[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book I)]
[February 7, 2008]
[Pages 155-157]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast
February 7, 2008

    The President. Gracias, mi amigo.
    Senator Kenneth L. Salazar. De nada.
    The President. Thank you, friend. 
Laura and I are honored to join you all here for the 56th National 
Prayer Breakfast. A lot of reasons to pray, and one, of course, is to 
strengthen us against temptation, particularly this morning--from 
temptation to stay in bed. [Laughter] Obviously, there's a lot of 
prayerful people here. [Laughter] And I appreciate your warm welcome.
    We have a lot of distinguished guests here today: Members of 
Congress, military leaders, captains of industry. Yet at this annual 
gathering, we are reminded of an eternal truth: When we lift our hearts 
to God, we're all equal in His sight. We're all equally precious; we're 
all equally dependent on His grace. It's fitting that we gather each 
year to approach our Creator in fellowship and to thank Him for the many 
blessings He's bestowed upon our families and our Nation. It is fitting 
that we gather in prayer, because we recognize a prayerful nation is a 
stronger nation.
    I want to appreciate Senators--[applause]--I appreciate Senators 
Salazar and Enzi. Thank you for putting this deal on.

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Madam Speaker, Leader Hoyer, Leader Blunt: Thank you all for 
being here. Welcome the Members of Congress. I appreciate the heads of 
state who are here. Welcome to America, again. I thank the members of 
the diplomatic corps who have joined us. Appreciate the distinguished 
dignitaries, all the members of my Cabinet--don't linger, get back to 
work. [Laughter]
    Admiral, thank you for your 
leadership. Always proud to be with the members of the United States 
military. I thank the State and local officials. Ward, thanks for your remarks. Those were awesome. I guess 
that's a Presidential word. [Laughter] Proud to be here with Michael 
W. and Debbie. 
They're longtime friends of our family. Thank you for lending your 
beautiful voice. Judge, I'm not going to 
hold the Texas thing against you. [Laughter]
    Every President since Dwight Eisenhower has attended the National 
Prayer Breakfast, and I am really proud to carry on this tradition. It's 
an important tradition, and I'm confident Presidents who follow me will 
do the same. The people in this room come from many different walks of 
faith, yet we share one clear conviction: We believe that the Almighty 
hears our prayers and answers those who seek Him. That's what we 
believe; otherwise, why come? Through the miracle of prayer, we believe 
He listens--if we listen to His voice and seek our presence--His 
presence in our lives, our hearts will change. And in so doing, in 
seeking God, we grow in ways that we could never imagine.
    In prayer, we grow in gratitude and thanksgiving. When we spend time 
with the Almighty, we realize how much He has bestowed upon us, and our 
hearts are filled with joy. We give thanks for our families. We give 
thanks for the parents who raised us. We give thanks for the patient 
souls who married us and the children who make us proud each day. We 
give thanks for our liberty and the universal desire for freedom that He 
has written in every human heart. We give thanks for the God who made us 
in His image and redeemed us in His love.
    In prayer, we grow in meekness and humility. By approaching our 
Maker on bended knee, we acknowledge our complete dependence on Him. We 
recognize that we have nothing to offer God that He does not already 
have, except our love. So we offer Him that love and ask for the grace 
to discern His will. We ask Him to remain near to us at all times. We 
ask Him to help us lead lives that are pleasing to Him. We discover that 
by surrendering our lives to the Almighty, we are strengthened, 
refreshed, and ready for all that may come.
    In prayer, we also grow in boldness and courage. The more time we 
spend with God, the more we see that He is not a distant king, but a 
loving Father. Inspired by this confidence, we approach Him with bold 
requests. We ask Him to heal the sick and comfort the dying and sustain 
those who care for them. We ask Him to bring solace to the victims of 
tragedy and help to those suffering from addiction and adversity. We ask 
him to strengthen our families and to protect the innocent and 
vulnerable in our country. We ask Him to protect our Nation from those 
who wish us harm and watch over all who've stepped forward to defend us. 
We ask Him to bring about the day when His peace shall reign across the 
world and every tear shall be wiped away.
    In prayer, we grow in mercy and compassion. We are reminded in 
prayer that we are all fallen creatures in need of mercy. And in seeking 
God's mercy, we grow in mercy ourselves. Experiencing the presence of 
God transforms our hearts. And the more we seek His presence, the more 
we feel the tug at our souls to reach out to the poor and the hungry, 
the elderly and the infirm. When we answer God's call to love a neighbor 
as ourselves, we enter into a deeper friendship with our fellow man and 
a deeper relationship with our eternal Father.

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    I believe in the power of prayer because I have felt it in my own 
life. Prayer has strengthened me in times of personal challenge. It has 
helped me meet the challenges of the Presidency. I understand now 
clearly the story of the calm in the rough seas. And so at this final 
prayer breakfast as your President, I thank you for your prayers, and I 
thank our people all across America for their prayers. And I ask you not 
to stop in the year ahead. We have so much work to do for our country, 
and with the help of the Almighty, we will build a freer world and a 
safer, more hopeful, more noble America.
    God bless.

Note: The President spoke at 9:16 a.m. at the Hilton Washington Hotel. 
In his remarks, he referred to Adm. Michael G. Mullen, USN, Chairman, 
Joint Chiefs of Staff; Edward W. ``Ward'' Brehm III, Chairman of the 
Board of Directors, U.S. African Development Foundation; entertainer 
Michael W. Smith and his wife Debbie; and Carlos F. Lucero, U.S. Circuit 
Judge for the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.