FERRIDAY, La. – A group of Ferriday-area residents are organizing a prayer meeting to be held at noon Nov. 6 in the council meeting room of Ferriday’s Town Hall.

The purpose of the meeting will be to pray for the Nov. 7 elections — more specifically, that God’s will be done and that the United States will elect a capable leader, said meeting co-organizer Liz Brooking.

&uot;We’re going to come together as a body of believers and pray for the candidates, and pray that God will lead this nation in making the right choice,&uot; said Marie Cowan, another of the event’s co-organizers. &uot;Prayer works.&uot;

Although a person will be designated to lead the first prayer, everyone attending the Nov. 7 meeting will have a chance to say a prayer aloud if they wish — or simply pray silently and follow along with other participants.

Organizing prayer meetings is nothing new for Brooking and Cowan, as a prayer group they helped organize in Ferriday more than one year ago is still meeting regularly.

&uot;We meet every month to pray for the condition of our community,&uot; Cowan said.

But given the conflicts now taking place throughout the nation and world, this is an especially important time to pray for leaders who can best deal with such conflicts, Brooking said.

&uot;This election is crucial, especially with the bad things that are going on in the world today,&uot; she said. &uot;America’s president, as leader of the free world, could be an influence for good.&uot;

But Brooking also believes that such public prayer meetings also serve another purpose — namely, calling attention to the Christian faith.

&uot;Christianity in general seems to have gone by the wayside,&uot; she said. &uot;Sometimes it seems it’s not politically correct to call yourself a Christian. We need to stand up … and try to get America back on track.&uot;

The Ferriday prayer group meets at noon on the second Monday of every month at Concordia Bank’s Ferriday branch.