Addressing President Donald J. Trump and a room filled with American political and civic leaders — as well as international leaders including King Abdullah II of Jordan — on Feb. 2 at the 65th National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, U.S. Senate Chaplain Barry C. Black, a Seventh-day Adventist pastor, recalled the motivation his mother gave him to memorize Bible verses, which kindled a lifelong quest to know the Author of those words.
Now in his 14th year as Senate Chaplain, Black is the first African-American, the first Seventh-day Adventist, and the first retired military officer to hold that position. He was named to the Senate post after retiring from the United States Navy as Chief of Chaplains, holding the rank of Rear Admiral.
Black is the second Seventh-day Adventist to keynote the breakfast, with neurosurgeon and Housing and Urban Development Secretary-designate Dr. Benjamin S. Carson, Sr., being the first. Carson addressed the breakfast twice, the most recent time in 2013.
Donald Trump reacted to Barry Black's speech by saying: "Thank you Senate Chaplain Barry Black, for your moving words... Thank you, Barry. Appreciate it very much."
Here, some important parts of Barry Black's inspiring speech:
"PRESIDENT TRUMP, VICE PRESIDENT PENCE, HEADS OF STATE, MEMBERS OF CONGRESS, SPEAKERS OF PARLIAMENT, VISITING CLERGY, MY FATHERS CHILDREN.
I WANT TO TALK ABOUT MAKING YOUR VOICE HEARD IN HEAVEN. AS HAS ALREADY BEEN STATED, OUR LAWMAKERS GET TOGETHER EACH WEEK FOR A PRAYER BREAKFAST. ONE OF THE THINGS THAT REALLY INSPIRES ME ABOUT THAT PRAYER BREAKFAST IS THE CLOSING PRAYER, WHEN THEY STAND AND JOIN HANDS, AND THEY PRAY TOGETHER, TO SEE REPUBLICAN, DEMOCRAT, INDEPENDENT, PRAYING TOGETHER, I FIND MYSELF THINKING WHERE ARE THE C-SPAN CAMERAS WHEN YOU NEED THEM? ONE SENATOR OBSERVED, AS SOME OF YOU MAY HAVE HEARD, IT'S DIFFICULT TO PRAY LIKE THAT AND THEN LEAVE THAT ROOM AND GO TO THE UPPER CHAMBER AND SECRETIVELY STAB ONE OF YOUR COLLEAGUES IN THE BACK. THE SENATOR QUICKLY ADDED, IT'S NOT IMPOSSIBLE, BUT IT IS DIFFICULT.
FEWER OF YOU MAY KNOW THAT THE NEXT DAY IN ONE OF THE HIDEAWAYS, SENATORS FROM BOTH SIDES OF THE AISLE MEET FOR A BIBLE STUDY. THE BIBLE STUDY BEGINS AND ENDS WITH A PRAYER, AGAIN BOTH SIDES OF THE AISLE PRAYING WITH AND FOR ONE ANOTHER. SOME OF YOU MAY NOT KNOW THAT EVERY WEDNESDAY THE CHIEFS OF STAFF GET TOGETHER FOR A BIBLE STUDY THAT BEGINS AND ENDS WITH A PRAYER. SOME OF YOU MAY NOT KNOW THAT EVERY FRIDAY, MORE THAN 100 STAFFERS, CAPITOL POLICE OFFICERS, JANITORS, WAITERS, WAITRESSES COME TOGETHER FOR A BIBLE STUDY. AND THAT BIBLE STUDY BEGINS AND ENDS WITH A PRAYER.
PAUL HAD IT RIGHT IN PHILIPPIANS FOUR, 22, “THERE ARE SAINTS IN CAESAR'S HOUSEHOLD”. AND I AM ENCOURAGED BY THE ROBUST SPIRITUALITY OF SO MANY WHO WORK ON CAPITOL HILL. WE HAD SENATORS WHO ARE UNDER THE RADAR BUT ORDAINED MINISTERS. I WON'T OUT ANY OF THEM RIGHT AT THIS TIME. WE ALSO HAD SENATORS WHOSE SPIRITUALITY DWARFS MY OWN. AND SO WE NEED TO COME TOGETHER AND REALIZE THAT WHEN WE PRAY, WE ARE MAKING OUR VOICE, OUR VOICES HEARD IN HEAVEN. I BELIEVE THEY GATHER BECAUSE OF THAT.
NOW, WE WORK AT MAKING OUR VOICES HEARD ON EARTH. WE MARCH, WE LEFT PLACARDS, WE ARE INVOLVED IN SOCIAL MEDIA, WE BLOG. WE HAVE LINKED IN AND WE HAVE GOOGLE, AND YOUTUBE AND ALL THE WAYS THAT WE TRIED TO MAKE OUR VOICES HEARD ON EARTH. BUT WHEN I SEE A GROUP OF PEOPLE OF FAITH OF THIS SIZE, I GET AN ADRENALINE RUSH. BECAUSE I KNOW THAT WHERE TWO OR THREE ARE GATHERED TOGETHER IN GOD'S NAME, HE IS THERE IN THE MID-SPIRIT SO WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE GET THIS MANY PEOPLE GATHERED TOGETHER IN HIS NAME? I FEEL THE PALPABLE PRESENCE OF GOD IN THIS PLACE, AND FAR MORE IMPORTANT THAN LETTING OUR VOICES BE HEARD ON EARTH IS IT THE OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE OUR VOICES HEARD IN HEAVEN. […]
NOW, I KNOW THAT THERE ARE THOSE WHO SAY THAT THE EFFICACY OF PRAYER DOES NOT GO BEYOND THE INTERIOR LIGHT OF THE INTERSECTION. PRAYER DOESN'T CHANGE ANYTHING, BUT I AGREE WITH TENNYSON THAT MORE THINGS ARE WROUGHT BY PRAYER THAN THIS WORLD DREAMS OF. I ALSO BELIEVE THAT WHEN WE PRAY, HUMANITY COOPERATES WITH DIVINITY. […]
MY FRIENDS, THERE ARE THINGS WE WILL NEVER GET, EXCEPT BY REQUEST ONLY. THERE ARE BLESSINGS THAT HANG ON SILKEN CORDS THAT WE WILL NEVER RECEIVE, EXCEPT BY REQUEST ONLY.
JAMES CHAPTER FOUR VERSUS TWO SAYS “YOU HAVE NOT BECAUSE YOU ASKED NOT”. IN MARK CHAPTER SIX, JESUS WENT TO HIS HOMETOWN. JESUS HAD ALREADY SET A PROPHET HAS ON HER EVERYWHERE, EXCEPT IN HIS HOMETOWN. HE GOT THERE AND THE PEOPLE WERE SKEPTICAL. THEY SAID, ISN'T THIS THE CARPENTER SON? WHERE DID HE GET HIS WISDOM? AND THE SO-CALLED MIGHTY WORKS? AND ONE OF THE MOST STARTLING BIBLE VERSES I KNOW, MARK CHAPTER SIX, VERSE SIX SAYS, “AND JESUS COULD NOT DO MANY MIGHTY WORKS THERE, HIS HOMETOWN, BECAUSE OF THEIR UNBELIEF”. NOT WOULD NOT, COULD NOT DO MANY MIGHTY WORKS, BECAUSE OF THEIR UNBELIEF.
IN MATTHEW CHAPTER 17, THE DISCIPLES MADE AN ABORTED ATTEMPT TO CAST OUT A DEMON FROM A BOY. THEY WERE UNSUCCESSFUL, OF COURSE. WHEN THEY GOT JESUS PRIVATELY, GOT HIM SOME WERE PRIVATELY, THEY ASKED HIM, WHY COULDN'T WE CAST OUT THE DEMONS? AND JESUS SAID IN MATTHEW 17, 20, BECAUSE OF YOUR UNBELIEF. BECAUSE IF YOU HAD FAITH, THE SIZE OF THE GRAIN OF A MUSTARD SEED, YOU WOULD BE ABLE, PRAISE GOD, TO MOVE MOUNTAINS.
MY FRIENDS, WHEN WE MAKE OUR VOICES HEARD IN HEAVEN, IT MAKES A PALPABLE DIFFERENCE.[…]
WE NEED TO PRAY FOR EVERYONE, ALL PEOPLE, WHETHER THEY READ THE BIBEL WHETHER THEY READ THE HOLY QURAN, WE NEED TO PRAY FOR ALL PEOPLE, HALLELUJAH TO THE LAND OF GOD.
ASK GOD TO HELP THEM, INTERCEDE ON THEIR BEHALF, AND GIVE THANKS FOR THEM. PRAY THIS WAY FOR KINGS, AND ALL WHO ARE IN AUTHORITY, SO THAT WE CAN LIVE PEACEFUL AND QUIET LIVES MARKED BY GODLINESS AND DIGNITY. THIS IS GOOD AND PLEASES GOD, OUR SAVIOR, WHO WANTS EVERYONE TO BE SAVED AND TO UNDERSTAND THE TRUTH. PRAISE GOD.[…]
WE NEED TO PRAY WITH INTIMACY. JESUS SAID TO HIS DISCIPLES IN JOHN 15, 16, “I NO LONGER CALL YOU SERVANTS. I CALL YOU MY FRIENDS”. GOD WANTS A RELATIONSHIP WITH US. JESUS SAID AGAIN IN HIS WONDERFUL PRAYER IN JOHN CHAPTER 17, VERSE ONE, “HE LIFTED HIS EYES TO HEAVEN AND SAID FATHER, THE HOUR HAS COME. GLORIFY YOUR SON, THAT YOUR SON ALSO MIGHT GLORIFY YOU, AS YOU HAVE GIVEN HIM POWER. TO GIVE TO AS MANY AS WOULD RECEIVE HIM, ETERNAL LIFE”. AND VERSE THREE OF JOHN 17, “THIS IS LIFE ETERNAL. THAT THEY MIGHT KNOW YOU, ABBA. AND JESUS CHRIST WHO YOU HAVE SENT”.
GOD WANTS AN INTIMACY WITH US.
FINALLY, PRAY FOR THOSE WHO GOVERN, PRAISE THE LORD. PRAY FOR THOSE WHO GOVERN. PRAYED THIS WAY, FOR KINGS AND FOR ALL WHO ARE IN AUTHORITY SO THAT WE CAN LIVE PEACEFUL AND QUIET LIVES MARKED BY GODLINESS AND DIGNITY.
WE FASTED AND PRAYED FOR MONTHS DURING THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, THE PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY. WE FASTED AND PRAYED, HUNDREDS OF US, ON CAPITOL HILL, THAT THE WILL OF GOD MIGHT BE DONE.
ISAIAH 55, EIGHT AND NINE, GOD SAYS “MY PARTS ARE NOT YOUR PART. MY WAYS ARE NOT YOUR WAYS”. GOD, GOD IS SMARTER THAN WE ARE.
WE MUST PRAY FOR THOSE WHO GOVERN, AND MAKE OUR VOICES HEARD IN HEAVEN. […]
MY HOPE DOES NOT REST IN THE VARIOUS BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT, EXECUTIVE, LEGISLATIVE OR JUDICIAL. MY HOPE DOES NOT REST IN THE ALLIANCES THAT WE BUILD. MY TESTIMONY IS SIMPLY THIS. MY HOPE IS BUILT ON NOTHING LESS THAN JESUS BLOOD AND RIGHTEOUSNESS. ON CHRIST THE SOLID ROCK I STAND. ALL OTHER GROUND IS SINKING. ALL OTHER GROUND IS SINKING SAND. GOD BLESS YOU."
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