Game Day Devotional Week 8
Finish with Fruit
Colossians 1:3-12
Prayer of Thanksgiving
3 We always give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you. 4 For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all God's people. 5 When the true message, the Good News, first came to you, you heard about the hope it offers. So your faith and love are based on what you hope for, which is kept safe for you in heaven. 6 The gospel keeps bringing blessings and is spreading throughout the world, just as it has among you ever since the day you first heard about the grace of God and came to know it as it really is. 7 You learned of God's grace from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is Christ's faithful worker on our[a] behalf. 8 He has told us of the love that the Spirit has given you.
9 For this reason we have always prayed for you, ever since we heard about you. We ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will, with all the wisdom and understanding that his Spirit gives. 10 Then you will be able to live as the Lord wants and will always do what pleases him. Your lives will produce all kinds of good deeds, and you will grow in your knowledge of God. 11-12 May you be made strong with all the strength which comes from his glorious power, so that you may be able to endure everything with patience. And with joy give thanks to[b] the Father, who has made you fit to have your share of what God has reserved for his people in the kingdom of light.
Dear ,
The final three weeks are different. The season is no longer ahead of you. The playoff picture is clear or it isn’t, bodies are worn down, and every game carries weight. This is where the grind turns into either a finish or a fade.
Paul wrote to a church that was still in the fight, and he started with thanks and prayer, not pressure.
1. Look back at the fruit.
The gospel “has been bearing fruit and growing” (v. 6). By now you’ve seen months of it: a player who changed, a team that learned to trust each other, a staff that stayed together. Name it. You can’t finish well if you only see what’s left to win.
2. Pray with urgency.
“We have not stopped praying for you” (v. 9). The last three weeks are when your players need it most: seniors facing their final games, underclassmen carrying the program next year. Ask God to fill them with wisdom and understanding, not just a good result.
3. Ask for strength you don’t have.
Paul prays for “great endurance and patience, with joy” (v. 11). Endurance is what finishing requires. Paul asks for it to come from God’s glorious might, not your own willpower. When the tank is low in November, you need a different source.
4. Give thanks before it ends.
Paul keeps thanking God throughout the passage (vv. 3, 12). Don’t wait for the final whistle to be grateful. Thank your staff, your players, and their families while there are still Fridays left.
Finish Strong
- Week 1: Write down what God has grown in your team this season, and tell your staff.
- Week 2: Pray Colossians 1:9-11 over each senior by name.
- Week 3: Tell every senior what you saw in them, whatever the scoreboard says.
Prayer
