President Obama addressed faith leaders for his last National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday morning, during which he mainly focused on the fears that people may have, and having the courage to conquer those fears.
"We live in extraordinary times. Times of extraordinary change," the President noted. "We're surrounded by tectonic shifts in technology and in our economy; by destructive conflict, disruptions to our climate."
These uncertain circumstances and times of fear, the gap between the privileged and the oppressed can lead to "despair, or paralysis, or cynicism," he said. "Fear can feed our most selfish impulses, and erode the bonds of community."
To counter these, the President said, "faith is the great cure for fear."
"Jesus is a good cure for fear," he added.
President Obama particularly touched upon the gospel itself as he mentioned that he himself also has "known fear."
"But my faith tells me that I need not fear death; that the acceptance of Christ promises everlasting life and the washing away of sins," he said.
He also particularly emphasized 2 Timothy 1:7, which says, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind," as he shared examples of people who exemplified courage, including Pastor Saeed Abedini, an Iranian American pastor who was recently released from imprisonment in Iran. President Obama also pointed to stories of a Christian Master Sergeant who stood up to Nazis for a fellow soldier who was taken captive, and a Muslim father who chose to put out his rug to pray in the park despite fears of others' responses, as examples of people who gave him "courage" and "hope."
"I pray that by His grace, we all find the courage to set such examples in our own lives -- not just during this wonderful gathering and fellowship, not just in the public piety that we profess, but in those smaller moments when it's difficult, when we're challenged, when we're angry, when we're confronted with someone who doesn't agree with us, when no one is watching," he said.
Members of Congress, celebrities, prominent religious leaders, and others were among those who were present at the prayer breakfast that was co-chaired by Congressman Robert Aderholt (R-Alabama) and Congressman Juan Vargas (D-California).
The National Prayer Breakfast began as an annual tradition when Dwight Eisenhower first joined a prayer group in 1953, after which the gathering has grown in scale and all Presidents have joined the prayer gathering on the first Thursday of February each year since.
