--- title: Prayer Breakfast: Obama Says Faith Is Stronger Than Fear description: President Obama drew on scripture to deliver a message that strong faith can assuage Americans' fears canonical: https://time.com/4207777/president-obama-national-prayer-breakfast/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-04T16:04:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T14:46:04.110Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Obama Says Faith Is Stronger Than Fear at National Prayer Breakfast og:description: "Like every president, like every leader, like every person, I’ve known fear" og:url: https://time.com/4207777/president-obama-national-prayer-breakfast/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8453786889567c62/69887c23524fc01b1edf698f/508337614.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: US-POLITICS-RELIGION-OBAMA og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Obama Says Faith Is Stronger Than Fear at National Prayer Breakfast twitter:description: "Like every president, like every leader, like every person, I’ve known fear" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8453786889567c62/69887c23524fc01b1edf698f/508337614.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Obama Says Faith Is Stronger Than Fear at National Prayer Breakfast by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Feb 4, 2016 4:04 PM UTC  US President Barack Obama speaks during the National Prayer Breakfast on February 4,2016 in Washington, DC. MANDEL NGAN—AFP/Getty Images US President Barack Obama speaks during the National Prayer Breakfast on February 4,2016 in Washington, DC. MANDEL NGAN—AFP/Getty ImagesMANDEL NGAN—AFP/Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Feb 4, 2016 4:04 PM UTC President Obama urged Americans to turn to faith to assuage their fears amid a time of major changes in the country, in a speech at the [2016 National Prayer Breakfast](http://time.com/4202899/national-prayer-breakfast-history/) on Thursday. The President listed many sources of change in the world—from international conflicts to global warming to new technology—which he said have stoked uncertainties and fears that American progress will stall. But Obama said that faith offers a way of overcoming trepidation about the future. “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind,” said Obama, drawing from a Bible verse in 2 Timothy. “Like every president, like every leader, like every person, I’ve known fear,” Obama added. “If scripture instructs me to put on the full armor of God, then surely I can take on these temporal setbacks.” The President’s speech did not directly reference the divisiveness that has permeated the political contest to replace him in the White House, but his administration has previously criticized Republican candidates for drawing on the fears of the American people in their quest for office. Obama sought to draw a contrast with that message of fear on Thursday, delivering an optimistic speech like the one he gave at [his final State of the Union last month](http://time.com/4176658/barack-obama-final-state-union-analysis/). In the days before the prayer breakfast, Obama visited the Israeli Embassy to honor people who saved Jews during the Holocaust and [made his first visit to a U.S. mosque while in office](http://time.com/4206634/obama-mosque-muslims-american-family/). Both trips informed his speech on Thursday, in which he recalled stories that were relayed to him at each stop, drawing on the theme of not giving in to fear. “I pray,” Obama said after telling the stories, “ that by His grace we all find the courage to set such examples in our own lives.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4207777/president-obama-national-prayer-breakfast/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4207777/president-obama-national-prayer-breakfast/"},"headline":"President Obama Says Faith Is Stronger Than Fear at National Prayer Breakfast","datePublished":"2016-02-04T16:04:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:46:04.110Z","description":"\"Like every president, like every leader, like every person, I’ve known fear\"","url":"https://time.com/4207777/president-obama-national-prayer-breakfast/","keywords":["White House","Barack Obama","President Obama"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8453786889567c62/69887c23524fc01b1edf698f/508337614.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8453786889567c62/69887c23524fc01b1edf698f/508337614.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-POLITICS-RELIGION-OBAMA","caption":"US-POLITICS-RELIGION-OBAMA","creditText":"MANDEL NGAN—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4207777/president-obama-national-prayer-breakfast/","name":"President Obama Says Faith Is Stronger Than Fear at National Prayer Breakfast"}}]}] ```