WATCH LIVE: The 2024 National Prayer Breakfast

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are gathering together Thursday for one, simple purpose – prayer.

Top U.S. leaders including President Joe Biden will attend the 71st annual National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. 

Since 1953, the annual multi-faith event has been urging political and religious leaders to meet, pray, and build relationships. Every president since Dwight D. Eisenhower has attended the event. 

Previously the event was organized by the Fellowship Foundation, a religious group. But in 2023, Congress took the reins by creating the National Prayer Breakfast Foundation, which is headed by former Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND).

Last year, Biden presented remarks focused on promoting unity, and he encouraged lawmakers to follow God’s commandments. 

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“Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, all thy mind, and all thy soul. And love thy neighbor as thyself,” declared Biden. “That’s the hardest one I think, at least it’s hardest here. Didn’t used to be as hard.”
 
“My prayer for this prayer breakfast is we start to see each other again, look at each other again, travel with each other again, argue like h*** with each other again but then still go to lunch together,” he added.  

This year, the breakfast is being held amid a number of global conflicts, including the Israel-Hamas war and the ongoing war in Ukraine.

WATCH BELOW: Join Our CBN Livestream of the 2024 National Prayer Breakfast

Meanwhile, before the Prayer Breakfast kicked off, numerous members of Congress took part in the National Gathering for Prayer & Repentance on Wednesday morning at the Museum of the Bible in Washington. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson and Rabbi Jonathan Cahn were among several speakers urging Americans to repent and turn back to God. 

“In this time of great crisis and in this moment of cultural upheaval, in an era of completely divided government; it is incumbent upon us to daily seek God’s wisdom in our affairs,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson. 

“In this time of great crisis and in this moment of cultural upheaval, in an era of completely divided government; it is incumbent upon us to daily seek God’s wisdom in our affairs.” @speakerjohnson

National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance: https://t.co/Gs1AeTC9HL pic.twitter.com/zct2iERGbA

— Family Research Council (@FRCdc) January 31, 2024

In addition to today’s National Prayer Breakfast, every week on Capitol Hill a bipartisan groups of senators and representatives come together to pray – a tradition that has been going on for decades.