So the Seahawks get a prayer service in a Cathedral and the promises of prayers at a suburban jumbo-tron charismatic church. Read All About It! All the the Steelers get is an 82-year nun with rosary beads and a terrible towel. Read All About It!

And at Park Church, I’m expecting a sea of black and gold on Sunday morning. It’s fun. It’s part of our life. No need to keep any part of our lives out of the church. God knows it all. God wants to be lord of it all.

So should we pray for the Steelers? Should they pray for the Seahawks? Matt Hasselbeck and Shaun Alexander are among the big name Christians on the Seahawks. Ben Roethlisberger, Troy Polamalu and Antwaan Randle El are among those on the Steelers who are open about their Christian faith. The Baptist Press is keeping track for us. Read all about the Seahawks and the Steelers. Does one team deserve to win more than the other?

How much prayer should a Super Bowl get? Probably not much. In his letter to the Jewish Christians, James encourages and admonishes he readers that they might be more faithful and mature in their discipleship. “You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” (James 4:3) Jesus made great promises about asking in his name. John 14:13-14. But that is not carte blanche for whatever we want. Prayer in Jesus’ name is always under Jesus’ Lordship.

Commenting on the Lord’s Prayer, John Calvin says that to pray for more than our daily bread — and all that means - is to mock God. Sorry, I can’t count a Steelers victory on Sunday as part of our daily bread.

So, I will put on my Steelers sweatshirt, get out the terrible towel, and root for the good guys, but I’m not going the pray for a victory. I’ll have to leave that to Sister Mary Ann.

How about you? You praying for “one for the thumb?”