[inaudible conversations] ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States, joe biden, accompanied by the honorable mike johnson, speaker of the United States house of representatives, the honorable Hakeem Jeffries democratic leader of the United States house of representatives, the honorable tracey mann, cochair of the National Prayer breakfast, and honorable frank mrvan, cochair of the National Prayer breakfast. Our father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen. [applause] wow. I think we right now. Its been a great Prayer Breakfast but we have wonderful program. Thank you so much for sharing with you what a wonderful way to start our time together. Good morning. Im congressman tracey mann. Im congressman frank marvin. As cochairs of the weekly house Prayer Breakfast its are privileged to welcome you to the 72nd annual National Prayer breakfast. We gather in a stork statutory halt this morning in the spirit of jesus to pray, for the president , for one another, and for the country. The National Prayer breakfast is a refuge the fellowship for members of congress and the president of the United States where we put our political differences aside and come together in unity to pray. President dwight d. Eisenhower, i hereby, spoke at the very first National Prayer breakfast in 1953. The story goes that one day while he was sharing at the weekly synod Prayer Breakfast he referred to the white house as the loneliest house in america, and the idea for this gathering was born. Today marks 71 years since the first National Prayer breakfast, and as we look around on our country and world we find ourselves in desperate need of spiritual renewal. As americans its part of our heritage to call upon the lord for help in our time of need. Thats why we have come together this morning. Thank you all for joining us and thank you, mr. President , for being here. We are blessed to have maestro Andrea Bocelli here with us this morning. Please give him a round of applause. [applause] maestro pacelli saying in 2016 National Prayer breakfast is faced with is an inspiration to all and his musical gifts are unmatched. Ladies and gentlemen, maestro Andrea Bocelli. [applause] amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me i once was lost but now am found, was blind, but now i see twas grace that taught my heart to fear and grace, my fears relieved how precious did that grace appear the hour i first believed i shall possess within the veil, a life of joy and peace. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me i once was lost but now am found, was blind, but now i see was blind, but now i see [applause] thank you very much. Its incredible emotion and honor to be here. Let me say some word in my language if i may. [speaking in native tongue] in ancient roman, grace and command that soldiers would not be permitted to this dispute. [speaking in native tongue] translator and this is because music softened ones heart and make soldiers not prepare to battle. [speaking in native tongue] translator thats why i am extremely pleased to be here today, to bring my own small musical contribution. Because i think that you, like me, are hoping and dreaming of having an army of soldiers not ready to battle, but to bring peace in the world. [applause] amen, thank you. Let us pray. Gracious god, thank you for the opportunity to gather today in the spirit of jesus here in the capital at the National Prayer breakfast. We ask that you bless us and our country and show us the way that you would have us live an govern. We pray for discerning hearts to govern, to distinguish between right and wrong, and for the courage to Work Together in love. Please help us to keep all americans in our hearts as we serve them and we work for the good of our beloved country. Please grow us into better servant leaders who think, speak, act, and live as jesus did. Please help us always to remember your blessings, your faithfulness, and your promises. We ask all of this in the name of jesus. Amen. Please welcome speaker johnson undemocratic leader jeffries to read scripture on the Old Testament. And democratic. Thank you all for being here. Marshall vercelli, you did soften the heart this morning. We went on the front row. I reading from the Old Testament psalms 37. Do not threat because of those who were evil or the envious of those who do wrong. Like the grass they will soon whether like green plants they will soon die away. Trust in the lord and do good, dwell in the life and enjoy safe pasture. Take the delight in the lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the lord and trust in him and he will do this. This. He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn. Your vindication like the noonday song. Thanks be to god. Good morning. I reading from the book of proverbs chapter format, verses 2027. My son, Pay Attention to what i say. Turn your ear to my words. Do not let them out of your site. Keep them within your heart. For those who find them and held to ones own body. Above all else, are your heart. Everything you do flows from it. Keep your mouth free of diversity. Keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead. Six your days directly before you. Give careful thought to the path for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or to the left. Keep your foot from evil. Thanks be to god. This morning were grateful to hear from synod chaplain barry black. I first met chaplain black a few years ago as he traveled across canada to attend the late senator bob doles memorial service. To those you dont know chapel buchenwald was one of eight children and he and his beloved wife brenda now have three grown sons of their own. Chaplain black spent 27 years in the u. S. Navy chapel court and served as rear admiral and chief of chaplains for the entire navy before becoming chaplain of the synod in 2003. His mastery of the scriptures is stunning and his insight into life is infallible. From my first conversation with the chaplain it was truly made that a powerful message he has to share. And im grateful that he is a great to be with us here this morning. Ladies and gentlemen, the 62nd chaplain of the United States synod dr. Barry black. [applause] let us pray. Speak, lord, for we are listening. In the name of jesus christ our lord, amen. President biden, leaders in our government, legislative branch, judicial branch, leaders throughout the world, and my dear wife brenda, the fact that i am standing before you today is proof that god indeed has a sense of humor. [laughing] i want to talk to you about turning your crisis into conquests, turning your crisis into conquests. A crisis is a time of difficulty, trouble, or danger. A conquest is the act or process of conquering. We are facing many challenges in our nation and world. But the fact that we can come to this place in this nation and lift our hearts across the religious spectrum in prayer and praise is compelling proof that there is a force that can turn our crisis into conquest. Now, i am not a motivational speaker. I am a preacher of the word of god. So you know youre going to hear a little scripture today. Second chronicles chapter 20 gives us an amazing story about a king named jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat was the fourth king of judah. You will recall there was a split in the kingdom after the death of solomon into the northern and the southern kingdom. Jehoshaphat was the great, great grandson of solomon and the great, great, great grandson of david. Perhaps the most consequential king israel ever had. When youve got that kind of pedigree, you have prayer and praise in your dna. Jehoshaphat received a message that is nation had been ambushed. It had been ambushed by three nations that came into alliance with one another, and hes three nations were actually relatives of jehoshaphat and his people, the ammonites and with ancestors or the offspring of lot, and the edomites with the offspring of esau. And they said king, we dont know what to do. They are already 50 miles from where we are. They have to jump on us. What can we do . Verse three of second chronicles chapter 20 picks up the story. Jehoshaphat was terrified by this news, and begged the lord for guidance. Also ordered everyone in judah to begin fasting. So people from all the towns of judah came to jerusalem to seek the lords help. I wonder what would happen if we used, as many of us on capitol hill have been doing, the weapon of fasting. Jehoshaphat had an army according to second chronicles 17, 1418 of 1,165,000 soldiers. So why would you need to fast and pray with an army like that . Well, jehoshaphat verse five, stood before the community of judah as he invited them to come to judah, and he prayed this prayer, second chronicles 20, verse six. Sounds like one of my prayers. The senate will come to order. Heres what he praise. Ointerjection lord god of our ancestors, you alone are the god who is in heaven. You are ruler of all the kingdoms of the earth. You are powerful and mighty. No one can stand against you. You have got an army of 1,165,000 soldiers, and yet you are bragging on god in your prayer to an assembled group of your citizens, and you were telling the sovereign god of the universe, we are not going to trust in our military might. No one can stand against you. Vx, and now we see what the armys of ammon, moab and mt. Sierra are doing. Verse 12. All our god, we are powerless against this mighty army. What you talk about, jehoshaphat . You have 1,165,000 soldiers. We are powerful against this, powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us. We do not know what to do. You dont hear that a lot. We do not know what to do, but we are looking to you for help. God answered almost immediately. There was a man in the crowd by the name of jahaziel. The spirit of the lord came upon jahaziel. The spirit of the lord came upon one of the insanity come first 14. His name was jahaziel, son of zechariah. He said as a king finishes prayer. Listen to all you people of judah and jerusalem. Listen king jehoshaphat. This is what the lord says. Do not be afraid. America needs to hear this word. Dont be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but gods. Tomorrow, march out against them. Them. You will find them come up through the ascent of this. This is what happens when the spirit of god takes over. Take your positions, then standstill and watch the lords victory. He is with you. And there is nothing that we cannot accomplish when we remember that god is with us. And jahaziel said, you will not even have to fight. Early the next morning, the army of the judah went out into the wilderness i love this after consulting the people, they king appointed singers. Jehoshaphat gets the choir. He gets noncombatants. Have you lost your mind . We have already heard from the maestro how powerful music can be. He said, bring in the choir. And he appointed singers to walk ahead of the army singing to the lord and praising him for his holy splendor. This is what they saying, give thanks to the lord, his faithful love endures forever. At the very moment they began to sing, when praises go up, blessings come down the very moment they begin to sing, the lord, you have got 1,165,000 soldiers on your side, but jehoshaphat great, great, great grandfather david said, in the 20th salm verse seven, trust some trust in horses, some trust in chariots, but we will trust in the name of the lord our god. When the choir started singing, god started moving and cause the armys of ammon, moab, mount cyr to start fighting amongst themselves. The armys of ammon and moab turned against their allies, the edomites and killed everyone of them after they had destroyed the army, the begin attacking each other, so when the army of judah arrived at Lookout Point in the wilderness all they saw, the fact that that great host had destroyed itself, because god had told them you will not even have to fight. Well, the battle is not yours, but it belongs to me. One of my relatives called me last night. I talk with her a lot. When she asked me a question that shes never asked me before, she said, barry, how do you survive the insanity per word, not mine on capitol hill . Now just imagine, this is like and be saying to andy, how do is the sensors stuff when this happens. When aunt b start saying to andy and barney uses the word insanity of you are in trouble in mayberry and other places as well. [laughing] how to do that . And i respond to, well, you know, we have some saints in caesars household. What are you talk about . We are talking capitol hill, barry. I you dont know is, every week as the legislative branch is in session they meet for Prayer Breakfast, both sides of the aisle, and representatives and senators talk about their faith pilgrimage. What . What you dont know is every week, i say ive been doing this, it will be 21 years in july, every week on capitol hill, i teach a bible study and senators from both sides of the aisle come to that bible study. And i said, theres one senator whos missed one bible study in 19 years. She said, who is that . I said thats classified. [laughing] i can tell you but i would have to kill you after i told you. All right . I said, what you dont know is that february 24, 2022 in russia invaded ukraine, hundreds of people on capitol hill begin to fast and pray. She said, what . I said, what you dont know is on october seven, 2023, when the palestinian, soon become this Islamic Group hamas, i didnt put it quite like that to her, made a surprise attack against israel from the gaza strip by land, sea and air. People on capitol hill were continuing to fast and pray. What you dont know is that in the last two president ial elections people on capitol hill were fasting and praying. Talking about representatives, senators, chiefs of staff, waiters, waitresses, janitors were fasting and praying. Hundreds of us have been doing that. I have been fasting since the russian invasion of ukraine. Not a week has gone by without fasting. And we learn from this story of jehoshaphat using spiritual warfare instead of the arm of flesh, how to turn our crisis into conquest. So what did we learn . We learn this lesson first of all, respect your weapons of fasting and prayer. When asked to face genocide, she said to mordechai, my maidens and i will fast, and you and the people fast also. And i will go before the king, even though it is against the law, and if i perish, i perish. When nineveh was threatened with judgment, a pagan king said weve got to fast and pray. And it averted judgment. Jesus of nazareth had disciples who made an unsuccessful attempt to cast a demon out of a boy. Jesus was on the mountain of transfiguration. Jesus came down from the mountain. The father said i brought my boy to your disciples and they couldnt cast out the demon. Jesus exercised the demon and matthew 17, 1921 says when the disciples got jesus alone, they said to him, why could we not cast out the demonic . You gave Us Delegated Authority in luke chapter ten and we did it. And jesus said in matthew 1721, this kind comes out by fasting and prayer. Some of you may remember the name peter derek prince. Peter derek prince was a cambridge graduate, cambridge. He was a master of languages. He was in world war ii, north africa. He was there, 2411943 and things look bleak. Morale was low. There was tension between officers and enlisted. Prince had been an atheist but had a a dramatic encounter wih the risen christ. And he began to fast. He talks about it in his book, shaping a nation through fasting and prayer. He started fasting every wednesday. We have been doing Something Like that on capitol hill. And this is a prayer he prayed that i believe if we prayed this prayer, we could turn any crisis into a conquest daily. Fasting one day a week but daily. Derek prince prayed, lord, give us leaders such that it will be for your glory to give us victory through them. My god, my god, what a prayer. Lord, give us leaders such that it will be for your glory to give us victory through them. They had some problems. Churchill was replacing generals, a general that they were cynic and Northern Africa ended up in a plane crash, and they reached down and got a littleknown officer by the name of bernard montgomery, who was the son of an anglican bishop. So here is a new sheriff in town. The rest is history. Respect your weapons of fasting and prayer. Then rely on gods spirit to god you as the second lesson. It was a spirit of god that prompted jahaziel to have the guidance that they needed, and that same spirit is available to us jesus of nazareth said, acts chapter one verse eight before he ascended, and you will receive power after the holy spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses throughout the world. Many years ago, i started praying luke 11 13 where god promises his holy spirit to anyone who asks, who will ask for it. I started praying it. Didnt know what i was doing but you saying whatever you are offering in this gift, i want. It was a long before my dear wife said what shes only said once in our marriage, she said, barry, whatever has happened to you, i want it to happen to me. I said, baby girl, all i been doing is just bring this luke 11 13 thing. She started praying it. The same thing that happened to me happened to her. And we ended up instead of being a dyad, he became a triad bit because we have a counselor in our midst who was better than ford, better than young, allison adler. We had a celestial psychiatrist, and he does not charge us a sense. The only problem is he usually sides with brenda. [laughing] the final lesson that we learn, the final lesson that we learn is released the power of your praise. Before your deliveranc