If you are a Christian and a coach, whatever sports you are coaching in, you can be the salt and light for the team of players that you are coaching or managing, regardless of whether it’s for a high school, college, or even professional sports team. As the team’s coach, you can lead your team in prayer on many possible occasions. This could be before you practice and even before a game when you and your team huddle up. Praying for your players as a coach does not necessarily have to be in a setting where the team gathers together. You can personally pray for players you see who may need prayer. This is a great way for you to minister to the players you are leading and a wonderful opportunity to preach the Gospel to them eventually. Remember that in every prayer you pray for them, all should point to Christ. The end goal of being the salt and light in the team you are leading is to witness Christ and preach the Gospel to them.
Matthew 5:13-16
13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Matthew 28:19
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Acts 1:8
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Acts 22:15
For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.
As you coach your team, here is a prayer you can pray to become the salt and light to the players:
Father in heaven, give me the grace to be a blessing for the team that I am leading and that I will be the salt and light to them, always pointing them to the light of the world, which is Your Son, Jesus. Give me the wisdom and the boldness to witness Christ to them, not just with the prayers and the Gospel I pray for them, but also with how I live my life. May they see Christ in my life. Give me the grace that I need to be an excellent coach. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
A Coach’s Prayer for Players
What do you say when you pray for someone?
There are many things that you can pray for the players in your team; it all depends on their needs at the given moment. As mentioned before, you can pray for your players before you practice. You can pray that there will be no accidents or injuries that will happen during practice and that you will have a fruitful practice. Here is a sample prayer that you can pray as you and your team begin practicing:
Father in heaven, I pray that we will have a joyful and fruitful practice today as we prepare for the upcoming game. I pray that we will be able to master the things we need to master and improve on the things we need to improve. I pray that no accidents or injuries will happen during the duration of our training. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
A Coach’s Prayer for Players
Before the game, you can pray for your team – that they will do well, always be humble, and uphold sportsmanship – and still pray that no accidents or injuries will occur. If most of the players on your team are Christians, you can also pray for them to compete not for their glory but for God’s. You can pray this prayer for your players as you are about to compete:
Father in heaven, we thank You for this day as we compete. I pray for my players that as they compete, they shall always uphold humility and sportsmanship and participate with honesty and integrity. Give them the grace and the strength that they need as they compete, that they will be able to perform excellently. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
A Coach’s Prayer for Players
What you pray for the players on your team is not limited to matters concerning the sports they are playing. For example, if you are a team coach and your team is composed of students in college or high school, you can also pray for their studies. If they have upcoming exams, you can pray this prayer for them:
Heavenly Father, I pray that you would give these students the grace to be excellent in their studies. Help them, Father, to be faithful in their studies; that just as they strive to be good in [the sport they play], they shall strive also to be good at and master the subjects they are taking. I pray that they shall value the knowledge they are learning and can see how it will help them in future endeavors. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
A Coach’s Prayer for Players
If you are coaching professional teams, you can also pray for things that are not directly related to performance in sports. One example is that in professional sports, there are times when a player is at the crossroads of whether to retire or not. In that case, here is a sample prayer of what you can pray for that player:
Heavenly Father, I thank You because [name of the player] has blessed us with their strength and talent in [name of the sport] in all these years they have been competing. As they find themself at a crossroads as to whether they should retire or not, I pray that You will give them grace and wisdom as they decide and that they will be able to make the best decision. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
James 1:5
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
How do you pray for someone going through a tough time?
There are times when you may find some players feeling down or discouraged. Maybe there is a specific skill that they are practicing yet, no matter how much they train, they do not see any progress at all, and this is why they are feeling down. At that moment, you can be the salt and light to the player and encourage them, and it is also when you can pray for them. You can pray a simple prayer of encouragement like this:
Father in heaven, I pray that You would give [name of the player] the grace to persevere in their training, even if they do not see any progress. Give them the grace to keep on persisting and enduring up until they see the fruits of their labor. I also pray that You would cause their hard work to bear fruit. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
It could also be that a player is having a challenging time fitting in with the team or that they are somehow cast aside. While it is something that you should deal with as a coach, to make sure that no one is left out and that everyone is in harmony with each other despite each person’s difference, this is also a time when you can pray and even minister to that person who feels left out. You can pray this prayer for that person:
Father in heaven, I thank You because our security and affirmation are not hinged on other people but on Christ. We thank You because in Christ and what He has done for us on the cross, we are restored and made whole. In Christ, we are adopted as Your children; we are loved, secured, and affirmed. We thank You, Father, because we are underserving of this love because of our sin, yet You were gracious, merciful, and loving to send Your Son Jesus to die for the penalty of our sins so that we may have life in Him. Thank You, Father, because in Christ we have joy. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
Romans 5:8
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
1 John 4:19
We love him, because he first loved us.
John 4:14
But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
John 10:10
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
2 Corinthians 5:1
For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
You can encourage and minister to your players, but the most important thing you can pray for them is to repent and believe the Gospel, simply because the grace received by children of God is different from that of those who are not God’s children. As children of God, we have this access to the throne of grace, in which we can freely ask God for grace and strength. It is different for those not in Christ because what needs to be dealt with first is the wall of hostility between them and God, which can only be torn down if they are in Christ. An unbeliever will never understand why he needs to compete not for himself but for the glory of God.