21 Short Prayers of Thanksgiving for Athletes

Sport can easily create an environment of entitlement in the heart of athletes. With so many people involved in the process of helping athletes train and compete, it can become easy for the recipient of that attention to take it for granted—and even expect it without appreciating the daily sacrifice of others.

To combat that, athletes need to train their hearts and minds to stretch and flex the muscle of gratitude. This requires consistent reminding of the people and things surrounding sport that enable us to experience it in all its glory—and directing that thanksgiving towards God.

So, what do we have to be thankful for in sport? Probably more than I listed below. But it’s a start.

Think of this as “Day 1” in the gym of gratitude.

Here are 21 short prayers worth offering up to God. Daily reflection on prayers like these help us grow our muscles of gratitude and more importantly, glorify God in the process.

1. God, thank you for designing us play and find enjoyment in competition. Thank you for the endorphins that get released when the whistle blows and for the ability to push our bodies further than they can normally go—and for the ability to enjoy it without guilt as an expression of your good creation.

2. Thank you for our bodies. Even with all of their limitations, they are still capable of engaging in competition with others who’ve trained themselves to do the same thing.

3. Thank you for strength coaches that understand the right amount of stress to put on our muscles to ensure their proper growth and attention for each of the specific sports we play. Their expertise helps us maximize our potential and keep us healthy in the process. 

4. God, thank you for the memories that last a lifetime and for brains that enable us to “press play” and remember those moments.

5. Thank you for not viewing us through the lens of wins and losses. Thank you that our identity in Jesus transcends our latest performance. 

6. Thank you for the fans who show up to cheer and encourage. Their presence elevates the excitement of gameday and their collective support creates a type of momentum that is hard to describe with words.

7. Thank you for the opportunity to set goals and challenge ourselves against those goals to become better than we were yesterday.

8. Thank you for the head coaches who help chart a path to a preferred future and create a team culture to help us get there. Thank you that they provide the daily physical training, mental training, and strategy that best positions us to reach our individual and team goals. 

9. God, thank you that failure is never final and can genuinely be used to change us both as athletes and as human beings created in your image.

10. Thank you for all of the assistant coaches, volunteer coaches, and support staff behind the scenes that largely go unnoticed. Much of what happens in practice and in competition is a result of their hard work and dedication.

11. Thank you for the character growth that can happen during a game: things like learning perseverance, being other-centered, embracing self-control, finding contentment, and respecting authorities around us.

12. God, thank you for our rivals and competitors. They bring out the best in us and push us to become something we would not become apart from them.

13. Thank you for those of us who had parents who supported our athletic dreams. They spent money, put miles on their vehicles, gave their time on weekends and weeknights to support us in our involvement in sport. 

14. Thank you for rules within each sport that provide structure and order. Thank you that in a small way, they reflect your desire for order and shalom. These boundaries, which can be hard to follow at times, help draw out what is acceptable and what is not and that allow us to play freely within them.

15. Thank you for the referees and officials who enforce those rules. They consistently get scorned and yelled at, yet keep coming back. Competition does not work without their presence.

16. God, thank you for new seasons and fresh starts, for the reality of the scoreboard and win/loss column being empty at the start of the year and bringing with them hope, optimism, and high expectations.

17. Thank you for teammates that we have the privilege of training with and competing with. Thank you for the sharpening effect they can have on us in sport—and outside of sport. Thank you for the lasting friendships that are forged with the people we sweat, celebrate, bleed, and cry with on our teams.

18. Thank you for the opportunity to experience the highs and lows of sport and the feeling of adrenaline that accompanies competition. Many people go through life yearning to feel this rush of excitement that we get to feel during every game and we don’t take it for granted.

19. God, thank you for athletic directors who raise money, make tough hiring decisions, invest in relationships, and build a culture that brings unity and direction for each of the teams under their leadership.

20. Thank you for trainers who sit with us in our darkest moments, listen to us, create a plan towards physical healing, and help execute that plan with excellence.

21. God thank you for…You. As great as sports can be, our experience with them continually shows us that there is a cap on the amount of joy and contentment that they can bring to our lives. Sport is a constant reminder that only You can satisfy. Thank you that we get the blessing of your presence while we engage in the gift you created in sport.