Praying together

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MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Coming up on The World and Everything in It: Praying together.

Churches, groups, and individuals will gather across the country today to mark the 75th annual National Day of Prayer, a time for people of the United States to turn to God in prayer and meditation. 

We visited several groups who held gatherings leading up to today.

MARANGELI: My name is Marangeli Asevedo and I’m from Iglesia de Dios Puerta del Cielo.

BROWN: This is the fifth year that church in Semmes, Alabama, has hosted its community’s observance.

AUDIO: Thank you, Jesus, for your presence…

It featured young people singing and performing interpretive dance at an outdoor amphitheatre last Saturday. They are all part of a local hispanic ministry.

Asevedo served as an interpreter for organizer Damarys Alver who said she invites the younger generation to pray every day.

MARANGELI: To go in that line for others, to the communities where you are, for the people that have addictions, that are out on the streets. To wake up and pray for them.

REICHARD: One city over, a group in Prichard, Alabama, began corporate prayer Tuesday with a hymn in a tiny sanctuary with wooden pews.

[Singing]

YORK: Welcome, all prayer warriors and intercessors…

Barbara York has coordinated the event for more than a decade.

YORK: In faith we declare our dependence (audience repeat) and our dedication to you (audience repeat).

Only a handful showed up Tuesday…but York says what she calls prayer apathy is all the more reason to pray.

YORK: If you notice the churches on Sunday morning, it’s packed. But on prayer time, very few. Oh there’s power in prayer. 1 Chronicles 7:14, "If my people that are called by His name, seek his face, turn from their wicked ways, he'll hear from heaven, he’ll heal the land." At this hour, church, we need to pray like never before.

BROWN: Meanwhile in Washington D.C., Onederful Fortress of Faith —that’s Onederful, spelled “O-N-E,”—met around the city for seven days leading up to today’s events. Organizer Sheila Griffin moved to the area five years ago to work with prayer groups.

GRIFFIN: And so we've been taking our time to get to know people. Especially D.C. is hard. Many of the people that we know are all transplants here too. We don't mind, but this year, I'm focusing on the wards and the people from here.

But Griffin says stirring up D.C. natives to pray is difficult.

GRIFFIN: ​​They are not impressed because they see parades every day. They see people who come and who go, people who are hot one day and cold the next. We're looking for a steady flow.

Last year, 200 people came out to Fortress of Faith’s final event. This year the group is pushing for 400. The national events culminate tonight with a prayer broadcast from Statuary Hall in the nation’s capitol.

HALL: Make the capital a refuge for conscience, a witness among the nations, and a place where mercy and truth meet together.

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