How presidents pray: The prayer breakfast from Eisenhower to Obama
WASHINGTON — For 63 years, presidents have spent the morning of the first Thursday in February gathering with members of Congress and evangelical Christians for the National Prayer Breakfast. For President Obama, this Thursday marks his final time taking part in the tradition while in office.
Originally known as the Presidential Prayer Breakfast, the event was inaugurated in 1953 when President Eisenhower was invited to join an already-existing prayer circle. Since then, the annual event has provided an annual forum for a discussion of the role of faith in public life.
But the event also offers a rare opportunity for presidents to pray and ask for prayers, and talk in personal terms about their the role of prayer in their own lives.
Here are excerpts from some of the more memorable speeches, which are archived at the American Presidency Project:
Associated Press
President Eisenhower comes to the Mayflower Hotel in Washington for breakfast more
Dwight Eisenhower, 1953
"As Benjamin Franklin said at one time during the course of the stormy consultation at the Constitutional Convention, because he sensed that the convention was on the point of breaking up: 'Gentlemen, I suggest that we have a word of prayer.' And strangely enough, after a bit of prayer the problems began to smooth out and the convention moved to the great triumph that we enjoy today--the writing of our Constitution.
"Today I think that prayer is just simply a necessity, because by prayer I believe we mean an effort to get in touch with the Infinite. We know that even our prayers are imperfect. Even our supplications are imperfect. Of course they are. We are imperfect human beings. But if we can back off from those problems and make the effort, then there is something that ties us all together. We have begun in our grasp of that basis of understanding, which is that all free government is firmly founded in a deeply-felt religious faith."
Henry Burroughs, ASSOCIATED PRESS
President John F. Kennedy and others at the head table bow their heads during more
John F. Kennedy, 1963
"These breakfasts are dedicated to prayer and all of us believe in and need prayer. Of all the thousands of letters that are received in the office of the President of the United States, letters of good will and wishes, none, I am sure, have moved any of the incumbents half so much as those that write that those of us who work here in behalf of the country are remembered in their prayers....
"This morning we pray together; this evening apart. But each morning and each evening, let us remember the advice of my fellow Bostonian, the Reverend Phillips Brooks: 'Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men! Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks.'"
John Rous, AP
President Lyndon B. Johnson bows his head at the 14th annual presidential prayer breakfast in Washington on Feb. 17, 1966. Standing beside him is evangelist Billy Graham.
Lyndon Johnson, 1964
"No man could live in the house where I live now or work at the desk where I work now without needing and without seeking the strength and the support of earnest and frequent prayer.
"Since last we met, it has fallen to me to learn personally the truth Thomas Jefferson spoke so long ago, when he said: 'The second office of the Government is honorable and easy; The first is but a splendid misery.'
"In these last 70 days, prayer has helped me to bear the burdens of this first office which are too great to be borne by anyone alone.
We who hold public office are enjoined by our Constitution against enacting laws to tell the people when or where or how to pray. All our experience and all our knowledge proves that injunction is good. for, if government could ordain the people's prayers, government could also ordain its own worship--and that must never be. The separation of church and state has served our freedom well because men of state have not separated themselves from church and faith and prayer."
Associated Press
President Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon attend the annual prayer breakfast, Jan. 30, 1969. At left is evangelist Billy Graham.
Richard Nixon, 1969
"In talking to Billy Graham, who has spoken to us so eloquently today, he told me he had made a study of the presidents of the United States. He had reached an interesting conclusion. Some of them came to the presidency with a much deeper and more basic religious faith than others, but however they may have come to that awesome responsibility, all had left the presidency with a very deep religious faith....
"In these days in which religion is not supposed to be fashionable in many quarters, in these days when skepticism and even agnosticism seems to be on the upturn, over half of all the letters that have come into our office have indicated that people of all faiths and of all nations in a very simple way are saying: 'We are praying for you, Mr. President. We are praying for this country. We are praying for the leadership that this Nation may be able to provide for this world.'
"As I read those letters I realized how great was my responsibility and how great was your responsibility, those who share with me these days in government.
"I realize that people whom we will never meet have this deep religious faith which has run through the destiny of this land from the beginning.
"I realize that we carry on our shoulders their hopes, but more important, we are sustained by their prayers."
Harvey Georges, AP
President Ford and First Lady Betty Ford, left, listen to remarks by evangelist more
Gerald Ford, 1975
"Since we last met, I have discovered another aspect of the power of prayer: I have learned how important it is to have people pray for me. It is often said that the presidency is the loneliest job in the world. Yes, and in a certain sense, I suppose it is. Yet, in all honesty, I cannot say that I have suffered from loneliness these past six months.
"The reason, I am certain, has been that everywhere I go, among old friends or among strangers, people call out from the crowd or will say quietly to me, "We're praying for you," or "You are in our prayers," and I read the same sentiments in my mail. Of course, there are some that are not so inspiring, but the great ground swell of good will that comes from the true spirit of America has been a wonderful source of strength to me as it was, I am sure, to other Presidents before me. Believe me, having counted the votes and knowing that you have them is a great satisfaction, but the satisfaction of knowing that uncounted numbers of good people are praying for you is infinitely more rewarding.
"Prayer is a very, very personal thing, at least for me. Yet, to me, as many of my predecessors, it is a terribly important source of strength and confidence."
Associated Press
President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter are applauded by the Rev. Billy Graham, left, as they arrive for the National Prayer Breakfast at a Washington hotel, Jan. 18, 1979.
Jimmy Carter, 1980
"The Bible says even the worst sinners love and pray for their friends, the ones who love them. And sometimes we don't go that one more step forward in growth, not on a single cataclysmic, transforming experience, but daily, and count those against whom we are alienated. At least every day, list them by name, and say, 'God, I pray for that person or those people.' Every day, I pray for the Ayatollah Khomeini. Every day I pray for the kidnappers who hold our innocent Americans. And every day, of course, I pray for those who are held hostages as innocents. It's not easy to do this, and I have to force myself sometimes to include someone on my list, because I don't want to acknowledge that that person might be worthy of my love. And the most difficult thing of all, I think, is to go one step even further than that and thank God for our own difficulties, our own disappointments, our own failures, our own challenges, our own tests.
"But this is what I would like to leave with you. To set a time in each day to list all of the things that you consider to be most difficult, most embarrassing, the worst challenge to your own happiness, and not only ask God to alleviate it but preferably thank God for it. It might sound strange, but I guarantee you it works.
"And you might say, 'Why in the world should I ask God for thanks — give thanks, for something that seems to me so bad or so damaging?' Well, growth in a person's life, growth for a nation, growth spiritually, all depend on our relationship with God. And the basis for that growth is an understanding of God's purpose, and a sharing of difficult responsibilities with God through prayer."
J. Scott Applewhite, AP
President Reagan bows his head and prays during the National Prayer Breakfast, more
Ronald Reagan, 1984
"We all in this room, I know, and we know many millions more everywhere, turn to God in prayer, believe in the power and the spirit of prayer. And yet so often, we direct our prayers to those problems that are immediate to us, knowing that He has promised His help to us when we turn to Him. And yet in a world today that is so torn with strife where the divisions seem to be increasing, not people coming together, within countries, divisions within the people, themselves and all, I wonder if we have ever thought about the greatest tool that we have — that power of prayer and God's help.
"If you could add together the power of prayer of the people just in this room, what would be its megatonnage? And have we maybe been neglecting this and not thinking in terms of a broader basis in which we pray to be forgiven for the animus we feel towards someone in perhaps a legitimate dispute, and at the same time recognize that while the dispute will go on, we have to realize that that other individual is a child of God even as we are and is beloved by God, as we like to feel that we are."
Barry Thumma, AP
President George H.W. Bush, along with First Lady Barbara Bush, Joint Chiefs more
George H.W. Bush, 1989
"We're facing some serious opportunities and some great opportunities in our country — tough problems and great opportunities. And I believe that a wonderful resource in dealing with them is prayer — not just prayer for what we want but prayer for what is in the heart of God for us individually and as a nation.
"And shouldn't we also remember, with all that we have to be grateful for, to pause each day to offer a prayer of thanksgiving. All of us should not attempt to fulfill the responsibilities we now have without prayer and a strong faith in God.
Abraham Lincoln said: 'I've been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I have nowhere else to go.' Surely he was not the first President, certainly not the last, to realize that."
Greg Gibston, AP
President Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton, along with Rev. Billy Graham, more
Bill Clinton, 1999
"You do not make peace with your friends, but friendship can come with time and trust and humility when we do not pretend that our willfulness is an expression of God's will.
"I do not know how to put this into words. A friend of mine last week sent me a little story out of Mother Teresa's life, when she said she was asked, 'When you pray, what do you say to God?' And she said, 'I don't say anything. I listen.' And then she was asked, 'Well when you listen, what does God say to you?' And she said, 'He doesn't say anything, either. He listens.'
"In another way, St. Paul said the same thing: 'We do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit, Himself, intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words.'
"So I ask you to reflect on all we have seen and heard and felt today. I ask you to pray for peace, for the peacemakers, and for peace within each of our hearts — in silence."
Gerald Herbert, AP
President George W. Bush bows his head during the invocations at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2007.
George W. Bush, 2001
"Every president since the first one I can remember, Dwight Eisenhower, has taken part in this great tradition. It's a privilege for me to speak where they have spoken and to pray where they have prayed. All presidents of the United States have come to the National Prayer Breakfast, regardless of their religious views. No matter what our background, in prayer we share something universal, a desire to speak and listen to our Maker and to know His plan for our lives....
"I believe in the power of prayer. It's been said, 'I would rather stand against the cannons of the wicked than against the prayers of the righteous.' The prayers of a friend are one of life's most gracious gifts. My family and I are blessed by the prayers of countless Americans. Over the last several months, Laura and I have been touched by the number of people who come up and say, 'We pray for you.' Such comforting words. I hope Americans will continue to pray that everyone in my administration finds wisdom and always remembers the common good."
Barack Obama, 2012
"Mark (Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark.) read a letter from Billy Graham, and it took me back to one of the great honors of my life, which was visiting Rev. Graham at his mountaintop retreat in North Carolina when I was on vacation with my family at a hotel not far away...
"And we had a wonderful conversation. Before I left, Reverend Graham started praying for me, as he had prayed for so many presidents before me. And when he finished praying, I felt the urge to pray for him. I didn't really know what to say. What do you pray for when it comes to the man who has prayed for so many? But like that verse in Romans, the Holy Spirit interceded when I didn't know quite what to say.
"And so I prayed. Briefly, but I prayed from the heart. I don't have the intellectual capacity or the lung capacity of some of my great preacher friends here to pray for a long time, but I prayed. And we ended with an embrace and a warm goodbye.
"And I thought about that moment all the way down the mountain, and I've thought about it in the many days since. Because I thought about my own spiritual journey: growing up in a household that wasn't particularly religious, going through my own period of doubt and confusion, finding Christ when I wasn't even looking for him so many years ago, possessing so many shortcomings that have been overcome by the simple grace of God. And the fact that I would ever be on top of a mountain, saying a prayer for Billy Graham, a man whose faith had changed the world and that had sustained him through triumphs and tragedies and movements and milestones, that simple fact humbled me to my core.
"I have fallen on my knees with great regularity since that moment, asking God for guidance not just in my personal life and my Christian walk, but in the life of this nation and in the values that hold us together and keep us strong. I know that He will guide us. He always has, and He always will. And I pray his richest blessings on each of you in the days ahead."
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