Jeremy Lin’s Fan Appreciation Week and Prayer Requests: Humility In the Spotlight

Aug 18, 2015 01:49 PM EDT

Jeremy Lin has a pretty busy life, and the NBA season hasn't even begun.  After one year in the Lakers, Jeremy Lin has been contracted to the Charlotte Hornets for two years.  Some might consider it a step down from the days of "Linsanity", but to Jeremy Lin, it is a step in a spiritual journey.  Lin is a man of deep-rooted Christian faith, and he has many prayer requests during his Fan appreciation week. 

Jeremy Lin's Twitter feed reveals that he is having his 3rd Annual Fan appreciation week with a lot of activities going on social media.  For example, Sunday, August 16th was his #SuperheroSunday Instagram Photo Contest, and Monday, August 17th was the Facebook Meme Contest.  For today (Tuesday, August 18th) there is the Twitter Multiple Choice Quiz.  Wednesday, August 19th will be the Facebook Q/A, and then on Thursday, August 20th with an Instagram Video Contest.  The events will conclude on Friday, August 21st as the winners will be announced. 

In addition to playing basketball, Jeremy Lin does more.  Bleacher Report states that he acted as an eSport analyist for the 2015 International Dota 2 Championships.  For those who aren't aware, Dota 2 is a multiplayer online battle arena video game that Lin himself is a big fan of.  In fact, Lin states that the five-on-five nature of Dota 2 "leads to an atmosphere of teamwork not unlike that found on the hardwood". 

Considering that Lin is constantly in the spotlight, the fame and fortune is not his main focus.  He has revealed recently that "God has used all of these setbacks to slowly strip me of all my idols that compete for my attention. He has gradually peeled away my pride, my selfish ambition, and my self-centeredness. Only by removing my idols could God draw me closer to him. Isn't that real and true success?"

Jeremy's Christian faith also shows on his twitter page with a recent tweet on August 15th saying: "The most simple and beautiful truth: God's love is given, it doesn't need to be earned!!".  Underneath his Twitter handle of @JLin7 reads:  "to know Him is to want to know Him more". 

Going to Jeremy Lin's website reveals that he has come back from a tour in Asia, and he has listed his list of prayers. 

- Praise God for me landing in Charlotte!! I truly believe God specifically placed me in Charlotte, as he left one obvious door open and closed the rest. Initially, Charlotte wasn't even on my list of top destinations, but my journey has always had unexpected but divine turns and surprises.

- Prayer that I would build great chemistry with Coach Clifford and my teammates in Charlotte.

- Prayer that I wouldn't fall into a complacent or comfortable state spiritually during an offseason with less stress/pressure, but that I would greatly thirst and desire God's presence daily.

- Prayer for my little brother as he begins his journey as a professional basketball player in Taiwan. Please pray that no amount of success or failure will ever deter or distract him from wholeheartedly seeking God's heart.

- Prayer for my older brother as he begins his dental pediatrics residency, that he would transition smoothly and find great purpose in glorifying Christ through dentistry.

- I just feel very strongly about this, so I just want my last bullet point to be a praise to God for giving me an army of prayer warriors (you guys)!!