So there was nothing to watch on TV last night, but instead of picking up a book or doing some work around the house, I settled on watching NASCAR.  I know it sounds odd that I would want to watch a bunch of guys make a bunch of left turns around a track that’s less than a mile long, but I just couldn’t pull away from it.  Maybe it was the excitement of the crashes in traffic or the fact that I would love to drive that fast on a track somewhere.  What I want to talk about here is what happened before they even started their engines.
I was immediately set back when the first thing I saw before the race began was a public prayer.  Seeing them pray before the race on national TV along with the fact that the popular Christian music station, K-Love, has a car now probably kept me engaged more than any other aspect.  Alice Rhee of MSNBC writes:

America’s No. 1 spectator sport, with 75 million fans coast to coast, is a growing community of faith. And the most prominent figures in the sport display their faith as proudly as they do their corporate logos.

If the number one spectator sport in America is not afraid to show faith in this way, then why are other sports in America not following suit?  We could get into a debate on what our country was founded on, but when it comes down to it, faith in Christ is intertwined with our nation.  I think sometimes we forget that and become complacent about the role of our faith in our nation.  We need to stop being afraid of offending people with our faith and just stand up and pray.  It’s not enough to watch our pastors and church leaders pray.  We all need to pray in every situation.  It took one evening with nothing else on TV to remind me of that.