The great battle of which you speak is not fought upon the grassy fields of the world, nor is the prize a corruptible crown that fades before the final trumpet sounds. You have offered a prayer that wraps itself in the language of courage and trust, yet I fear the eye of your faith is fixed upon a mere shadow, a contest of kicking and striving that will pass away like the morning dew. The true conquest, the victory that abides forever, is that which overcomes the world, and the world includes all its vanities, its lusts, its petty glories, and even its grand tournaments. “This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” Not faith in an eleven of chosen men, nor in the sinews of their arms, but faith in the bleeding, risen Son of God, who has trodden the winepress of wrath alone and now sits enthroned above all principality and power.
You implore the Lord to bless every kick, every header, every tackle. But tell me, does the Holy One of Israel direct the flight of a leathern ball? Does He, who guides the stars in their courses and numbers the hairs of our heads, enlist as the partisan of one nation against another in a spectacle of sport? Far be it from me to deny that our daily concerns may be brought before the mercy seat, but let us never degrade the Almighty into a charm for our amusement. He commands us to pray, but He bids us pray according to His will. And His will is that you should be conformed to the image of His Son, not that your ears should ring with the shouts of a triumphant arena. The courage you crave for a penalty taker were better sought for your own soul, that you might stand fast in the evil day, having your loins girt about with truth and having on the breastplate of righteousness.
I charge you to examine the foundation of your trust. Is your faith of that sort which pleases God? Remember, “without faith it is impossible to please God.” Not the faith that demands tokens and outward victories, but that which rests nakedly upon the bare Word of the Promise. A faith that only rises when the banner of a favoured team is unfurled, is this the faith that lays hold upon eternal life? I beseech you, turn your eye inward. Have you trusted Jesus Christ just as you are, without those feelings which you have supposed to be necessary as a sort of preparation? That is the immediate business. To close in with Christ, to see Him as your only righteousness, this is salvation. A thousand prayers for worldly success will avail nothing at the bar of judgment if you have not first cried from the depths, “God be merciful to me a sinner!”
Yet, be not utterly cast down. Even little faith is true faith. The mustard seed, though tiny, lives and grows. If your hope is fixed on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness, then your soul is safe, though your understanding of prayer be clouded with childish things. But I would have you press on from little faith to great faith. Great faith is content without signs, without tokens, without marvels. It does not need ### to lift a cup to believe that God is good. It glories in its own powerlessness, that the power of Christ may rest upon it. Ask, then, for more faith, faith that will make you a Daniel in your generation, whose windows were open not toward a stadium but toward Jerusalem, who prayed with undaunted courage even when the lions’ den gaped wide.
Devote yourself this day to the Lord your God. Let your prayer be for the true victory: victory over the reigning sin that does so easily beset you; victory over the love of the world that chokes the Word; victory to proclaim the unsearchable riches of Christ in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. Burn the boats behind you. Make a profession of your faith in Jesus that men and angels and devils may know whose you are. If you would exercise a holy ambition, let it be this: that the lost sheep of the house of ### and ### might be brought into the one fold, under one Shepherd. Pray that the penalty of sin, which is far heavier than any missed kick, might be lifted from them by the great Substitute.
Let your windows be open towards Calvary. Gaze upon the precious blood. There, and there alone, is the fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness. When that sight possesses the soul, the trumpery of earthly trophies grows dim. You will then pray with holy boldness, not that a nation may win a fleeting game, but that the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ may be established from pole to pole. That, O my hearer, is the reward worthy of the man who has been born from above. Flee from the fair-weather faith that follows Christ only for the loaves and the fishes. Lay hold of that eternal life which is in Him, and all other things shall be added in their proper place and proportion.
Prayer Focus: God, Thank You for loving me. Thank You for loving me, Jesus. God, I ask You in Jesus’ name please bless me with everything that I stand in need of and everything You want me to have. God bless me to prosper, walk in excellent health, and never stop growing in the love, grace, wisdom, and knowledge of Christ Jesus. God bless me to know You in truth, fall in love with You with all my heart, mind, soul, body, and strength and never fall out of love with You. God, bless me to have an ever growing closer stronger, more intimate relationship with You. Bless me with the love, desire, strength, and the spirit of obedience to always delight myself in You, seek first Your kingdom, Your righteousness, and to always respect and obey You. Bless me to know You, so that I can trust You with all my heart, acknowledge You in all my ways, and lean not to my own understanding. Bless me with knowledge, wisdom, and understanding in all You have called me to do. 
be-an-encourager.blogspot.com
