Ben and I were watching the Spurs game last Monday night when I was alerted on Twitter to an emergency taking place at the Monday Night Football game. I immediately switched channels to hear of the horrific injury to Damar Hamlin, a Buffalo Bills player. As Ben and I realized the seriousness of the injury, we took a moment and prayed for Damar’s healing. We knew many others across the country were doing the same.
It didn’t take long to realize that nothing quite like this had happened in professional football. No one knew what to do. Playing football didn’t seem to matter. This was a matter of life and death. Thankfully, the game was suspended, while the ESPN broadcasters did their best to talk through the situation. They responded with such care and compassion.
Over and over that night we heard about the importance of thoughts and prayers. I loved when Dan Orlovsky, NFL analyst, and former player, said this “I heard the Buffalo Bills organization say that we believe in prayer. And maybe this is not the right thing to do, but it’s just on my heart and I want to pray for Damar Hamlin right now. I’m going to do it out loud, I’m going to close my eyes and bow my head, and I’m just going to pray for him.”
This was Orlovsky’s prayer: "God we come to you in these moments that we don’t understand, that is hard because we believe that You’re God, and coming to you and praying to You has an impact. We’re sad. We’re angry. We want answers, but some things are unanswerable. We just want to pray, truly come to You, and pray for strength for Damar, for healing for Damar, for comfort for Damar. Be with his family to give them peace. If we didn’t believe that prayer didn’t work, we wouldn’t ask this of you, God. I believe in prayer. We believe in prayer. We lift up Damar Hamlin’s name in your name. Amen."
I saw Orlovsky pray on national television and it drew me to tears. I have watched it since then and I still cry. I sense that Damar’s injury brought together a ton of people from all over the country and unified us around healing and prayer on Damar’s behalf. We saw every NFL team tweet out “Pray for Damar #3”. We saw the Buffalo Bills kneel in a circle on the field in prayer. We saw people just gathering and praying in the stands. It was a beautiful and perfect response.
As of this past weekend, Damar is in critical condition but continues to make progress in his recovery. He addressed his team via Facetime with the breathing tube out! I believe that God is answering our prayers and using the amazing medical staff along the way. Why should we be surprised? God is able to do anything!
Maybe it’s time to go from ‘thoughts and prayers’ to praying! Maybe, it’s time for us to realize that God invites us, encourages us, and wants us to talk to Him! Do we believe that God can do anything? (James 1:5) Do we pray with persistence, not giving up? (Luke 18:1) God longs for a relationship with us through His Son, Jesus Christ. He welcomes our prayers!
This past week, we learned that life can change in the blink of an eye. Life is a precious gift. None of us are promised tomorrow. We saw the beauty of a country united in prayer. We came together to pray for someday we didn’t even know! And God is answering our prayers. To God be the glory!
Over and over that night we heard about the importance of thoughts and prayers. I loved when Dan Orlovsky, NFL analyst, and former player, said this “I heard the Buffalo Bills organization say that we believe in prayer. And maybe this is not the right thing to do, but it’s just on my heart and I want to pray for Damar Hamlin right now. I’m going to do it out loud, I’m going to close my eyes and bow my head, and I’m just going to pray for him.”
This was Orlovsky’s prayer: "God we come to you in these moments that we don’t understand, that is hard because we believe that You’re God, and coming to you and praying to You has an impact. We’re sad. We’re angry. We want answers, but some things are unanswerable. We just want to pray, truly come to You, and pray for strength for Damar, for healing for Damar, for comfort for Damar. Be with his family to give them peace. If we didn’t believe that prayer didn’t work, we wouldn’t ask this of you, God. I believe in prayer. We believe in prayer. We lift up Damar Hamlin’s name in your name. Amen."
I saw Orlovsky pray on national television and it drew me to tears. I have watched it since then and I still cry. I sense that Damar’s injury brought together a ton of people from all over the country and unified us around healing and prayer on Damar’s behalf. We saw every NFL team tweet out “Pray for Damar #3”. We saw the Buffalo Bills kneel in a circle on the field in prayer. We saw people just gathering and praying in the stands. It was a beautiful and perfect response.
As of this past weekend, Damar is in critical condition but continues to make progress in his recovery. He addressed his team via Facetime with the breathing tube out! I believe that God is answering our prayers and using the amazing medical staff along the way. Why should we be surprised? God is able to do anything!
Maybe it’s time to go from ‘thoughts and prayers’ to praying! Maybe, it’s time for us to realize that God invites us, encourages us, and wants us to talk to Him! Do we believe that God can do anything? (James 1:5) Do we pray with persistence, not giving up? (Luke 18:1) God longs for a relationship with us through His Son, Jesus Christ. He welcomes our prayers!
This past week, we learned that life can change in the blink of an eye. Life is a precious gift. None of us are promised tomorrow. We saw the beauty of a country united in prayer. We came together to pray for someday we didn’t even know! And God is answering our prayers. To God be the glory!
What about you? How does Damar’s crises challenge you in your relationship with God? What might it look like to believe that God can do anything? What if you took prayer seriously? How might things change?
Will you believe that God can do anything? He can. Take a listen! https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Nancy Abbott is the Chaplain for the YMCA of Greater San Antonio.
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