Permission to Pray

Help me to understand something. Our culture wants to take God out of everything public. Teachers may not lead prayer in public schools, nor can they teach biblical creation. They are taking the words “under God” out of the national anthem. The term “Merry Christmas” has been replaced by the more generic “Happy Holidays”. The Ten Commandments have been removed from parks and courthouses. Announcers, news anchors and journalists of all sorts have to be careful. Any reference to God or praying in public is inappropriate because it might offend an unbeliever.

But then I am watching a Monday night NFL football game, as a young player drops to the ground after a typically violent tackle. It becomes immediately clear the injured player, Damar Hamlin, is in distress. Medical personnel are applying CPR as an ambulance quickly rolls on to the field. Players are stunned, some openly crying. Suddenly, coaches are gathering their entire team around them and very publicly lead them in prayer. Solemn announcers are saying the game is now meaningless, and their thoughts and prayers are with the young athlete. They’re urging viewers to pray as well.

One fan in the stands has written huge letters on a sign that states “Pray for Hamlin”. Does the network camera ignore the sign? Quite the contrary. There is a slow, poignant zoom into the message, followed by a dramatic fade to studio commentators, who also profess prayers for Hamlin. Suddenly, no one seems to be concerned about offending a non-believer.

What happened? What changed? How can public prayer be so inappropriate one moment, and then completely acceptable the next? Imagine the outrage if, just prior to kickoff, the play-by-play announcer would say “as we get ready for the game, I’m going to lead us all in a quick prayer”. Yet, when a player is critically injured, it’s suddenly okay to publicly solicit and endorse prayer for the victim.

The reality is God can’t, won’t, be left out. Only the will of the almighty and powerful Creator of the universe could help Damar Hamlin. Furthermore, deep down inside, every human being senses that truth. Some will try to deny it, to discredit it, but when the need is dire, we turn to prayer, to God. It’s instinctive, almost beyond our control. Those announcers weren’t trying to offend anyone. They weren’t consciously promoting Christianity. They were merely compelled to state that which has given comfort and hope to the species since the first human heart began to beat. To acknowledge that God, only God, is in control. That when we truly need help, it is not only acceptable to call upon His name, it is mandatory.

I have to believe you can’t have it both ways. You can’t claim God is offensive in one breath, then call upon Him when an emergency arises. Yes, by all means, pray for Damar Hamlin. But if it’s okay to do that publicly, and to encourage others to do the same, then it’s also okay for a teacher to lead a prayer in her classroom, for a Ten Commandments monument to adorn a courthouse, for a pledge to state that our country is “one nation, under God.”

You don’t need permission to pray. It’s already woven deeply into your DNA.