The Power of God through Prayer

Last week the Svea Silver slow-pitch softball team (our church has two teams, one in the Silver League and one in the Bronze League) suffered its first defeat of the season at the hands of the #5 seed in the playoffs. It was a shocker, to say the least. Our guys made many errors, couldn't hit the ball, and the other team ripped hit after hit to a few of the same spots the whole game and "ten-runned" us - the game, normally seven innings, was ended after five innings because they were ten runs ahead.

This loss dropped us down to the loser's bracket, giving us more games to play to eventually reach the championship game. Prior to last night's first game, against the last-seeded team, our team was confident of victory; we had "twenty-runned" this team in the first game of the playoffs. So when their players mentioned to some of ours that their pitcher was illegal (in order to play in the playoffs, you must be on the roster at the start of the season and play in two games during the regular season), our guys brushed it off and went ahead with the game. But it was another disaster. Lackluster hitting, error-filled defense and a general sluggish attitude contributed to a 13-10 loss for Svea. I was especially disgusted because I hadn't even wanted to come; I've had a bad toothache for a couple of days and drugged myself up with Advil so I could make it.

As the guys drifted off the field, a couple of the players talked to the umpire, who eventually confirmed that the other team had to forfeit because of an illegal player. Interestingly, the same thing happened to us last year. One of our players recruited a couple of "outsiders" in order to soundly defeat our cutthroat rivals; we had to forfeit, which led to our losing the league championship and remaining in this league another year. The recruiter publicly apologized to our entire team, and we learned a valuable lesson. Ironically, the "outsiders" didn't contribute to our victory last year, while the "outsider" pitcher last night was also a coach and probably made a difference in the game.

Perhaps you are imagining excitement and enthusiasm at receiving another chance to play. There wasn't any. The next game was already in progress and had to be stopped so our team could take the place of the forfeited team. Three or four of our players had already headed for home and had to be called back. No one felt good about getting to the next game that way. It was already 10:00 pm. And the mosquitoes were bad!

I went to move the car closer so Sarah could get away from the mosquitoes, and as I went I had a picture in my mind (I think the Lord put it there) of the teams praying together before the game. Pete had led a short devotions and prayer before most of our games this year, but he was gone with our twins and I was pretty sure he hadn't appointed anyone to take his place. As I drove back, I prayed, "OK, Lord, if I get back in time I will ask if I can pray." However, as I pulled into the parking lot, I saw the first batter for the other team take his first swing. It was a base hit, and they went on to score three runs on a few good hits, a missing outfielder and a couple of errors by our team. It was not looking good.

I had another picture of myself going over and praying with just our team before they batted. I walked over and as they came in off the field I asked, "Did you guys pray before the game?"

Someone answered, "No, that's the problem."

I pressed further, "I suppose you didn't pray before the other game either, did you?"

"No."

"Can I just pray for us now?"

"Sure!" And they gathered around as I quickly said something like, "Lord, You know we're frustrated and upset. But we trust You, and please help us do our best! Amen!" Everyone echoed, "Amen!" as the umpire called for the batter.

I am NOT saying that a prayer to God is a magical charm that results in instant success and glory for anyone who will say a few words. But it was a different team that batted around in the bottom of that first inning, scoring six or seven runs. And it was a different team that went on to win the game 16-7 and advance to the next round of playoff games, next week. I believe the Lord orchestrated that entire series of events to say to our team, "Just remember Me." And I pray that message will stick with some of those guys for the rest of their lives.