National Day of Prayer recognized with events across Cobb

May 7—Community leaders and residents across Cobb County united for the National Day of Prayer on Thursday, gathering in person and virtually for song and worship after a year filled with unrest, illness and uncertainty.

The Cobb County Prayer Breakfast made its pandemic-era return with a virtual prayer event livestreamed on Facebook. With the theme of "Lord, pour out Your LIFE, LOVE and LIBERTY," the program focused on praying for the Cobb community and the world in the wake of the pandemic.

"I thought it was so interesting, in the very first (Congressional National Day of Prayer) proclamation, that it talks about giving thanks to God for his constant watchfulness over us in every hour of national prosperity and national peril," said the event's emcee, Taylor Scott of 104.7 The Fish. "In other words, we praise God in the good times, and in the bad times we turn to him in prayer."

The Cobb County Prayer Breakfast started more than 35 years ago and typically draws about 1,000 attendees. As of 4 p.m. Thursday, the virtual event had about 400 views on Facebook.

Burnt Hickory Baptist Church filmed and hosted the program, and the church's four-person worship band performed. Cobb County Sheriff Craig Owens led the Pledge of Allegiance, while Jon Ingram, a development director for the Boy Scouts of America, performed the national anthem.

Last year's prayer breakfast was postponed, then eventually canceled. The headline performance this year was gospel singer Babbie Mason.

The event also included Scripture readings from three high school students — Bethany Cates of Harrison High School, Amanda Braman of Mount Paran Christian School and Janie Harrison of The Walker School.

"Please continue to pray for the younger generation," Scott said. "Man, they have sure had to adjust to a lot of changes this past year."

Lisa Crossman, deputy director of Cobb-Douglas Public Health, led a public prayer for people whose health was compromised by COVID-19, people who lost family members, people who have suffered from the pandemic's economic impact and for frontline workers.

"With all that our community has been through this year, and a focus on protecting our physical health, it was easy for me to forget to feed my soul," Crossman said.

Crossman asked God for help in finding blessings and joy in troubling times.

"God, it can be so overwhelming," she said. "But you tell us over and over to not be afraid. Remind me to trust in you and have faith that you're holding us close. And forgive me when I try to fix things on my own."

Another public prayer was delivered by Steven Culver, a behavior program specialist for Cobb County School District. He spoke of a song he used to sing in church and how his mother taught him to love and pray for his enemies.

"Love lifted me, love lifted me, when nothing else could help, it was love that lifted me," he said, quoting the song.

Col. Blair Davis, a chaplain for the Georgia National Guard, also led a prayer.

Mason closed out the event by singing "Way Maker," a song by Sinach, a Nigerian gospel singer.

"This song has just been in my spirit for weeks now, and every time I sing it, my faith is assured and bolstered," Mason said.

The entire 35-minute program can be viewed on Cobb County Prayer Breakfast's Facebook page.

In Acworth, a small crowd gathered at City Hall to hear Mayor Tommy Allegood and local pastors give short messages on the power of prayer and what they believed the community needed to pray for at its 20th recognition of the National Day of Prayer.

Acworth, too, couldn't gather together in 2020.

Dallas White, senior pastor at The Grove Church in Acworth, encouraged those present at City Hall and watching online to make prayer a "steering wheel," not a "spare tire" in their lives.

"A lot of times in my own life, I found myself treating God like AAA — I reach out when I've got an emergency, when something's gone wrong in my life," White said. "When we treat God like he's AAA and we only approach him when we've got problems, we're missing out on the intimacy and the depth that God designed us for."

Like at the Cobb Prayer Breakfast, many of the speakers noted the pandemic and the social unrest that had occurred over the last year and said the country's division had come to a head.

Tears rolled down Acworth Alderman Tim Houston's face as he described the division he said he sees in the country.

"My heart is heavy," Houston said. "I've been struggling in my life dealing with — just dealing with life and the things that are going on and the way the world is going and the way people are acting. I lay awake at night and talk to God all the time to try to get the direction for how he wants me to go."

Houston said he'd begun to lose hope because of the way people categorize one another and said he was hurt by people who use Christianity as a means to amplify or accomplish their own agendas. But, he said, Jesus is the answer.

"A Christian is somebody who shows God's behavior and God's heart," Houston said. "If everybody in this world was just like Christ, that makes the difference."

Jim Chidester, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, encouraged the crowd, telling them that God is leading the world through its difficult times "to the promised land," and he urged those in attendance to "interact with each other on the basis of love."

Others prayed for the children and schools in the local community, and gave thanks for the community and residents in Acworth. Among others, speakers included state Rep. Ed Setzler, R-Acworth, Acworth Police Chief Wayne Dennard and Frank Johnson, pastor at Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church.

As Seth Hardy, worship pastor at NorthStar Church, closed out a rendition of "Amazing Grace" that the crowd had joined him in, Mayor Allegood said the group had gathered because they wanted to each do their part to make their community better.

Though it has been a year with a pandemic, social unrest and other uncertainty, Allegood said, the same span of time has been a "marvelous year," considering the way community members pitched in to help one another and the generosity shown throughout hard times.

"We have so much to be thankful for," he said.

Powder Springs also scheduled a Day of Prayer event at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, to be held in Thurman Springs Park.

Follow Thomas Hartwell on Twitter at twitter.com/MDJThomas.