The Rev. Fred Kison, pastor of Intersection Community Church, said the church is conducting prayer services for 21 straight days. People can also see the services live on the church's Facebook page.

“The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” — James 5:16Intersection Community Church members are taking that Bible verse to heart this month as the church is in the midst of 21 days of prayer.The Rev. Fred Kison, pastor of the church at 120 Walker Ave., said the 6 a.m. weekday services and the 9 a.m. Saturday prayer services are also open to the public.People have the option of attending the prayer services in person or watching a live stream of the services over the church's Facebook page.“We started Monday morning, Jan. 7, and we are going to Jan. 27,” said Kison. “During the weekdays, we are having a 6 a.m. prayer service, on Saturdays we are meeting from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. and we are adding the prayer service to our regular service on Sunday.”During the prayer services, which run about 40 minutes during the weekdays, Kison said, “There are multiple things we are praying for.“For example, on Thursday, we are going to pray for our leaders, the leaders of our city, township and state and our pastors and church leaders,” he said.So far, Kison said, the 6 a.m. services have been attended by seven to 10 people in the church sanctuary.“But, 90 to 100 join us on the Facebook page where the service is streaming live,” he added.“The Holy Spirit is sometimes felt in the world but not seen. At Intersection Church, God has started bringing new hope to struggling people in Butler County, Pa.,” according to a post on the church's Facebook page by Carl Bromley of Kittanning.This is the first year the nondenominational church and its 100-member congregation has committed to 21 days of prayer.Kison said other churches have similar events, sometimes combining 21 days of prayer with fasting or stretching the prayer period to 40 days.For example, he cited Victory Family Church in Cranberry Township as also taking part in the 21 days of prayer.Karen DiPierro, the communications director for Victory Family, said her church started prayer services Monday and will also have services at 6 a.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. on Saturdays.“We have a 21-day devotional available at myvfc.info. That will take you to the home page and just click on the '21 Days of Prayer' button,” said DiPierro.“We also show it live online on our Facebook page and at live.lifeatvictory.com,” she said.Kison said prayer is a way to express thanks for all God is doing in our lives. All of these aspects of prayer involve communication with our Creator.“Honestly, our intention is to create a spiritual depth in people and seek God for what he wants in our church and city so that we can help save our city,” said Kison.DiPierro said, “The prayer focus is personal. For us, it is putting our minds back on God.”“We set the weekday prayer for 6 a.m. so that people can join before going to work,” Kison said. “It's not hard for me to get up. I raised six boys so I'm used to getting up early in the morning and getting people going.”