About 500 people paused at noon Wednesday to pray for forgiveness, guidance and restoration as a prayerful nation in a 90-minute observance at the First Baptist Church in downtown Cleveland. The 5th Annual National Day of Prayer was a gathering of residents, political, civic and religious leaders who prayed in adoration, confession, with thanksgiving, for local and national government and sanctity of life. There were prayers for military personnel, people living in poverty and for unity among races, ethnic groups and Christian denominations. Cleveland Mayor Tom Rowland said, “Life is worth living because He lives.” He told of Bishop Ron Hill, a former principal at Blythe-Bower Elementary School, whose employee identification badge was attached to a strap proclaiming “Jesus loves you. That took a lot of nerve in these times.”

The mayor reminded the audience of a federal lawsuit in which a federal judge in Wisconsin declared the National Day of Prayer unconstitutional. “She did have the foresight to put her ruling on hold until all the appeals had been made,” Rowland said. Candies Creek Baptist Church Pastor Jamie Work, who gave the prayer of confession, said the day of prayer was to recognize the belief that God is sovereign, the creator of everything and He holds everything in His power. “Therefore, He is the one we must turn to when we want everything to work right in our world when it has gone crazy,” Work said. He said the consequences of not turning to God is stated 63 times in the book of Ezekiel. He would allow disciplining measures if they strayed. “Israel and any other nation who didn’t recognize He is a sovereign God were warned that God was going to do something so they would know He is the Lord,” Work said. “Most of the time it was a punishment of some kind so you will know I am the Lord.”

The National Day of Prayer is the precursor to the 10 Days of Prayer beginning May 13 and ending on the Global Day of Prayer on May 23. For more information, call 423-339-3028 or e-mail cn@clevelandnet.org.