Some professional athletes pray before or after a game

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After a Monday night football game in 1990, a group of eight players from opposing teams gathered at the 40-yard line near the scoreboard to pray. One player, Eugene Robinson, said the purpose of praying was not about who won, but basically as an acknowledgement of who God is—that people would know that God exists. Since that day, many Christian athletes have copied this idea. They don’t believe that sharing one’s faith should only be done at church or only among other believers. That was one of the points in Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost. He quoted words from the prophet Joel. We read Peter’s quote in Acts chapter 2: “In the last days, God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on my servants—men and women alike—and they will prophesy.’” When we understand prophecy in the sense of communicating to others whatever God wants to convey, we realize that God expects all of His children to do it. All believers can participate in sharing the Good News. It is true that some people have the special gift of evangelism, but anybody who has received God’s grace can talk about it—athletes and everybody else.