Last year, BYU-Pathway Worldwide student Faith Kisakye gave the opening prayer before BYU’s game against Kansas State — and she did it all the way from Uganda.
Kisakye discussed the experience with former BYU offensive lineman Conner Pay as a recent guest on “Two Point Conversion,” the podcast Pay hosts with BYU receiver Chase Roberts, though Roberts was unable to join the episode.
Pay remembered Kisakye’s prayer, he told her.
“As a player, we usually go to the locker room during the prayer and national anthem segment, but when the team heard that Faith was the one giving the prayer, everyone was standing at the locker room door trying to listen out so we could hear Faith give her prayer. It was really special,” Pay said.
The opportunity for the prayer came about when Kisakye asked Matthew Downs, a BYU-Pathway missionary and chair of the career advisory board, if she could pray before a BYU game, as the Deseret News previously reported.
“So I said, if Heavenly Father can give me an opportunity to give that prayer openly to my Heavenly Father, we will win and Heavenly Father’s name will be glorified at the end of the day,” Kisakye told Pay.
When she found out she’d be praying before the Kansas State game, Kisakye knelt in a corner of her bedroom, which she calls her “sanctuary,” and prayed for “Heavenly Father to guide me through.”
“I went to kneel down to my Heavenly Father, asked him for the Holy Spirit to guide me through, asked for the words from my Heavenly Father so that when I talk, when I pray, it’s not only for the game, but even for the souls that would be delivered,” she said.
Kisakye prayed “for the souls that would be delivered” because she did not have the opportunity to serve a full-time mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She was already a mother when she was baptized.
“But inside me is this burning spirit that keeps on telling me to say something for the sake of the delivering of souls,” she said.
In her opening prayer, Kisakye said the following:
“Our dear Father in Heaven, who oversees all his creations. We thank you for our Savior, Jesus Christ. Oh Lord, we pray for our friends from Kansas State, that they may feel welcome and enjoy the game. I pray for all BYU fans around the world. May we remember that Jesus Christ is our central focus.
“I pray for the students of BYU, that they may know you know their name. We are grateful for the gathering of Israel that unites us around the world as one body in Christ. We pray for our team. We pray that you cleanse them from negative energy so their performance will be their best. We praise thee with all our heart, and we say this prayer in the sacred name of our Savior and Redeemer, even Jesus Christ. Amen.”
Pay told her, “Even though you didn’t get to serve a full-time mission, that stadium holds almost 70,000 people and so you got to minister personally through your prayer to almost 70,000 people. It was amazing.”
The former offensive lineman also credited Kisakye’s prayer for BYU’s 38-9 victory.
“They were projected to beat us, but I’d say because of your prayer, because of your faith, we beat them badly,” he said.
Following her prayer, Kisakye witnessed miracles occur in her life. Kisakye comes from a family who “loves Jesus Christ with passion,” but they would not join the Church of Jesus Christ like she did.
Ahead of giving the opening prayer, Kisakye sent the link to all of her family on WhatsApp.
“When I gave this opening prayer, I shared in the link to them, missionaries started coming to their homes. Baptisms started coming in,” she said.
The blessings for Kisakye didn’t stop there.
“Before it wasn’t easy for me to get the names of my ancestors so that I can bring them to the temple so that they can get baptized — baptism for the dead. After that prayer, the clan leader called me very fast to give me the names freely plus their dates of birth, plus their marriage life and everything. I’m still compiling the book up to now. It is a very huge book of ancestors that range way back from 1831. I have a lot to say when it comes to that opening prayer. The testimonies are just so huge," Kisakye said.
Kisakye isn’t even able to visit a temple. There isn’t a temple in Uganda — the construction of the country’s first, the Kampala Uganda Temple, was announced in October 2024 — and Kisakye didn’t have a passport until recently to visit one in a nearby country. Yet, she still has prioritized her family history.
“I think we know why you were given the name ‘Faith.’ Your faith is contagious, and I can feel it in everything you say,” Pay said.
Like the Saints in Nauvoo, Kisakye and her family were driven from their own lands where their ancestors had lived, she said. Through it all, they had one thought: “Trust in Jesus Christ for his timing because he knows what we are going through, and he is the only person who has the answer.”
“Your faith is inspiring me. I need to be more like you. I need to be better and have more faith,” Pay said.
Kisakye has learned to see blessings from God, even the smallest ones, by being calm, composed and focused, she said. She considers Jesus Christ to be her “silent companion” and “silent partner.”
“That one is enough, enough blessings because if Jesus Christ is in the boat, it will not sink,” she said. “If Jesus Christ is there with me and he holds my hand — I’m visualizing Jesus Christ holding my hand like this, leading me through all the trials and tribulations — that blessing of holding my hand, that companionship is enough blessing. It even doesn’t equate to money. Money, wealth and everything is nothing if you do not have Jesus Christ with you.”
She added, “The assurance that Jesus Christ knows me and that assurance that he will always be there to lead me through this journey of life. That blessing is more than a million dollars, more than the assets this world can give me.”
The full podcast episode can be viewed below.