Prayer & Sports!! Your Gift Will Make Room for You!

On January 21, 2018, we received an email from our child's middle school principal. He stated that our son was requested to come and pray before the entire school district board meeting and speak on why their Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) Organization needs to remain in the school. We were very honored and humbled by this request, because we know that prayer is not a welcome asset in public schools. I called the child downstairs to let him know about the email that I had received, and he said, “Oh yes, I forgot to tell you that I have to go and pray for the school board.” And, I replied, "Boy, do you know how BIG of a DEAL this is? This is all God, and the Bible says, your gift will make room for you (Proverbs 18:16)!" He said, “Well I'm going to pray and tell them the importance of prayer and about our FCA Organization.” I sent the request to prayer warriors to be praying for him while he prayed, that God would give him the right words and that he not be afraid.

Forwarding to two days later, he was standing before the school district board PRAYING! He did not pray in a loud way, but in a powerful way! I purposely didn't go into the meeting for his part, because I didn't want to influence him in any way or make him nervous. I want to share a few things that he told me when we got in the car. He said, "Mom, when I got up there and started to pray, I was very nervous, but I immediately felt a presence that brought me peace. It’s the kind of peace I feel when I'm being prayed for (at the altar)." He said, "Then immediately I was able to pray.” I said, "Yes, you had people back home praying for you while you were praying for them!" He said, "I felt them praying for me!" I knew THE LORD was giving him the words to pray over the school board to make the right decisions, over the teachers, the school staff and for the students.

He then spoke to the school board concerning the impact that prayer has had for the athletic department. He told the board that when the FCAO started at the beginning of the school year, they only had one other student, him and the coach. The coach told them that God didn't tell them to go get a bunch of students, but to go get one and they would grow. He shared the verse where two or three are gathered, He is in their midst (Matthew 18:20). He told the board that now with half of the school year over, they are now up to 15 other students and counting!

He shared with the board that their team lost their first game of the season, and before the second game he prayed over the team and was led to speak to the team about David and Goliath. He said David was small like their team (which is full of small military kids), and Goliath was a Giant, like the big country kids that they always have to play against. He told them that when they believe that God is with them, there is nothing too big that can come against them in which they cannot defeat! Ever since game 2 they have won all of their games!

Lastly, he told the board that the kids started teasing him and said, "You just go to those meetings because Coach give y'all free donuts." He said as a result he quit eating the donuts to make a point that he's not there for the donuts. He said the coach still brings donuts, but no one eats them except the coach. He told them he really enjoys the FCAO and hopes they continue to allow them to meet and pray. He believes that prayer was extremely important in the schools and especially important before they practice or play games. He said he knows the Lord protects them while they are playing and helps them to win their games! With all that being said, the board has decided to allow them to continue with FCAO!!!

After the school board meeting, he was called back to the front of the room and every board member had something to say to him afterwards pertaining to him having Great Faith. He shook every board members’ hand and looked each of them in their eyes and told them, thank you. We know that he is not the only child standing for Christ in public schools; however, we are thankful that he is one of the ones that takes his calling seriously at his age. We are a family that prays together daily and it is crucial that we teach our children the power of prayer. We know this is the Lord's doing and it's marvelous in our eyes! To God be all the Glory!