[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 53 (Thursday, May 5, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]

                                 prayer

  The Reverend Richard C. Halverson, Jr., of Falls Church, VA, offered 
the following prayer:
  Let us pray:
  Heavenly Father, on this National Day of Prayer, we lift up the 
promise of our Lord to His followers, that ``he who receiveth you 
receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.''--
Matthew 10:40.
  Inasmuch as Congress, from its beginning days, has received those who 
have come to petition Thee for the opening of each day's session, and 
knowing Thee to be the faithful Lord to Thy Word, who You are, we 
reverently ask that the reception of Thy servants here would in fact 
welcome Thee. Let Thy glory fill this place; may Thy presence bless the 
Senators and their families, the staff and their families, and all who 
serve in the Senate.
  We acknowledge that this place is not a sanctuary, synagogue or 
mosque but a public sphere, belonging to all the people of this land. 
As one Member of Congress has said, ``We have built no Temple but the 
Capitol; we consult no common oracle but the Constitution.''--Rufus 
Choate, 1833.
  Thus we recognize the right for prayers of every religion to be 
offered here. We make this prayer in the name of Jesus Christ because 
He taught us to pray, and He has given such unworthy vessels as we are 
the right to approach Thy throne with confidence. Amen.

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