With national and local elections looming this year, people looking to make a difference in our county will head to their polling places and cast votes in order to move their country down the right path.This past week approximately 50 people looked to accomplish this very purpose through prayer and not just voting in the next election.

With national and local elections looming this year, people looking to make a difference in our county will head to their polling places and cast votes in order to move their country down the right path.This past week approximately 50 people looked to accomplish this very purpose through prayer and not just voting in the next election.

"God tells us in his word to pray to him. He wants our worship or praise and this is a great opportunity in our nation to do that," says Rich Cornwell, co-coordinator for National Day of Prayer.

Starting at noon on Thursday at Plains City Hall the body of believers, which included members from a majority of the churches in Plains, began praying for seven different aspects of life including: government, military, media, business, education, families and the churches.

With so many different churches gathered in one place praying together, Cornwell was excited to see everybody uniting on Thursday. His favorite part of the one-hour prayer session was "seeing our community coming together in prayer, worshipping God their creator and our savior and one body of believers in Plains and not just individual churches."

Also in attendance were Montana State Reps. Pat Ingraham and Senator Greg Hinkle. For Ingraham, a regular at the National Day of Prayer, prayer for the government is crucial

"Our country, the only way it will really work is to remember the principals that we were promised in our rights that God gave us. So for me, it's the most important thing in my life, to know the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is what we are built on," says Ingraham.

Cornwell agrees with Ingraham explaining how past Presidents have called the nation to prayer in times of war and with the War in Afghanistan happening, now is a perfect time for prayer for both the physical and spiritual war.

"Right now our nation is at war. It's not just a war with other nationalities or other political beliefs. It's a war between good and evil. We have the war going on internally in our nation and externally. We need to be searching for the truth and Jesus said he's the truth and the life and we believe as a group that he is the truth and we come together to worship him," says Cornwell.

The National Day of Prayer was first established 59 years ago by President Harry Truman. This year the theme of the day was "prayer! For such a time of this." With troubling times in the economy weighing on the minds of many people throughout the country, the verse, "The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in Him" can bring comfort to believers struggling.