running off, wait for a response. Prayer like faith begins and ends in action. In prayer, either God gives you an action to take or you must continue in prayer until an action is given. There is no toss and run. It’s hard to be defeated when we engage God. In fact, God can’t be defeated. He wins and when you pray, you win regardless if you get the response you initially desired. This next-level prayer.

Victory can be found in defeat as well as winning.
Let me expound on when the results you get aren’t what you desired. When it comes to the sport of prayer, victory can be found in defeat as well as winning. There aren’t many sports out there where you can achieve victory even when you think you lose. Ultimately, when we pray for something that turns out contrary to what we’ve been praying, we still win. A next level pray-er (person who plays the game of prayer) understands that God is bigger than any disappointment one might experience. For example, let’s take the worst case scenarios, if I can call it that. You pray for a loved-one to be healed and they die. You asked God to do a miracle and the person dies anyway. That sounds like defeat doesn’t it? But is it really? In situations like this I’ve in times asked God to explain to me why did they die and I’ve had Him respond in a number of ways:

1. It was their time. ^[1]
2. I [God] have rescued them.^[2] By the way, that’s what salvation is.
3. So when Kerry would you like for them to die?^[3] Since today isn’t the day you’d choose, what day would you? You have to choose one. 

When God speaks to me and we talk through the scenario, what I’ve learned has been more valuable than my prayer coming back in the way I’d originally would have desired. The point is this. When it comes to God, there is no defeat. One of the most important practices of prayer is getting to know God and having Him introduce you to Himself. It’s up to us to get an understanding of what He’s doing and why? Asking Him for this understanding is next-level prayer.
Because it’s God we’re talking to, we can conclude that there should be more victories than defeats: 90% answered prayers and 10% unanswered.

Here’s some good news. When a person engages in the sport of prayer often, the results are much better. God has more favor, grace, and mercy than we can comprehend. That being the case, people who say they only get 10% answered prayer, don’t pray enough. You see you can have 90% answered prayers, but you will need to play the sport often and improve your skills. You see, we don’t have the things we desire because we fail to ask. By the way, Lord, bless me is not asking Him for what you need and desire. It’s time to begin to have a love for the sport of prayer. While it does have some adversity, the sport yields more excitement, joy, and wins than it does anything else. This is next-level prayer.

Question: how has your lack of understanding on the subject of prayer cause you to feel like you’re losing in prayer?

Reference #1: ‭‭Hebrews 9:27 ESV‬‬‬‬‬‬, Bible.com, accessed January 25, 2022, https://www.bible.com/bible/59/HEB.9.27.ESV
Reference #2: Isaiah 57:1 NLT‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬, Bible.com, accessed January 25, 2022, https://www.bible.com/bible/116/ISA.57.1.NLT
Reference #3: ‭‭‭‭Job 14:5 NIV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬, Bible.com, accessed January 25, 2022, https://www.bible.com/bible/111/JOB.14.5.NIV

All Scripture references used by permission, see our Scripture copyrights.