Ministers and spiritual leaders prayed for unity, for church leaders, for the family unit, law enforcement officers, leaders, the armed forces, and spiritual awareness in a National Day of Prayer services on the Court Square Thursday.

The National Day of Prayer is an annual observance held on the first Thursday of May, inviting people of all faiths to pray for the nation. It was created in 1952 by a joint resolution of the United States Congress, and signed into law by President Harry S. Truman.

The Rev. Lamorris Pryor first led the 21 people gathered in a prayer for unity in the country.

The Rev. Ed Ganus prayed for ministers “in every church in the county, in Alabama, and in the United States, where the gospel is preached.

“I pray that souls will be saved, lives will be changed and character changed,” Ganus said, also petitioning for people to “love one another.”

Dianne Grey, director of Sav-A-Life, offered a prayer for homes and families.

“God created families for a reason,” she said. “The younger generation is not interested in living as husband and wife,” she said.

The Rev. Darryl Calloway offered prayers for law enforcement officers and first responders, asking for God’s protection over them as they work to protect the lives of others.

The Rev. David McMillan prayed for government leaders, including the mayor, the governor, the president, and all who govern in the nation,  especially members of Congress and the Supreme Court.

The Rev. Otis Corbitt offered prayers for those in the armed forces. Today’s members of the armed forces have been involved in conflict since 2001, he said, which is unprecedented in the nation.

“The only experience near this was the frontier wars of the 1870s and 1880s,” he said.

He encouraged those present to pray for soldiers and sailors and their families.

“I can say from experience, It was a whole lot easier for me to go to Iraq than it was for my wife to stay here,” he said.

“They are risking life and liberty and are separated from their families to protect our freedoms,” he said.

Corbitt said Americans are privileged to be able to gather for prayer in a court square, when in some places of the world, participants and their families would be persecuted.

“We pray as old-fashioned as it sounds, that you would bring them back to us,” he prayed.

The Rev. Leroy Cole closed the service with a prayer for spiritual awakening.

“We live in a great country,” he said. “We can read, meditate on and study how to apply God’s word,” he said. “But there are thousands of people who need to experience a spiritual awakening.”

The event was organized by the Greater Andalusia Ministerial Association.