“Be Careful What You Pray For”

As I was looking through some emails, I found the following devotion about taking prayer seriously.  As I’m in the midst of preparing a Lenten message series on prayer, these words spoke especially loud to me.  I hope you are blessed by these words too.

Blessings, Chris

The smells of spaghetti, French bread, and corn on the cob filled the kitchen. It was Carol’s turn to say grace, “God, help us know when we have eaten enough and stop.” She stunned everyone at the table. How cruel does a person have to be to pray something like that? Some things shouldn’t be prayed. We know to avoid praying about things we have no intention of changing.

Hunger, for instance, is one of the subjects about which we’ve learned to be careful. If you pray too seriously for hungry people you’ll end up skipping meals and giving your money away. One church member I know makes a point of not having cash in his wallet on World Hunger Day. He understands that if you’re honest with yourself and God about hunger, then you have to give.

That’s why most of us are careful not to pray too seriously for the homeless. It’s awkward to pray for people who have no home when we have empty guestrooms. A pastor confessed, “If I don’t stop just talking about helping the poor and start doing something to help the poor I’m going to be embarrassed to meet God.” If you pray for poor people, then you have to help.

When our country is at war, we’re careful about how we pray. If you’re against a war, it’s hard to pray honestly about the sense of moral superiority that may take up residence in your heart. If you’re for a war, it’s hard to pray honestly about Jesus’s compassion for innocent children who are dying. If we pray too seriously, then God reminds us that there are people whose homes have been destroyed who need help. If we pray about it, we realize that there are things we could do that we haven’t done.

We avoid praying about things that we don’t want to change. It’s frightening to pray about our careers. Does the senior pre-law major want to pray about whether God would like for her to be a social worker? Does the successful businessperson want to ask God if a lower paying job might make more of a contribution to the world?

We’re careful about praying about the big questions. We know it would be dangerous to pray for orphans who need to be adopted. We’re careful about praying about small stuff. What if you’re going to a movie with some friends when a lonely person calls? If you pray about what you should do you might miss the movie.

We’re especially careful about praying for people we don’t like. Think of the person whose presence bothers you the most, who gets on your nerves and probably always will. When Jesus said “Pray for your enemies,” he was inviting us to the kind of prayer that will lead us to say something kind that we don’t want to say.

Most of the time we’re afraid to pray about what we could be and do. In so many ways, we choose a life given to comfort over a life given in prayer. It’s easier to live by the rules everyone follows and strive for the same version of the good life that everyone wants. We like what we have— including the vices we’ve gotten used to and the enemies we’ve carefully chosen. We don’t avoid praying because our prayers go unanswered. We’re afraid our prayers will be answered. We try not to see our potential, because we know far more of what we should be doing than we do. We’ve learned to pray, “God, make me a better person, but not so much better that I have to change the way I live.” Prayer is hard because we don’t want to start doing what God invites us to do or stop doing what we’ve gotten used to doing.

King David went a long time without really praying. One afternoon a look turned into lust, and David didn’t pray about it. The lust turned into manipulation, and David acted in ways that he never would have considered if he had the courage to pray. David was able to keep from admitting what he had done or what he needed to do for a long time. He didn’t pray, because he didn’t want to face the harsh realities.

Psalm 51 is the cry of a person who struggled to find the courage to pray. The amazing thing about this psalm is that for all of its agony, there’s also a sense of relief. What David ignored for so long is finally brought out into the open. It couldn’t have been any easier for David to tell the truth about himself than it is for any of us. There is no painless way to stop protecting our easy lives and be honest to God. Yet, David’s painfully honest prayer leads to joy. When you think about the most courageous Christians you know, the ones who make sacrifices for their faith, do you feel sorry for them or is it clear that they have something we should want? People who pray passionately don’t have easy lives, but they have abundant lives. God has dreams for us that we’ve been afraid to imagine.

What would be the result if we prayed for hurting people, the victims of tragedies, and our enemies? What would happen if we made a searching, fearless inventory of how much more we could be if we asked God for the courage to take chances?

—Brett Younger

Mission

To make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

Vision

Nelson Memorial UMC seeks to be a place where all God’s broken, hurting, and imperfect children discover wholeness and community while experiencing the warm and welcoming love of Jesus Christ.  We seek to connect with one another to grow in our knowledge and love of God, to encourage each person to live out their unique calling to serve God, and to make a difference in the Boonville community and throughout the world.

Priorities

Developing and Nurturing Faith in Children and Youth

Fostering Growth and Community in Worship and Small Groups

Provide Opportunities to Serve God in Boonville and Beyond

Worship This Week

This Sunday we will continue our “Becoming More” message series.  This week, the fruit of the Spirit we will consider is self-control.  Our scripture lesson is from the Gospel of James, Chapter 1, verses 13 through 15:

When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.”  For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.  Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.“

Our services will begin with the song Sunday Sermons by Anne Wilson.  Our hymns for the morning include God of Grace and God of Glory, and Jesus Calls Us.  Our praise song for the morning will be There Was Jesus.  The 10:20 service will include the choir providing Siyahamba (We Are Marching) as a prelude.  Additionally, our 10:20 service will include the baptism of Adam Lachlan Gumbel.

Virtual Worship Information

In addition to in-person worship, each Sunday we will live-stream our 10:20 worship service. The service can be viewed on our Facebook Page.  The service will start at approximately 10:25 following our gathering song.  Additionally, we post a recording of our message each week to our website by early Sunday afternoon.  We are excited to be able to extend our worship services in these ways.

COVID Updates

Covid is in full force around us.  The Church Administrative Board reviewed the Covid data and our current practices at their recent meeting.  They would like to reiterate their encouragement to follow as many safeguards as you feel are necessary including masking, distancing, and hand washing/sanitizing.  We would also like to encourage you to take notice of the behavior of others and respect their potential desire for more distance or less touch. 

Masks remain optional for everyone and encouraged for those who are not fully vaccinated or are feeling any symptoms of any illness.  The Board is committed to continuing to monitor the latest COVID conditions and will discuss any further changes at upcoming meetings.  If you are ill or not feeling well, please consider staying home and worshiping with us through our live-stream. 

Announcements

Thank You!  A big thank you to everyone who helped make the Valentine’s Spaghetti fundraiser for children & youth ministries such a success!  Thank you to everyone who cooked, decorated, dipped things in chocolate, brought desserts, served, cleaned up and everything in between.  Also, a big thank you to everyone who came out in support and generously contributed.  One last big thank you to Marcey Caldwell for providing the beautiful flower arrangements in the midst of her busy season! 

Come and Make a Joyful Noise – Our Choir and Praise Band are looking for a few more members.  The Choir is looking for a few more voices, specifically men, but all are welcome.  The Choir practices the first and third Tuesday of the month at 7:00 pm.  Please talk with Leah Gumbel for more information.

The Praise Band is also looking for a few more members.  A bass player or drummer is being sought, and an additional guitarist would be welcome as well.  Vocalists are also welcome.  The Praise Band rehearses the second and fourth Thursday of the month at 6:00 pm.  Childcare is available during Praise Band rehearsal.  Please talk with Larry Long, Sara Snyder, or Philip Wooldridge for more information. 

Mission Trip Coming Up – On December 10, 2021, a violent, long-tracked tornado moved across western Kentucky producing severe to catastrophic damage in numerous towns, including Mayfield, Kentucky.  We are now forming a team of men and women to travel to Mayfield to complete clean up and rebuild projects.  Our tentative dates will be March 13 through March 18.  If you are interested in joining our team, please contact Larry Long, Bob Koch or Bill Salyer for details.  Sorry – no one under the age of 18 will be allowed on the work sites. 

Winter Family Outing – Dust off your ice skates and make plans to attend our winter outing! Next Sunday (Feb 27) we are planning an ice-skating outing at the Washington Park Ice Arena in Jefferson City. We will meet for a pizza lunch in Fellowship Hall after church and carpool to the Ice Rink.  Everyone is welcome for the afternoon of fun and fellowship.  You can reach out to Melissa Baker or Chelsea Jackson if you have any questions.

Events this week:

Sunday, February 20: Financial Peace University, Noon, Church Lounge

Monday, February 21: TOPS, 9:30 am, Foundations Classroom

Al-Anon, 8:00 pm, Church Lounge

Wednesday, February 23: Women’s Bible Study, 10:15 am, Church Lounge

Al Anon, Noon, Church Lounge

Thursday, February 24: Praise Band Rehearsal, 6:00 pm, Sanctuary

Friday, February 25: Al-Anon, 7:00 pm, Fellowship Hall

Closing Words of Wisdom:

How do you think your life might change if you prayed daily a daring, faith-filled prayer of whole-life devotion to the one who gave it all for you?”― Craig Groeschel