That's the question asked by this recent Explainer on Slate.com. Great historical nugget here:
The prayer breakfast got started in mid-1930s Seattle, where traveling preacher Abraham Vereide held morning meetings for politicians and businessmen to pray about -- and try to combat -- poverty and the spread of communism. He decided on breakfast due to the Christian tradition of morning prayers and, it's said, as a nod to John 21 -- wherein Jesus appears to his disciples in the early morning by the Sea of Tiberias and helps them catch fish. Breakfast was also practical, since 7 or 7:30 a.m. meetings didn't interfere with the workday or with family obligations in the evening.
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