Paul Poulton comments on Wayne's admission that he believes in Jesus and prays before games.

Paul Poulton

Footballers get a lot of grief for their dubious antics on and off the field. But you wouldn't expect them to be ridiculed for good behaviour. Wayne Rooney recently said that he believed in God and prays often, and always before a game. He was previously told not to talk about it by a Football Association official, but has now broken his silence stating, "It is something I have always done. I pray at night. I believed in Jesus of course, did drawings of him at school and I said my prayers. I don't pray to help me score goals. I pray for the health of me and everyone on the pitch. I pray for my family and friends."

The outcry that some people have made because of Wayne's declaration is a little ungracious to say the least. Here's just one comment that was made, "Lovely to boast about your religion! When you've committed adultery, flash your cash on material excess and paid women for sex". And there were many more comments in a similar vein.

We've seen all this before of course, it's nothing new. In fact it goes back a long way. One day Jesus was talking to a crowd of people when some Pharisees brought along a woman who they claimed to have caught in the very act of adultery; they stood her before Jesus and the crowd. They probably looked eagerly at Jesus and then at the crowd waiting to see what would happen next. What did happen next surprised everyone. Jesus stooped down and started writing stuff with his finger in the dust. Now I could be wrong but it seems to me that the body language taking place in this scenario was palpable. Jesus was saying, "Ho hum, what am I to do with these self-righteous Pharisees; maybe if I duck down here a bit they will go away and stop asking me loaded questions." But they didn't go away, in fact they became more insistent; they wanted to execute the girl. "After all" they said, "doesn't the law say something about stoning adulterers?"

Now the thing about being nagged is that the person being nagged usually gives in and Jesus was no different. "Okay", he said, standing up, "Stone her, but let him who has no sin throw the first rock". Then he stooped down again and carried on writing in the dust, probably hoping they would go away this time, so he could carry on talking to the crowd and this time it worked. The woman stayed to listen, which was good because Jesus had a bit more to say to her.

I don't know if Wayne Rooney has played away from home since he has been married, (if you know what I'm saying,) but I do know that forgiveness and grace is such an important quality for us who live in the modern world and it's something that seems to be in short supply. We all mess up; we all do bad things at some point in our lives. Wayne has a marriage and a son, let's help him and encourage him in his steps forward. He recently said that he doesn't want to set a bad example to his young son and is making a conscious effort to try and stop silly things like shouting into the TV cameras on the football pitch.

Manchester United's doctors recently told Rooney of the potentially fatal situation he was in when Fulham striker Hugo Rodallega's studs sliced a six-inch gash down the inside of his right leg in a recent game. Wayne said, "It was a millimetre away from my artery...it could have been a lot worse than it was. Thank God."

It sounds like God is listening to Wayne's pre-game prayers.