Praying Over Breakfast

During the Great Depression, the leaders in Seattle, Washington, turned to prayer after having taken care of as many people as possible, but not quite ready to surrender to hopelessness. They simply gathered one morning as brothers and sisters to share a meal and talk with God. These prayer breakfasts started emerging all over the city, the state and the nation. The Prayer Breakfast gained national prominence when President Eisenhower asked if he could join a group of Senators, and since that time president’s have led a national prayer breakfast each February. This morning, President Obama addressed the gathering:

“In a world that grows smaller by the day, perhaps we can begin to crowd out the destructive forces of zealotry and make room for the healing power of understanding. This is my hope. This is my prayer....I believe this good is possible because my faith teaches me that all is possible, but I also believe because of what I have seen and what I have lived.... So let us pray together on this February morning, but let us also work together in all the days and months ahead. For it is only through common struggle and common effort, as brothers and sisters, that we fulfill our highest purpose as beloved children of God. I ask you to join me in that effort and I also ask that you pray for me, for my family, and for the continued perfection of our union. Thank you.”

My prayer for the congregation?

Dear God, You hear all prayers and answer with hope and strength. Let us reach across the aisle, across the street, across the nation, lowering our particular barriers so that we can reach out to a brother and sister who likewise set aside their hesitations in interest of praying as one. Let us find common bonds that unite all religions, so that each tenet of love may be fulfilled. Each day we seem to realize through grim awakenings that we are not the champions of our daily bread, and that more and more, prayer is supplying our nourishment. We feel that we may be the next generation to have a close understanding of the Depression, and our faith will be called to carry us, as faith was relied upon by our forbearers. Let us join our president in prayer for the world and that his leadership may be inspired by your word. Amen.