When I sprinted on the junior high school and high school track teams, I prayed to do the best I could before each specific event I ran - to do my best for my track teammates and for myself. I didn't pray for a specific win. That form of prayer has stuck with me as an adult through my life and has proven healthy for me - to simply be the best person I can be for that day/moment.
I don't know of any literally praying to win, but normally to pray to do their best and to keep all players safe.
But for the questions sake, let's say both teams actually pray to win. God would simply allow all the players to play to their best abilities and let the game play out. Or the team that had more players on it that truly believed it would win. (Just because someone participates in a prayer does not mean they truly believe and that faith in that prayer....only God would know who)
If praying could make a team the winner, who would bother preparing for the game? Not to mention, who would waste time on sports- related prayers, when there's poverty, crime, disease and war to eradicate?
The only "locker room" prayers I've heard were thanks for ability and request that performance can meet the level of preparation achieved. I've never heard "Please let us win."
That mural is "The Word of Life." It is on the wall of the library, not part of athletic facilities. It is larger than a basketball court and combines Jesus' image with smaller ones of those of best known scholars and theologians. It does not suggest scoring points at all. At some point someone called this Touchdown Jesus, perhaps exclaiming the wonder of it. Students started using the term and now it's a well-known landmark. A Notre Dame priest addresses that in the video. I've never heard anyone call this by its nickname but I know it for its magnificence.
Here's an informative article.
Notre Dame actually means Our Lady. That lady was Jesus' mother.
This post was edited by Thriftymaid at September 22, 2023 3:31 PM MDT
I thank my parents for helping me become who I am, period. Whether or not I win or lose.
I get rather annoyed when it's okay to thank parents for helping you become who you are when you're winning or accepting an award. But if one says that it was difficult growing up with a parent who was an active alcoholic, and as adult you have challenges because of that experience, you receive back, "Quit blaming your parents. You're an adult."
I grew up in this situation and I wouldn't change a thing because there was always love amidst the challenges, and, thankfully, my mom found AA and became sober. But others' negative commentaries I let annoy me at times.
Thanks, Welby - I think you already gave the right example above!
People tend only to hear what they want to hear, don't they? And that's rarely reality. But the fact that you can see the positives of even such circumstances says a lot more than any standard phrase.
God answers a prayer with yes, no, or not yet. Sometimes he wants us to go through the refining fire, I know I've been there a lot. He sees the bigger picture, takes everything in to account, personally and as a team. Apparently you are learning more about prayer and many deeper levels of God, been there, done that and it never stops, I'm still learning. God wants us to see HIS view and grow in understanding.
This post was edited by . at September 23, 2023 3:18 PM MDT
Well, when you donate to the poor out of love, they appreciate it, and sometimes it is life changing for them even though they don't know what you look like and will never know who you are, however, they feel your love. HE looks like that, pure LOVE. You can see him in what he created, the beauty, the design, complexity, versatility how everything has a balance and is self sufficient. I marvel at his creations, the small and great and everything in between.
This post was edited by . at September 22, 2023 3:31 PM MDT
Then if you see God manifested in the design and function of nature and the universe, which makes sense, how do you simultaneously believe there’s an old man up in the sky who actually speaks for you to hear? That makes less sense.
He speaks in many different ways. First through his word in the bible, through impossible doors that open, people he sent into my life when I had no resources. He has spoken to me through absolute pure miracles when no one else was around, no way to blame any human. Through small things to let me know he is nearby and to confirm his existence. Through his still small voice in my heart, I know his familiar voice.
This post was edited by . at September 22, 2023 3:32 PM MDT
Jane S 