THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
SPORT AND PRAYER
Sunday's note in honor of
Danish football player Christian Eriksen, who collapsed at the EC 2020 match in
Copenhagen
We experienced rare moments towards the end of the first half of Saturday’s
Danish-Finnish EB 2020 match. The strength of the Danish team, Christian
Eriksen, collapsed on the pitch. The resumption of the match was suspended. At
the Hungarian studio, M4 Sport, Judit
Berkesi led the conversation with a great presence. His two fellow experts
agreed that in this situation we should pray for Eriksen, and the same was said
of the Hungarian mediation post in Copenhagen. And in the pictures, we also saw
teammates surrounded the troubled partner with their eyes facing the
spectators, and there were those who locked their hands in prayer. Today, the
news is about Eriksen’s improvement. Thank God. But let’s stop for a moment on
this topic: the relationship between sport and prayer.
By Lajos Békefy Dr.
Relationships between prayer
and sport are sports psychological 2X2s
A series of scientific studies, personal experiences, active practitioners
of athletes, footballers, athletes and other performance sports say: prayer has
a performance-stimulating, unifying, concentration-strengthening, positive
effect. But not only this, but also in critical situations, such as yesterday,
the maintenance of hope, the spiritual tool of the struggle for life, which,
moreover, is always at hand. In how many matches a team enters, we see that
there are players who, before stepping on the green lawn of the field, bend
down, touch the edge of the field, make a cross, or raise both hands to the
sky. For example, Salah, a Muslim football player, even kneels spectacularly
when he scores a goal, and others do so that as soon as a goal comes together,
they point their hands up and read “Thank God” or “Thank you, God” for the
movement of their mouths. Today, separate sports Bibles or a Bible for Athletes
are also published in various languages, and there are collections of prayers
for athletes. In this genre, the largest Bible company in the world, the
British, is ahead. The British and Welsh Bible Society has published their
sports Bible with the title Bible Body Soul for almost ten years. It was also
an event yesterday that after the Danish-Finnish match in Belgian-Russia, as
Lukaku, the “bomber” stated in a post-match interview: he also played football
and prayed for him.
The organic relationship
between the Bible and sports has been around for 2000 years
We have only flashed a few biblical examples from the rich material. We
quote the Apostle Paul, who uses sports terms several times in his letters. He
writes to members of the Corinthian congregation about those who run from the
racetrack, of whom only one takes the prize (1 Cor. 9:25). About the running
straight, the effort in Philippians (3: 13-14), about the regular struggle to
Timothy (And if anyone struggles, he is not crowned if he does not struggle
properly - 2 Tim. 2: 5). About the crown of truth gained after the run, the
victorious life in Christ (2 Tim. 4: 7-8).
Sport, culture, church,
theology of the body
Dominic Erdozain, a professor at King’s College London, discusses the links
between sport and Protestant ethics. According to him, sport is the secular
equivalent of Protestant ethics based on duty. He puts it specifically: “The
modern Olympic movement was built on the moral logic of muscular Christianity.
Motto: faster, higher, more powerful! That is, Christian and Nietzsche’s
emerging man unite in the spirit of the movement ”. The writing is also about
athletes who have been able to combine faith and athletic performance, combat
skills and renunciation at a high level.
David Oakley, Member of the International Organization of Sports
Ambassadors "Common Track?" thinks / reconsiders the relationship
between sport and the church in his writing. In both society and the church, it
is important for everyone to find their community and individual place and to
use their individual abilities in team play with others for the benefit of the
whole team. Synthia Sydnor is a professor of public health at the University of
Illinois. He wrote thought-provoking statements entitled “Sport, Women, and the
Mystical Body of Christ”. II. János Pál, based on the formulations of the once
athletic Catholic priest, explains the “theology of the body”. Despite the
original sin, the male and female bodies can be seen as a carrier of gifts, a
socket for physical and spiritual abilities. He refers to the great exhortation
of the apostle Paul: "Praise ye God in your body and soul, for they are
God's" (1 Cor 6:20).
Lukaku
celebrates God at every goal
An interview with Romelu Lukaku, the Belgian star soccer player on the
website jesus.ch, was published the same day. The Inter Milan player is one of
the most expensive football players in the world and a real bomber striker. His
amazing performance shows that he found his opponent's goal 41 times in his 98
matches. He increased that yesterday as well. There is no interview, no voice
in which to include the name of God. He told a Belgian sports newspaper that he
prays for the national team every day and asks for God’s presence in the
players and on the field as well. If you can read your Bible every day, you
will feel good if you can do it three times a day. “Where is my strength? It is
a gift from God. ” In his prayers, he always has his family next to his
teammates, and those of his friends who are just living their days in a
difficult life situation, illness, or trial.
It’s good to see and raise awareness: there’s an original and organic
connection between sport and prayer. It’s even better to experience in TV
studios and soccer fields that this relationship really works. We finally got
here. The best, purest doping agent is living God and faith in Him. Let's stay
with this evidence, the basic truth!
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