Monday Night Prayer: Part III

This IS a true story.

     I watched the playoffs, and I rooted hard against the Patriots. I still prayed in my head against them, but that never seemed to help. The Packers did not make it to the Super Bowl that year, but the New York Giants did, and they were playing the undefeated Patriots.

No one expected the Giants to go to the Super Bowl, much less, contend

     My family and I got home from Church just in time to watch the second half of the Super Bowl, and I was glad to see that the Patriots were not in the lead by much. The score was 7-3. The Patriots were winning, but the Giants still had a shot at beating them. No one scored in the third quarter, but it was fun watching the Patriots quarterback, Tom Brady, get sacked twice (it is still fun to watch to this day). The Giants finally took the lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter as they scored a touchdown. I was excited and I prayed that God would let the Giants win.

     Again, my dreams it seemed were crushed as the Patriots marched down the field and scored another touchdown. The score was 14-10 with 2:42 left in the game. I held my breath hoping that the Giants would get a touchdown. My eyes widened for the next couple of minutes as I watched the best football I had ever seen, or ever will see.

     The Giants had a few bad plays, but they did get two really big first downs. My palms were sweaty and I was shaking nervously as I sat on the couch, watching on third and five as the Giants had the ball on their own 44 yard line with 1:15 left. The quarterback for the Giants, Eli Manning, was suddenly swarmed by Patriot defenders.

“He’s sacked...It’s over.”

     “He’s sacked,” I thought. “It’s over.” However, in what seemed like an instant, Manning slipped out of the crowd of lineman. I watched in disbelief as he launched the ball deep into the other side of the field. I almost fell out of my seat as I saw David Tyree, a Giants receiver, catch the ball with one hand, on his head, literally! Our house erupted in excitement as the play ended. We all knew that this game was not over with 59 seconds on the clock. The Giants were on the 24-yard line.

"I almost fell out of my seat as I saw David Tyree...catch the ball"

     A few plays later, with 39 seconds left, the Giants were at the 13-yard line on first down. I stood in the kitchen watching with my hands on my knees hoping that the Giants would score. Manning stepped back, lobbed it into the corner of the end zone, and the Giant receiver, Plaxico Buress, caught it.

     “Yes!” Everyone in our house yelled in excitement. The Patriots were going to lose the Super Bowl and they were no longer undefeated.

     These three games are important to me, because they taught me two important lessons about prayer. In the first game, I prayed for what some might think was a silly football game, but did God think it was silly? I have told this story to people, and they think I was being sacrilegious by praying for something as silly as a football game. However, I do not think it was. Philippians 4:6, “Be careful for nothing; but in everything (emphasis added) by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” I am also told in 1 Thessalonians to “Pray without ceasing.” To me, something as silly as praying for a sports competition is something we are asked by the Bible to do.

     What about the second game? I had asked God that he would give the Patriots justice for what they did wrong in the cheating scandal. God answered my prayer. Not the way that He did for the Packer game, but He did answer it. His answer was, “Not yet.” God will sometimes give people justice automatically, and sometimes he waits a few months or even a few years. The Bible says in James 4:3, “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.” I wanted the Colts to win. That’s really what I wanted. I did not actually want the Patriots to be punished for cheating. I just threw that in so God might think I was asking for something “righteous.”

     As for the third game, God told me “Now.” God waited till the Patriots made it to the Super Bowl, undefeated, and they lost the final prize. God gave me what I asked for. When someone prays and ask God for a saved friend or a family member to be healed, and the person they pray for dies, God gave them what they asked for. They are healed when they enter heaven. When terrorists attack, some might pray that God would bring them to justice. Well, God will give them justice, but maybe he will say, “Not yet,” just like he said to me after the Patriots beat the Colts.

     Some may say that it is sacrilegious to pray for football, however, it taught me a lot about how we are to deal with prayer. I am to go to God with everything in prayer, pray for the right thing and not based on my own lusts, and realize that God does not answer in my time, only His.