THE PRAYER WEY WE DEY DO

[deanotito]

As you know, our boys pray before, in the middle of, and after games. Since, we haven’t won any world cup yet, I would say the results of our prayers are urr…mixed.

I was just watching the US Women’s National Team play England (1st half), and noticed that the USWNT ran off the pitch after the first half (and they were leading 2-1). It got me thinking….are we wasting precious instructional time at half time by standing on the field to pray, and then gingerly walking to the locker room. My sense is that the USWNT has a 5-minute advantage over us at half time.

In our defense, England walked off gingerly (though they didn’t pray), but having lived in America for so long, I know they science-hack the crap out of everything…and I am sure they run off the field because they believe it gives them an advantage.

If the assumption is that coach’s instruction at half time is useful, then I would have to say we’re wasting time with our approach to the break.

I'm a christian and believe in praying, but I don't understand the purpose of praying 3 times in 90 minutes

[Robbynice]

Prayers are not for win and loses alone. I want to believe they are praying for protection among other things. They could also be gathering together especially at half or even after the game to give thanks to God. You know in everything as human being we have to give thanks. Getting on the field and coming after 90 minutes to play another day is not a joke. It cannot can should not be taken for granted.

[deanotito]

Prayers are not for win and loses alone. I want to believe they are praying for protection among other things. They could also be gathering together especially at half or even after the game to give thanks to God. You know in everything as human being we have to give thanks. Getting on the field and coming after 90 minutes to play another day is not a joke. It cannot can should not be taken for granted.

I know the reasons for the prayers could be diverse....but praying 3 times in one game? Is there anything wrong with thanking God after the game don finish?

Don't want to get into too much theology on this as I don't want to get distracted, but praying 3 times is based on a certain view of God I'm not sure is accurate.

Given competing demands, is there a better use of time? If coach's instruction is valuable, then I gotta say we dey waste time

[Bigpokey24]

Prayers are not for win and loses alone. I want to believe they are praying for protection among other things. They could also be gathering together especially at half or even after the game to give thanks to God. You know in everything as human being we have to give thanks. Getting on the field and coming after 90 minutes to play another day is not a joke. It cannot can should not be taken for granted.

I know the reasons for the prayers could be diverse....but praying 3 times in one game? Is there anything wrong with thanking God after the game don finish?

Don't want to get into too much theology on this as I don't want to get distracted, but praying 3 times is based on a certain view of God I'm not sure is accurate.

Given competing demands, is there a better use of time? If coach's instruction is valuable, then I gotta say we dey waste time

why does this bother you? We've won 3 Afcons, 1 olympic gold, 5 u17s 1 million women AFCONS this way..so your advantage or science are out the door..everybody gets 15 mins HT break

[deanotito]

Prayers are not for win and loses alone. I want to believe they are praying for protection among other things. They could also be gathering together especially at half or even after the game to give thanks to God. You know in everything as human being we have to give thanks. Getting on the field and coming after 90 minutes to play another day is not a joke. It cannot can should not be taken for granted.

I know the reasons for the prayers could be diverse....but praying 3 times in one game? Is there anything wrong with thanking God after the game don finish?

Don't want to get into too much theology on this as I don't want to get distracted, but praying 3 times is based on a certain view of God I'm not sure is accurate.

Given competing demands, is there a better use of time? If coach's instruction is valuable, then I gotta say we dey waste time

why does this bother you? We've won 3 Afcons, 1 olympic gold, 5 u17s 1 million women AFCONS this way..so your advantage or science are out the door..everybody gets 15 mins HT break

Bother me? What bothers me? Abeg re-read. This is about optimizing our time.

[EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA]

As you know, our boys pray before, in the middle of, and after games. Since, we haven’t won any world cup yet, I would say the results of our prayers are urr…mixed.

I was just watching the US Women’s National Team play England (1st half), and noticed that the USWNT ran off the pitch after the first half (and they were leading 2-1). It got me thinking….are we wasting precious instructional time at half time by standing on the field to pray, and then gingerly walking to the locker room. My sense is that the USWNT has a 5-minute advantage over us at half time.

In our defense, England walked off gingerly (though they didn’t pray), but having lived in America for so long, I know they science-hack the crap out of everything…and I am sure they run off the field because they believe it gives them an advantage.

If the assumption is that coach’s instruction at half time is useful, then I would have to say we’re wasting time with our approach to the break.

You need prayers.

I'm a christian and believe in praying, but I don't understand the purpose of praying 3 times in 90 minutes

[Robbynice]

Prayers are not for win and loses alone. I want to believe they are praying for protection among other things. They could also be gathering together especially at half or even after the game to give thanks to God. You know in everything as human being we have to give thanks. Getting on the field and coming after 90 minutes to play another day is not a joke. It cannot can should not be taken for granted.

I know the reasons for the prayers could be diverse....but praying 3 times in one game? Is there anything wrong with thanking God after the game don finish?

Don't want to get into too much theology on this as I don't want to get distracted, but praying 3 times is based on a certain view of God I'm not sure is accurate.

Given competing demands, is there a better use of time? If coach's instruction is valuable, then I gotta say we dey waste time

When they come together to prayer after the game, it could just be a prayer of thanksgiving. I am sure you know how that works.

[deanotito]

Prayers are not for win and loses alone. I want to believe they are praying for protection among other things. They could also be gathering together especially at half or even after the game to give thanks to God. You know in everything as human being we have to give thanks. Getting on the field and coming after 90 minutes to play another day is not a joke. It cannot can should not be taken for granted.

I know the reasons for the prayers could be diverse....but praying 3 times in one game? Is there anything wrong with thanking God after the game don finish?

Don't want to get into too much theology on this as I don't want to get distracted, but praying 3 times is based on a certain view of God I'm not sure is accurate.

Given competing demands, is there a better use of time? If coach's instruction is valuable, then I gotta say we dey waste time

When they come together to prayer after the game, it could just be a prayer of thanksgiving. I am sure you know how that works.

I get it....

Before game: Pray we win, and hope we dont injure
Half Time: Thanks for the half, pray we win and hope we don't injure
After game: Thanks for the game, thanks that we no injure


I am suggesting:

Before game: Pray we win, and hope we don't injure
After game: Thanks for the game, thanks that we no injure

And let's not forget...this is Nigeria. They've been praying before and after each training session plus at least one prayer meeting/day. I no wan enter theology, as I talk before, but I'm not so sure that half time prayer na best use of time

[jette1]

Prayers are not for win and loses alone. I want to believe they are praying for protection among other things. They could also be gathering together especially at half or even after the game to give thanks to God. You know in everything as human being we have to give thanks. Getting on the field and coming after 90 minutes to play another day is not a joke. It cannot can should not be taken for granted.

I know the reasons for the prayers could be diverse....but praying 3 times in one game? Is there anything wrong with thanking God after the game don finish?

Don't want to get into too much theology on this as I don't want to get distracted, but praying 3 times is based on a certain view of God I'm not sure is accurate.

Given competing demands, is there a better use of time? If coach's instruction is valuable, then I gotta say we dey waste time

When they come together to prayer after the game, it could just be a prayer of thanksgiving. I am sure you know how that works.

I get it....

Before game: Pray we win, and hope we dont injure
Half Time: Thanks for the half, pray we win and hope we don't injure
After game: Thanks for the game, thanks that we no injure


I am suggesting:

Before game: Pray we win, and hope we don't injure
After game: Thanks for the game, thanks that we no injure

And let's not forget...this is Nigeria. They've been praying before and after each training session plus at least one prayer meeting/day. I no wan enter theology, as I talk before, but I'm not so sure that half time prayer na best use of time

I totally get your point; assuming that those 3 gatherings we see on the field are actually prayer sessions then its high time your question gets asked. So God in all his might didn't see us camping one month ago in free-eking hot Ismaila Egypt ? oh may be he thought we were there just for vacation right ? didn't he also see us 2 goals down ? that we have to remind him every 45 minutes that we need his intercession.
Having said that, the players get together in circle not for prayers but to display cohesion and togetherness. It's been our tradition and our opponents whom haven't inherited such tradition actually look outdone, disemboweled and intrigued when they see us do that especially if we are winning. our youth teams did this masterfully and used it against opponents.
Now that we are not winning of course everything is going to be critically viewed and I get it. And don't think that the locker room is the only place where strategies get planned. Players use those gatherings to reinforce instructions for themselves as well and make quick remarks about some field immediacies, encounters, clarifications and mistakes that might need to be plugged or even to criticize or praise one another away from the coach's hearing for job well done. This is tactfully the players only time together as a battle unit to talk to each other about the battle and during the battle independent of the coaching team

[waka-man]

Lots of teams have rituals. Think of this purely as a ritual that aims to build togetherness, not a functional thing. Kinda like singing songs and dancing. It’s an African thing. If the Americans or the Brits did it, I’d worry.

[deanotito]

Prayers are not for win and loses alone. I want to believe they are praying for protection among other things. They could also be gathering together especially at half or even after the game to give thanks to God. You know in everything as human being we have to give thanks. Getting on the field and coming after 90 minutes to play another day is not a joke. It cannot can should not be taken for granted.

I know the reasons for the prayers could be diverse....but praying 3 times in one game? Is there anything wrong with thanking God after the game don finish?

Don't want to get into too much theology on this as I don't want to get distracted, but praying 3 times is based on a certain view of God I'm not sure is accurate.

Given competing demands, is there a better use of time? If coach's instruction is valuable, then I gotta say we dey waste time

When they come together to prayer after the game, it could just be a prayer of thanksgiving. I am sure you know how that works.

I get it....

Before game: Pray we win, and hope we dont injure
Half Time: Thanks for the half, pray we win and hope we don't injure
After game: Thanks for the game, thanks that we no injure


I am suggesting:

Before game: Pray we win, and hope we don't injure
After game: Thanks for the game, thanks that we no injure

And let's not forget...this is Nigeria. They've been praying before and after each training session plus at least one prayer meeting/day. I no wan enter theology, as I talk before, but I'm not so sure that half time prayer na best use of time

I totally get your point; assuming that those 3 gatherings we see on the field are actually prayer sessions then its high time your question gets asked. So God in all his might didn't see us camping one month ago in free-eking hot Ismaila Egypt ? oh may be he thought we were there just for vacation right ? didn't he also see us 2 goals down ? that we have to remind him every 45 minutes that we need his intercession.
Having said that, the players get together in circle not for prayers but to display cohesion and togetherness. It's been our tradition and our opponents whom haven't inherited such tradition actually look outdone, disemboweled and intrigued when they see us do that especially if we are winning. our youth teams did this masterfully and used it against opponents.
Now that we are not winning of course everything is going to be critically viewed and I get it. And don't think that the locker room is the only place where strategies get planned. Players use those gatherings to reinforce instructions for themselves as well and make quick remarks about some field immediacies, encounters, clarifications and mistakes that might need to be plugged or even to criticize or praise one another away from the coach's hearing for job well done. This is tactfully the players only time together as a battle unit to talk to each other about the battle and during the battle independent of the coaching team

Bros, na prayer o. Seen it too many times. Na pure prayer

[deanotito]

Lots of teams have rituals. Think of this purely as a ritual that aims to build togetherness, not a functional thing. Kinda like singing songs and dancing. It’s an African thing. If the Americans or the Brits did it, I’d worry.

I agree it’s a ritual, and though I’m not calling a full scale scrapping of the ritual (which is something that’s important to sports stars), I think we can adjust around the edges.

[Robbynice]

Lots of teams have rituals. Think of this purely as a ritual that aims to build togetherness, not a functional thing. Kinda like singing songs and dancing. It’s an African thing. If the Americans or the Brits did it, I’d worry.

I agree it’s a ritual, and though I’m not calling a full scale scrapping of the ritual (which is something that’s important to sports stars), I think we can adjust around the edges.

Baba I think you are reaching and dwelling on something that is not relevant. Let the team do whatever they want to do to get them going. It is a team thing and it is all part of team bonding things.

[Enugu II]

I do think that this an important issue and deserves discussion. I would add that I also wonder what type of prayer is said, considering that people worship different religions, one would suppose. At least, there is Christianity and Islam, for sure. But what happens when we have a player that worships one of our traditional/indigenous religions?

[Odas]

Prayers are not for win and loses alone. I want to believe they are praying for protection among other things. They could also be gathering together especially at half or even after the game to give thanks to God. You know in everything as human being we have to give thanks. Getting on the field and coming after 90 minutes to play another day is not a joke. It cannot can should not be taken for granted.

I know the reasons for the prayers could be diverse....but praying 3 times in one game? Is there anything wrong with thanking God after the game don finish?

Don't want to get into too much theology on this as I don't want to get distracted, but praying 3 times is based on a certain view of God I'm not sure is accurate.

Given competing demands, is there a better use of time? If coach's instruction is valuable, then I gotta say we dey waste time

I agree our people over-pray. Not only the person (people) who pray like we do is most blessed. I think we have done the prayer (thing) to the point of embarrassment in many cases

[01bakana]

I do think that this an important issue and deserves discussion. I would add that I also wonder what type of prayer is said, considering that people worship different religions, one would suppose. At least, there is Christianity and Islam, for sure. But what happens when we have a player that worships one of our traditional/indigenous religions?

talk about throwing the cat amongst the pigeons oya discuss

[Odas]

I do think that this an important issue and deserves discussion. I would add that I also wonder what type of prayer is said, considering that people worship different religions, one would suppose. At least, there is Christianity and Islam, for sure. But what happens when we have a player that worships one of our traditional/indigenous religions?

talk about throwing the cat amongst the pigeons oya discuss

Stop the prayers, especially on the pitch. It adds nothing and is very embarassing. God loves you, but so does He love your opponent. Pray all you want, but if a team doesn't come prepared, it will lose. They say 'Heaven help those who helps themselves.'

[deanotito]

Lots of teams have rituals. Think of this purely as a ritual that aims to build togetherness, not a functional thing. Kinda like singing songs and dancing. It’s an African thing. If the Americans or the Brits did it, I’d worry.

I agree it’s a ritual, and though I’m not calling a full scale scrapping of the ritual (which is something that’s important to sports stars), I think we can adjust around the edges.

Baba I think you are reaching and dwelling on something that is not relevant. Let the team do whatever they want to do to get them going. It is a team thing and it is all part of team bonding things.

I don't understand how you would think so....especially since you've been on this thread since the beginning. Sports stars have rituals...its part of the deal. But every once in a while, you can make a better choice and adjust your ritual. And I am also going on the assumption that the coach's instructions at half time are probably, logically speaking, the most valuable thing they can partake of. If that's the case, they should be maximizing that time. And I believe that given all the prayer meeting and bonding opps they've had before and after the game, they probably lose nothing valuable by not praying at half time.

[deanotito]

I do think that this an important issue and deserves discussion. I would add that I also wonder what type of prayer is said, considering that people worship different religions, one would suppose. At least, there is Christianity and Islam, for sure. But what happens when we have a player that worships one of our traditional/indigenous religions?

Like I said in the beginning, I don't want to get into much theology on this one, but I've always wondered about this. I am a Christian, and I for one dont subscribe to the 'we are all worshipping the same God' mantra people use to make other faiths feel comfortable. I don't believe it, so I don't know how you can mix religions together, pick one prayer leader, and assume we are all praying together. While they may have developed many adjustments to account for this, it just goes to the point of whether this particular ritual is really necessary, given other competing demands for time.

I looked at the USWNT run off the pitch at half time, and I thought to myself...those girls are breaking a soccer tradition for a reason. I admire that. And knowing America as I know it, its for a good reason.

[Enugu II]

I do think that this an important issue and deserves discussion. I would add that I also wonder what type of prayer is said, considering that people worship different religions, one would suppose. At least, there is Christianity and Islam, for sure. But what happens when we have a player that worships one of our traditional/indigenous religions?

Like I said in the beginning, I don't want to get into much theology on this one, but I've always wondered about this. I am a Christian, and I for one dont subscribe to the 'we are all worshipping the same God' mantra people use to make other faiths feel comfortable. I don't believe it, so I don't know how you can mix religions together, pick one prayer leader, and assume we are all praying together. While they may have developed many adjustments to account for this, it just goes to the point of whether this particular ritual is really necessary, given other competing demands for time.

I looked at the USWNT run off the pitch at half time, and I thought to myself...those girls are breaking a soccer tradition for a reason. I admire that. And knowing America as I know it, its for a good reason.

Deanotito,

I understand your point but the time you think that would be saved, is it needed for the half time talk? How long is a good half time talk? These are all questions pertinent to the point that you have raised.

On the issue of different religions, I would want to know because the prayer issue is a bit confounding for me. If I was Moslem, why would I want to be there using Christian prayers? Or if I practice indigenous religion, why would I? Thus, the question really is whether these prayers actually unite a team diverse in religious beliefs?

Or just maybe, they stay in the circle and someone orders a minute or two silence during which each person says their own prayer however they choose to do it.

[Schillachi]

I do think that this an important issue and deserves discussion. I would add that I also wonder what type of prayer is said, considering that people worship different religions, one would suppose. At least, there is Christianity and Islam, for sure. But what happens when we have a player that worships one of our traditional/indigenous religions?

Like I said in the beginning, I don't want to get into much theology on this one, but I've always wondered about this. I am a Christian, and I for one dont subscribe to the 'we are all worshipping the same God' mantra people use to make other faiths feel comfortable. I don't believe it, so I don't know how you can mix religions together, pick one prayer leader, and assume we are all praying together. While they may have developed many adjustments to account for this, it just goes to the point of whether this particular ritual is really necessary, given other competing demands for time.

I looked at the USWNT run off the pitch at half time, and I thought to myself...those girls are breaking a soccer tradition for a reason. I admire that. And knowing America as I know it, its for a good reason.

Deanotito,

I understand your point but the time you think that would be saved, is it needed for the half time talk? How long is a good half time talk? These are all questions pertinent to the point that you have raised.

On the issue of different religions, I would want to know because the prayer issue is a bit confounding for me. If I was Moslem, why would I want to be there using Christian prayers? Or if I practice indigenous religion, why would I? Thus, the question really is whether these prayers actually unite a team diverse in religious beliefs?

Or just maybe, they stay in the circle and someone orders a minute or two silence during which each person says their own prayer however they choose to do it.

Maybe they say a religion-neutral prayer. I do remember seeing a clip with Ahmed Musa singing praise and worship though

[Rawlings]

We shall overcome

[oloye]

As you know, our boys pray before, in the middle of, and after games. Since, we haven’t won any world cup yet, I would say the results of our prayers are urr…mixed.

I was just watching the US Women’s National Team play England (1st half), and noticed that the USWNT ran off the pitch after the first half (and they were leading 2-1). It got me thinking….are we wasting precious instructional time at half time by standing on the field to pray, and then gingerly walking to the locker room. My sense is that the USWNT has a 5-minute advantage over us at half time.

In our defense, England walked off gingerly (though they didn’t pray), but having lived in America for so long, I know they science-hack the crap out of everything…and I am sure they run off the field because they believe it gives them an advantage.

If the assumption is that coach’s instruction at half time is useful, then I would have to say we’re wasting time with our approach to the break.

I'm a christian and believe in praying, but I don't understand the purpose of praying 3 times in 90 minutes

I guess you pray only to win