Yes, But Is It Prayer?

Last Saturday, Pastor Joe Nelms gave the pre-race prayer at the NASCAR Nationwide Series race in Nashville, Tenn. Most pre-race prayers go unnoticed. This one didn’t. It’s been making the rounds on the internet because it was, well, memorable.

The video is right here on the page, so that reduces the need to go into depth about everything that Pastor Nelms said. Some folks have been offended by it. Others have been amused. Personally, I try not to take offense very often, and I typically look for humor wherever I can. Either way, though, I wonder. Did Pastor Nelms offering really constitute a prayer?

Public prayer always presents challenges. Jesus cautioned his followers not to make a show of their prayers with long words and eloquent phrases turned out prominently on street corners. He encouraged secret prayer. Yet, ministers especially are called on to give prayers in public. From worship services to race day, if the event calls for it and a pastor is available, you can bet she or he is going to be pressed into service.

Nelms is thankful, as his litany indicates. Perhaps we should be thankful that we can enjoy life and be in community. (Make no mistake about it, NASCAR is a community.) He addresses the prayer to God. He asks the prayer in Jesus’ name, even tipping an homage to Darrell Waltrip. He says, “Amen.” Many of the elements that I associate with prayer are included, but does including those elements, having all the right parts in all the right order, constitute prayer?

I think the answer lies deeper than the words.

I can recall an episode of the television series, Soul Man, in which Dan Aykroyd played a widowed Episcopal priest named Mike Weber. In this particular episode, old friend Stan Hamel, played by John Goodman, comes to visit. As the episode winds up, Weber is telling his friend that he needs to pray. When Stan says that he doesn’t know how, Weber (Aykroyd) says, “Just tell God what’s in your heart.”

For me, that’s the key. Was Nelms sincere? Was he telling God what was in his heart? Were his words an honest reflection of his gratitude? We will never know for sure, especially now that prayer offered on behalf of the crowd has resulted in fifteen minutes of fame.