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So it was God's will that the Bears lost? That could explain the score

Posted October 25, 2009 11:00 pm

Rev. Greg Barrette presented a sermon called "How to Pray for the Chicago Bears" at Unity Northwest Church in Des Plaines on Sunday. George LeClaire | Staff Photographer

Does praying for a sports team improve its chances of winning?

Dozens of worshipers dressed in Bears' gear tested that theory at Unity Northwest Church in Des Plaines Sunday during a sermon on "How to pray for the Chicago Bears."

Minister Gregory Barrette instructed his congregation that the right way to pray for the Bears was to ask God to improve the team's performance, and not wish ill on the competition.

Either it didn't work or the Cincinnati Bengals had more people praying for them. The Bengals beat the Bears 45-10.

Suburban religious leaders disagree whether it is even acceptable to pray to God for something as trivial as a sports victory, though some concede they certainly ask the higher power to help individual players or for the team to perform at its best.

"The idea that God takes sides in a sports contest or any other contest (for) that matter is an absurd misuse of that power," Barrette said. "Praying that one person wins and another one loses is not prayer, it's voodoo."

Barrette said the first time he gave an invocation before a Miami Dolphins game, he jokingly ended his nonpartisan prayer with, "but don't forget, our guys are in the aqua and orange."

The comment unleashed roars of laughter from fans. But for several weeks afterward ministers kept one-upping each other with prayers advocating victory for "our team," he said.

Barrette said he realized then that was not what prayer was supposed to be about.

"The definition that I like the best for the will of God is the highest and best for all concerned," Barrette said. "If you understand that the role of prayer is not to change God's mind, but rather to change us, it's perfectly appropriate to use prayer to maximize your potential for doing good, even in a football game."

The Bears likely had believers from more than one religion praying for them Sunday.

Girish Patel of Schaumburg, secretary of the Swaminarayan Hindu Temple in Wheeling and a Bears fan, said while he personally has prayed for the team, leaders would never encourage it in temple.

Patel said group prayers are usually held for something more serious, like a natural disaster such as a hurricane, tornado, tsunami or earthquake.

In January, the temple began performing a special "global auspicious worship" because of the financial crisis, but sporting events are out of the question, Patel said.

"We will not pray for anybody," he said, not even if India were playing against Pakistan in the cricket World Cup.

"I think sometimes these people should work on their own rather than us praying for them," Patel said. "They are getting good money. We always wish that the local team wins. It's more like a hope than a prayer."

Clergymen of various faiths most commonly pray for the safety of both teams on a field and for players use their God-given talents and athletic abilities for the best outcome.

"But that's as far as we went," said the Rev. Jack Hurley, Hispanic ministries coordinator who leads worship out of St. Cecilia's Catholic Church in Mount Prospect. "You certainly can't impose your will on everyone. I can think of a 1,001 things to pray for before sports teams. I think I have better things to do, too, not just God."

But the idea that God doesn't care about the small stuff runs contrary to some beliefs.

"God pays attention to every little thing," said Ricardo Pena of Bolingbrook, a Latino American Muslim convert and a die-hard Chicago Cubs fan who last year led a prayer for the team at Wrigley Field. "There are verses in the Quran that basically explain that there isn't a leaf that falls from a tree that God isn't fully aware of it."

Yet, even some Muslim community leaders didn't appreciate Pena's effort to mobilize 100 Muslims to pray for the Cubs during the playoffs because they didn't fully understand why he was doing it, he said.

"The purpose was twofold: We genuinely did want the Cubs to win, and second was to hopefully provoke people to pray to God directly for their success and to forget about appeasing a goat or believing in superstitions, and giving credence to any other worldly things having some type of divine ability or power," Pena said.

The Cubs lost despite Pena's prayer with 25 other Muslims, and that's OK because "it just wasn't part of God's divine plan for whatever reasons in his wisdom," Pena said.

"We believe that sometimes God intervenes and sometimes he just lets things be," he said.

A Bears logo hangs in the Unity Northwest Church lobby in Des Plaines on Sunday. George LeClaire | Staff Photographer

Members of Unity Northwest Church in Des Plaines hold hands after the service on Sunday. Many in the congregation were wearing their Bears gear. George LeClaire | Staff Photographer

Prayer and sports Leaders of two faiths offer their thoughts on how to properly pray for your favorite sports team. An Islamic perspective Prayer or "dua" - the Arabic term for asking God for something - is recommended for everything even of a trivial nature such as scoring well in an exam or for having a successful job interview. It's OK to pray for a team to win as long as the sport is not prohibited by Islam. Never pray for harm to the opposing team's players as prayer should only be to ask for something good to happen. Prayers may not be answered right away or the in the manner that you desire. • Zaher Sahloul, chairman of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago and president of the Mosque Foundation of Bridgeview A Christian perspective Pray for maximizing your team's performance or players' potential or for the highest and best for all concerned. Never offer a partisan prayer. Give thanks and visualize light while praying. Pray for protection of your players as well as the opposing team. Reject the "us" versus "them" attitude. Never use prayer for yourself and against someone else. • Gregory Barrette, senior minister of Unity Northwest Church in Des Plaines