To those courageously standing in
the gap between a merciful and Holy God and athletes on their campus who’ve yet
to know Him,
At Athletes in Action we believe there are
four key elements to a transformational community within any sports ministry:
Prayer, Evangelism, Discipleship and
Sending (from the “Critical Path to a Local
Leader”)
In the game of baseball a wooden bat
has the advantage of encouraging the batter to hit the ball in the “sweet
spot.” If the batter hits the ball with the inside part of the bat they
run the risk of breaking the bat or getting a stinging sensation in their
hands. If the batter hits the baseball with the outside part of the bat,
the baseball will not travel very far. But if the batter hits the
ball on the “sweet spot” (the 6-8 inch part of the barrel) then the ball jumps
off the bat for maximum velocity and travel. The batter can feel that they
hit it correctly. The batter can still get a hit if they don’t hit the
sweet spot on the bat but it just doesn’t feel the same and the result is far
less effective.
In our prayer
life, it is very similar. John
15:7 says, “If you remain in me and I in you ask whatever you wish and it will
be given to you.” You might think, “Hold on! I don’t feel like God
is giving us whatever we wish/pray for… and it just isn’t happening! Why
pray at all?” The question I
challenge us with is, are we
remaining in Him? Are we praying “sweet spot prayers?”
Are we praying our own agenda or are we praying how the Holy Spirit is guiding
us to pray?
Many Christians’ prayers are more
like broken bat hits because they aren’t truly seeking to listen to what God
wants in each situation. Even Jesus said in John 5:19, “I can do nothing
on my own, I only do what I see the Father doing.” So in your prayer life
and ministry truly ask Jesus, what are you doing? How should I pray in
this specific situation? Jesus hears all of our prayers but answers the
ones that truly come from His word and heart. Many of them might feel like
they are bouncing off the ceiling and never happen. Then there are other
times when you pray and you know that you prayed God’s will from heaven to earth
and it happened! I call those “sweet spot prayers!” The prayer jumped into
your heart, mind and into reality from the Holy Spirit in you. Why can’t
we pray like that all of the time?
I believe you can individually and
for your ministry pray “sweet spot” prayers (John 15:7). One way to start
is to get a better understanding of God’s heart and operation of prayer
throughout the Bible. Click here
for a solid list of scriptures on prayer to study and apply to your prayer
life.
If we know God’s thoughts on prayer,
we have a better understanding of getting our spiritual “swing through the zone
and hitting sweet spot prayers” on a regular basis.
The Athletes in
Action SportLinc Team
ONE WORLD to
Reach
ONE
LANGUAGE of Sport
ONE MESSAGE of Victory
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