In his last National Prayer Breakfast speech while in
office, President Obama gave an introspective talk about how his faith
overcomes his fears.
“For me, and I know for so many of you, faith is the great
cure for fear,” Obama said at the Washington Hilton event Thursday (Feb. 4). “Jesus
is a good cure for fear.”
Obama’s speech to several thousand mostly evangelical
listeners came a day after he spoke at a Baltimore mosque and gave a history
lesson on Muslim Americans’ contributions to the country.
The National Prayer Breakfast, held for the 64th time, is
chaired each year by members of Congress who meet weekly for prayer when
Congress is in session. It draws politicians, diplomats and prominent
evangelical Christian leaders.
Speaking slowly at times as he talked about how he is
comforted by Scripture and the faith of others, Obama said he has lately
focused on a Bible verse from 2 Timothy: “For God has not given us a spirit of
fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
He said now is the best period to have that scriptural
assurance.
“What better time in these changing and tumultuous times to
have Jesus standing beside us, steadying our minds, cleansing our hearts, pointing
us towards what matters,” he said.
Hollywood power couple Roma Downey and Mark Burnett, the
other keynote speakers at the breakfast, joined the president in urging that
Americans bridge the divides that separate them.
“We pray that with God’s help our world can heal some of the
hurts that wound us and the confusion that divides us, but it begins with us,”
said Downey, whose husband kept his hand on her shoulder as they spoke as the
first husband-and-wife team to ever address the breakfast.
“Perhaps a good place to start is to simply see the image of
God in the eyes of everyone you meet.”
Obama gave credit to congregations of a variety of faiths
for coming to the aid of others across the country and the globe.
Christians, Sikhs and others helped after an earthquake
rocked Haiti, he said, and Jews, Christians and Muslims strove to save West
Africans from Ebola. He credited people of faith for how they welcomed Syrian
refugees to the U.S. with food and blankets and worked to “wrap a shattered
community in love” after nine worshipers at Emanuel African Methodist
Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., were killed.
Obama said he joins the continuing prayers for Christians
and other people of faith around the world who are persecuted for their
beliefs, and he expressed gratitude for the safe return of Iranian-American
pastor Saeed Abedini, who was released in January from Iran after being
imprisoned since 2012.
After acknowledging his prayers to be forgiven for his own failings,
Obama closed his remarks with his prayers for the country and the future.
“I pray that we will see every single child as our own, each
worthy of our love and of our compassion,” he said. “And I pray we answer
Scripture’s call to lift up the vulnerable, and to stand up for justice, and
ensure that every human being lives in dignity.”
Source: Christian Headlines
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