WEST MONROE, La. – Thursday, May 6 was the National Day of Prayer for 2021. Cities across the country held events to recognize a day of observance.
Monroe and West Monroe hosted its events at both city halls. At West Monroe’s city hall, Mayor Staci Mitchell and local pastors prayed for the community and the nation.
“Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty,” Mitchell said. National Day of Prayer’s theme was based on the verse 2 Corinthians 3:17.
The West Monroe community gathered to pray together and support one another.
“I’m praying for our community, for employees, for elected officials, for all of it,” Mitchell said. “For peace, for guidance, for wisdom.”
Many words were said from West Monroe city officials and local pastors on the value of prayer.
“I believe that prayer has been one of the central themes and focuses- whether it be hurricanes, COVID-19 or ice storms. We had difficulties. No matter what peoples’ faith is… it drives us all to prayer,” The Assembly lead pastor Christopher Miller said.
“Our faith is what sustains us, what gives us meaning and life, and lets us move forward,” Mitchell said.
Local religious leaders felt uplifted to see churches embraced by the city. Lead pastor Christopher Miller with The Assembly West Monroe says prayer can create change.
“Prayer can change things, so seeing prayer put back into a place of influence in our government leadership here locally is a blessing,” Miller said.
The phrase “the power of prayer can change things” was repeated over and over during the event.
“With faith, there’s a peace about you when you know there’s something better at the end of our lives. We go through turmoils. We go through issues. There may be bad things happening, but you can get through that because of your faith and knowing there’s something better at the end,” Mitchell said.
In Monroe, Mayor Friday Ellis was joined by local pastors as they prayed for the community at city hall. Ellis says the world would be a better place if more people prayed for each other.
“Everything looks so good on social media, but we all know that life is tough,” Ellis said. “It’s messy. There’s a lot of things in this world we can do without but I’m going to tell you less prayer is not one of them. We need more of it, and we need to pray for our leaders, community members, friends, and family.”
