could move mountains. we experienced a similar miracle when we hear the size of the voice that comes out of the relatively small body of our singer jackie evon co-. she's 11 and god has given her an extraordinary gift and we're thrilled she's here it to share it with us. please welcome jackie ivanko. ♪

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>> wow. thank you, jackie. that was phenomenal. thank you so much. we have quite the head table here. we have the runner-up to america's got talent, the winner of the heisman trophy, the winner of the nobel prize, and the most powerful woman in american history. so thank you all for being here. >> thank you. >> pretty impressive, but when we come before god, all the fancy titles are brought down and the humble regular people are raised up. we're all equally of value before our creator.

allow me to introduce some of our presenters who will just come to the podium when their turn arises. as a senator representing the national champion alabama, never get tired of slipping that in, i get to introduce the football player. we're proud to have a baylor bear with us, mr. robert griffin iii, winer of the 2012 heisman trophy. he excelled at finishing drives in games, so we asked him to do our closing prayer. we always honor our nation's military each year by asking one of their own to be part of the program. today we're proud to have colonel kellie martin, an active duty air force officer who serves in the operations directate of the joint staff at the pentagon. during her career as a -- during

his career as a pilot she did countless in-flight refuelling so she knows a thing or two about prayer. she will lead us in a prayer for american national leaders, and actually it's congressman and dr. paul brown from georgia. he and congressman mcintyre lead the house breakfast group. every ship has an anchor, the senator from hawaii has been our anchor for many years. we're going to miss him when he retires, and we asked him to say a prayer for world leaders, and i would just add i've not known anyone, alabama or elsewhere who

has better lived his life in the spirit of jesus than danny. thank you for all you do to make the senate and our government and nation a better place. we're also joined by our colleague dr. tom coburn, he passionately representing the people of oklahoma in the senate, and will give us a reading from the scripture. if you know tom you know his faith impacts his life. next i have the honor and privilege of introducing my wife, mrs. mary sessions, a partner for 42 years who enabled me -- who enabled me to be able to serve, has provide us with three children and five grandchildren. so we're very grateful once again to welcome the first lady

of the united states, michelle obama. none of us can even imagine the burdens that you carry as the spouse of the leader of our nation. we thank you and pray for you and honor your work on behalf of the health of our nation's children and all americans. >> mr. president, did you hear the little thing about the national championship? you know, this year is alabama. last year it was auburn. it never stops. >> it never stops. >> you see what i have to put up with now? it's hard to be a razorback fan, but we're working on it. that's right. what most people don't fully realize that government is a team sport. we're all thankful to have our tireless and passionate vice president running all over the country and all over the world to accomplish our country's most

important work, vice president joe biden. the next person i want to introduce is my wife, jill prior, the best person in the world. you've already met jackie evancho. she's going to sing one more song in a few minutes. i think after that she has to leave here and go study for a spelling test. sitting next to her is her mother, the proudest mom in the room. this is lisa evancho. thank you both for being here. shortly we're going to hear a greeting from our counterparts who lead the house prayer breakfast group. they make those of us at the head table feel extra safe because one is a doctor and the other is a black belt in tae

kwon do. one kind of tears you up and one tears you down, i guess. namely congressman mcintyre of north carolina, congressman brown of georgia. thank you both for being here. and finally one of the three people in the room who need no introduction is majority leader nancy pelosi. we thank her for her inspiring service to the country. and her support for the prayer breakfast over the years and we look forward to the scripture that she's about to read. madam leader. >> thank you very much, senator pryor, for the invitation to read from the holy scripture this morning. let us be grateful for the fellowship that brings us together with our president of the united states and the first

lady, the vice president, who said after jackie finishednohow angels sound. so beautiful. the fellowship that brings us together as colleagues, our international guests and our, of course, most of all men and women in uniform who give us the opportunity to exercise freely our faith. i'm honored for the opportunity to read from the holy scripture, from the old testament. when i was asked by senator pryor to do so, i went right to solomon. we all know over the ages that king solomon has been recognized for his great wisdom. but it's really important to note that his wisdom sprang from humility, and that must be our prayer. solomon's prayer her relded at least two books of the bible.

the second book of chronicles, the first book of kings. a reading from the first book of kings. god appeared to solomon in a dream during the night. god said, ask what you would like me to give you. solomon replied, you showed most faithful love to your servant, david, my father, when he lived his life before you in faithfulness and uprightness and integrity of heart. you have continued this most sacred love to him by allowing his son to sit on the throne today. now, my god you have made me your servant king in succession to david my father, but i'm a very young man unskilled p in leadership. here is your servant, surrounded by your people whom you have chosen, a people so numerous it's number cannot be counted or reckoned. so solomon said give your

servant a heart to understand how to govern your people, how to discern between good and evil. how can one otherwise govern such a great people as yours. it pleased god that solomon should have asked for this. since you have asked for this, god said, and not asked for long life for yourself or riches or vengeance upon your energies but have asked for discerning judgment for yourself here and now i do what you ask. i give you wisdom and understanding as no one has ever had before, and no one will have after you. the whole world sought audience with solomon to know the wisdom god had put in his heart. may our message from this reading be that we have the humility to ask god for what pleases him so that we can do his work. amen. >> amen.

>> thank you. good job. thank you. [ applause ] >> good morning. i'm dr. paul brown. i'm a physician and representative from the 10th congressional district in georgia and a republican. this is my friend, mike mcintyre, as senator pryor just told us. he's a black belt, so i'm going to be careful what i say about him. he's a democrat, blue dog democrat that represents north carolina. i'm also a member of the giddeons. if you didn't have a bible in your hotel room, please let me know. we'll be sure to get you one. i'm a giddeon because it was their bible that led us to the lord and it led me to my lord

and savior some time ago. we thank you for coming to the breakfast today. specially honored guest from all around the world. we're up here to bring greetings from our weekly congressional house breakfast group and give you kind of a bit of a sense of emotion with what goes on there. i'd love to see a headline one day that says republicans and democrats pray together. i'm not sure "the washington post" or "new york times" would run that headline, but it's absolutely true. we do, and we've done for so over 50 years in our private little dining room. we gather each week, and we do that to pray. we study the scriptures, and we share our family struggles and needs and our personal needs. we even try to sing sometimes. actually every week that we're here. we call it a the best because

it's when democrats and republicans come together. put politics aside and partisanship aside and we're just personal. friends, brothers and sisters in christ. we worship our god together. over 25 years ago jesus christ changed my life when i accepted him as my personal lord and savior. he gave me not only a personal peace but he gave me a purpose in my life, to serve him and to live for him. there's no rule that says that i have to check my faith when i go through the doors of the house chambers. i couldn't if i wanted to. i'm always eager to talk about what god has done for me and in my life and how he's changed me. how he saved me and made me a ch child of god. i'm thankful for our house group. the people who founded the united states were people who prayed. they knew the scriptures, and it's good for the whole nation

to follow their example in honoring the god that created each and every one of us and his son who died for us all. >> thank you, paul. i'm mike mcintyre, and serving in congress is great a privilege but a tremendous challenge. i'm very thankful that i get to meet with my colleagues from both sides of the aisle to come together in our breakfast group where we can share heart to heart. you know, washington usually focuses just on the surface, on the labels and where you come from and who you're supposed to be identified with. in our weekly group it allows us to go deeper and build friendships. i also want to tell you about a new tradition. during the first vote of each week on monday or tuesday night, depending on when we go into session, several house members step across the hall in room 219 and leave labels at the door and pray like solomon of the old testament for wisdom for that week so we will make the right

decisions. you know, when i'm back in my district, i often have people come up to me and express concerns or explain about washington. can you imagine that. they go on for 30 minutes and usually after i listen, i'll say would you pray for us that we will make the right sdrigss. if it's that important to you or your family or business or your school or our country, would you take the time to pray for us? that we will make the right decision? you know, i've never had anybody refuse to do that when i've asked them. we want to build a wall of prayer around our nation's capitol andne or brick in that wall of prayer if you want each week by taking five minutes to join us in prayer, and you can choose the time. if you go prayer caucus website and say, you know what, mike? i will pray for you and for our president and for all of our

leaders at all levels of the government, it is that important. you see, the true source of power is not found in the of co or in the noble office of the west wing or in the the supreme court. it's found in our -- i think you'll agree, our country is worth it. god bless you all and thank you so much. >> please join us now in a prayer for the national leaders. lord, it is with a humble heart that we come before you today

and ask for a special measure of grace and wisdom be given to the men and women who lead our nation. for we know that it is the fear of the lord that is the beginning of wisdom and understanding, and it is by your grace and love that you arm us with the strength and guide our steps toward what is perfect. leadership is not easy. and good leadership is rare and of great value. but great leadership comes only from you. throughout our nation's history, you have blessed us with a legacy of leaders who served with excellence, and we are grateful that this blessing continues today. thank you for each and every one of our leaders and their willingness to serve our nation, its people and ultimately to serve you. i ask that in the heat of battle you give our leaders clarity of mind and the courage to make right decisions, especially when it is not convenient or expedient. give them the faith to always

seek you, a hope that will sustain them, and most importantly, give them a love that will unite them. we ask that you bless our leaders, protect and watch over them, give them a peace that passes understanding. bless their families and continue to bless the united states of america. so ps name, amen. >> amen. [ applause ] . >> well, good morning. i have the privilege of reading from the new testament scriptures, the most powerful

source: love. in this room we have 42 different countries, all colors, all aspects of faith and maybe a few different points of view. jesus said to him, you shall love the lord your god with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. this is the first and the greatest commandment. and the second is like it. that you shall love your neighbor as yourself. on these two commandments hang the law and the prophets. a new commandment i give to you that you love one another as i have loved you, that you also love one another. this is my commandment to you, that you love one another as i have loved you. greater love has no more than

this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. the power of love is manifested in the subtleness and happiness of a heart. because as we give love and s k sacrificial love, that's the only way our lives are truly fulfilled, by giving away our lives. we have great examples of that. in our military, in our leaders as they sacrifice their life and time and families, but the fact is, as we're commanded to do that, may god bless the reading of his word. [ applause ] >> let me add my aloha and

welcome to all of you gathered here at the 60th national prayer breakfast. let us pray. holy, holy, holy, lord god of hosts. heaven and earth are filled with your glory. we come to you to pray for our world leaders. give them your wisdom to deal with the challenging problems of our time.ir rest upon them as they seek to empower people to lead quiet and peaceful lives in all godliness and honesty. send out your light and lead our

world leaders with your truth. bring them through strife and warfare to lasting peace, uniting them for the glory of your name. as they put aside selfish ambition, make them instruments of your will to carry out your purposes in our world. we pray this in your sovereign name, amen. >> well done. thank you. [ applause ] >> when we take the long view of history, it's pretty clear that ideas are more powerful than money or guns or even

governments. since we follow that logic, ideas about god would be the most powerful of all. one of the most precious resources of the community of faith are those women and men who help us think deeply and clearly about god, about truth, and about responsibility. eric mataxis has been a friend of this breakfast for many years, so let that be a warning to all of you, if you come too often, we may ask you to speak. but he has written two "new york times" best sellers, 30 children's books, he's been part of the veggie tales series. he's also debated the existence of god in academic settings all over the world. i first became aware of him from his book "amazing grace" about william wilburforce whose life makes a great guide book for anyone who is serving in

government. i just finished another book of his about another great public role model, dieterich bonhafer, prophet, leader, spy. ladies and gentlemen, eric mataxis. [ applause ] >> well, good morning to all of you, honored guests from around the world from this great nation, mostly to our president and first lady. what an honor to be here. now, i have to ask -- i want to know how many people are here this morning. if you don't mind, just indulge me -- would you raise your hand if you're here -- that was four. they said 4,000. let me just say up front, i'm not a morning person. but it is nonetheless an honor to speak at this extraordinarily

early gathering. now, i know it's an al gus gathering because they charged $175 for breakfast. i don't want to start out by being negative, but i think there may be some kind of money laund laundering thing happening here. the price gouging, it needs to stop. even as a member of the elite 1%, i cannot afford this. but, you know, we joke -- [ applause ] >> yeah. we joke, we joke, but -- thank you -- we joke, but seriously, i know who puts these events on. they are a highly secret, indeed a nefarious, organization. they call themselves the family. yes, the family. you see, the family not only runs this event, they run everything that's happening in the world we, and, of course, i mean the