1.   At a church I sometimes attend, the minister asks for special concerns and joys for which the congregation may pray for help, guidance, mercy or thanks.

2.   He and Linda have spent the year resting, recovering and visiting churches in the Valley and in the United States where congregations prayed for him.

3.   Some Baptist congregations prayed for the conversion of Muslims to Christianity during Ramadan, a period for religious observances in Islam.

4.   In religious services across Germany on Wednesday, congregations prayed for the victims of the blast.

5.   But, as the flames were extinguished, religious controversy flared, after bishops called on their congregations to pray for rain.

6.   This time, they were allowed to stay, and the congregation prayed for them.

7.   The windows of the yellow two-storey synagogue remained shattered and the floor inside where the Jewish congregation prays covered with broken glass on Sunday.