When the National Basketball Association suspended the 2019-2020 professional season due to coronavirus, the shockwaves were felt throughout the sporting world. And within a few days, nearly all professional, college, high school, and youth athletic programs were cancelled until further notice. The culmination of this reality for the athletic world was the postponement of the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Japan. Into this disruption, we offer “A PRAYER FOR…ATHLETES AND COACHES.”
Hebrews 12:1
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us.”
Let us pray:
God of the Incarnation, of flesh and bone: you gift us with physical bodies that take joy in the rigor of sport and competition. We pray for athletes and coaches whose passions have been put on pause due to the dangers of COVID-19. For professionals, college student-athletes, and young competitors who must refrain for team building, normal conditioning routines, and community engagement, we lift to you. With the sporting world in upheaval and as athletes’ dreams are delayed, we ask that you hold all whose lives and livelihoods are dependent upon the economy of competition. Helps us all to join the great cloud of witnesses, to run together the race before us with perseverance hoping that healing and restoration will come, through the power of your Spirit. Amen.
Rev. Justin Lind-Ayres
Prayer for April 1, 2020