[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 21 (Wednesday, March 2, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]

                                 prayer

  The Chaplain, the Reverend Richard C. Halverson, D.D., offered the 
following prayer:
  Let us pray.
  * * * ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not 
troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not 
yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: 
and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers 
places.--Matthew 24:6, 7.
  Eternal God, sovereign Lord of history, at this critical time in our 
Nation and the world, help us to hear these somber words of Jesus. He 
is not threatening; He is simply stating reality. To the religious 
leaders of His day He challenged, ``* * * O ye hypocrites, ye can 
discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the 
times?''--Matthew 16:3.
  Patient God, we take seriously the daily weather reports, but we 
ignore the ``signs of the times.'' We anticipate tomorrow's weather, 
but we seem indifferent to the giant digression and discontinuity of 
moral and spiritual decay. We know that liberty without law is a myth, 
but we also know that law has its limitations when it comes to the 
fragmentation of society by alienation. Help us realize that self-
alienation from God is the root of all alienation--family, society, 
nations.
  Mighty God, restore to us the faith of our fathers which brought this 
great Nation into existence.
  We pray in the name of Him Who is Light and Love incarnate. Amen.

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