Jeremy Lin is learning a lot about prayer from his digital prayer challenge.

The Toronto Raptors guard issued a digital prayer challenge to email subscribers recently, encouraging them to pray during the NBA playoffs for as long as his team is in the running. Now, the NBA player is sharing some insight about prayer.

“The one thing I’ve been reminded of recently is that prayer is more for us than for God. God’s all-powerful and doesn’t ‘need’ our prayers, but He really appreciates when we pray,” Lin shared in an email this week. “Often times after I pray, I feel like I’ve done God and others a favor by praying, but in reality, prayer probably affects us the most because it acknowledges that He is God and we are not, it brings necessary humble surrender into our lives and it simply brings intimacy in our relationship with God. For real that’s a trip if you really think about it — we can communicate with the creator of this universe whenever we want!”

Lin believes that prayer is a vital part of having a loving relationship with God.

“At the end of the day, God wants loving relationship and prayer fosters that,” he said. “Reminding myself that prayer is for me and not for God has given me a different perspective.”

Even when a prayer doesn’t immediately get answered in the way that people expect, the basketball player reminded people that God may be speaking in different ways.

“Perhaps [anonymous person] said it best when they sent in this response to the prayer letter: ‘I don’t have a specific answer to my prayers, but I have noticed God answering me in a different way I expected; He’s promoting change in me,” he said. “And maybe that’s the greater miracle in praying, God might not only shift our circumstances, but also shift ourselves, our perspective, and our heart.'”

He went on to add, “hope that encourages you and I to continue being faithful in prayer.”

 

(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)