There are lots of different ways to pray, but I want to introduce a method that you probably haven’t heard of before: the football way to pray. Over the past two months (during the height of football season, not surprisingly), this has helped me balance my prayers so that I’m covering all the vital parts of prayer: thanksgiving, supplication and intercession.

Special Teams (Thanksgiving) – Special teams are the forgotten and under appreciated part of a football team, until they win or lose you the game. Blocking a field goal, returning a punt for a touchdown, or even giving you the ball on the opponent’s red zone as opposed to being backed up within your own 10 yard line can be the difference between winning and losing. Special teams is all about field position, moving the ball up and down the field before the offense even takes the field. Strong special teams makes the rest of the team much more successful.

Special teams in prayer is spending a healthy amount of time in thanksgiving. Establishing who God is and what He’s done for you. Thanking Him for how He’s blessed you in the past and reminding yourself that God already knows your future and that He’s working everything out for your good. When you establish a baseline of God’s sovereignty and God’s goodness backed up with God’s faithfulness in the past, you’ve already made huge strides in your prayer life.

Defense (Supplication) – This is the style of prayer most of us are familiar with. This is where we pray for our family, our friends, our loved ones. This is where we pray for health and protection from the evil one. And this type of prayer is needed more than ever. If you’re a believer trying to live out your faith then you’ve got a target on your back. You need to pray the armor of God over yourself and your family.

Pray for your marriage. Pray for your children. Pray for your church. Pray for your pastor. Don’t allow the enemy to defeat you. Pray defensively. Repent. Confess. Ask for forgiveness. Come under God’s protection. That’s good defense.

Offense (Intercession) – Offensive types of prayers are ones rarely seen, but I believe these are the types of prayers that God loves to answer. These prayers are ones where you pray big, bold, audacious prayers, where to move the chains up the field and take back ground from the enemy. Here are some examples of offensive prayers:

“God, do something big through me this week.”
“Bring someone into my world today that I can share the love of Jesus.”
“I pray for Jill my co-worker. She’s as far away from you as anyone I know, but if you can save Saul of Tarsus you can save Jill.”

Don’t forget to pray big, bold, earth-shaking prayers, the ones that bring the most glory to God. Special teams, defense and offense make for a successful team, and they make for a great prayer life.