Jeremy Lin unexpectedly led a winning turnaround with the New York Knicks in 2012, which generated a global craze known as "Linsanity." (Photo: Instagram)
Former Brooklyn Net Jeremy Lin believes God has "called" him to Toronto – and he's praying for a "fresh wave of prayer and evangelism" in Canada as he begins his first season with the Toronto Raptors.
In a recent email sent to fans, the 30-year-old athlete revealed that in recent weeks, he's felt God "forcing" him to give up trying to control his own life
"I've always found it somewhat ironic and very difficult that as Christians, we are to simultaneously work with our full effort and surrender the results," he said. "Personally, the more I work at something, the more I invest into something, the more I strive for something, the more I want the result to be what I want it to be."
Lin, the first Taiwanese/American in the history of the NBA, pointed out that God is always asking His people to make Him their first priority – "not our lives, dreams, relationships or wealth."
"As God has slowly broken and humbled me to further surrender, I've begun to feel a deeper sense of joy and contentment in Christ, not contentment in circumstances," he continued. "This is a lesson I've learned many many times in my life but my stubborn self loves re-learning the same lesson."
The athlete said that the more he fails, the more God humbles him – and the more he's humbled, the more he surrenders.
"As I surrender more, I feel myself opening up more space in my heart and body for God to work through me," he said. "And no better verse sums up our surrender than 2 Corinthians 12:9 – 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."
Lin, who signed with the Raptors in February, went onto ask fans to pray for a few things, the first being a spiritual revival in Toronto and Canada.
"I feel God has called me to Toronto and I pray that God would start a fresh wave of prayer/evangelism in Toronto and even Canada," he said, adding he's praying for an "evangelism opportunity to someone in the Raptors organization."
"I've been praying about this and hope that I can invest in 1-2 people before the season ends," he said.
The athlete also asked fans to pray for "continued breakthrough" in his spiritual life.
"I've been wrestling with things like contentment, powerful intercessory prayer, accessing the Holy Spirit and finding the balance between self-confidence and surrender," he said.
Concluding his message, Lin asked for a "miracle end" to the basketball season: "Praying for a strong finish to our season, and for God to work a miracle in our team and myself during the playoffs!" he said.
Previously, Lin said he considers his "off-the-court job" to be figuring out how to use his platform to create the most impact-specifically in China because of the power of his "brand" there.
"There's many things that I'm able to do," he said on The Playbook, a podcast hosted by David Meltzer of Sports 1 Marketing. "We talk a lot about how to make it right, what vision, what brand, what path we want to take, and it's been enlightening…we spent a lot of it thinking about China and how we can help."
Lin added that his goal, ultimately, is to create, "legitimate change in people's lives."
