PRAYERS OFFERED ALL ACROSS CITY ON NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER

Sylvia Ellis thinks Cape Girardeau needs more prayer, so she gathered with about 125 people at noon Thursday on the steps of City Hall to pray for the community.

The service was part of events on the National Day of Prayer. The theme was "Honor God."

"I feel good," Ellis said after the service. "I think we should do this once a week or once a month."

Actually, the National Day of Prayer is an annual event. It began 45 years ago with a presidential declaration signed by Harry S. Truman. All 50 states participated in the event for the first time in 1995.

From the church house to the White House, restore our nation with integrity, the Rev. Gary Brothers said during his prayer for the nation.

Helping to restore that integrity were community leaders like Mayor Al Spradling III, who led a prayer for the city. Other prayers were said for the state and national government, military, education, environment, news media and family.

"Help us as people of the community to be people of prayer," said the Rev. William Burke, president of the Cape Girardeau Ministerial Alliance. "There is power in prayer as we fall on our face and knees."

The Cape Girardeau Ministerial Alliance organized the service as part of a tradition, said the Rev. Bonnie Sparks of the Centenary United Methodist Church. It sponsors other community services at Thanksgiving and Martin Luther King holidays.

Traditions are important, and Eileen Elder wants people to know she really believes it when she recites the Pledge of Allegiance. That's one reason she attended the community prayer service.

"It's a way to show we believe what we're saying," Elder said. "This is one nation under God." The service also was a chance to spend time with other believers, she said.

Spending time with other Christian believers is important, but dedication to family and home also is vital, Sherri Mehner said during her prayer for families.

"Let us put our priorities on relationships, not on things that will not last," Mehner said.

The prayer service was designed to last about 30 minutes so that anyone could attend during a lunch hour, Sparks said. Other services were held Thursday night at Hanover Lutheran Church and First Church of the Nazarene in Cape Girardeau, First Baptist Church in Sikeston, Oran and Chaffee.