[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 12 (Friday, January 20, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S1251]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

                                 prayer

  The guest chaplain, the Reverend Mark E. Dever, offered the following 
prayer:
  Let us pray:
  Lord God, before the debates and disputes, the committees and 
compromises which may fill our day, we would stop and confess publicly 
that You are a good God. You have provided all we need, and so much 
more. We praise You for the freedom from want which marks off this land 
from so many others.
  Thank You for the wise and just leaders who work in this place, and 
for the people who honor law and pray for our elected officials.
  Thank You for all the good motives which move the hearts of those 
present to undertake these duties of governance. We ask that where 
their hearts are stubborn to You, You would subdue them, where they are 
mistaken, You would teach them, where they are discouraged, You would 
comfort and strengthen them.
  Help them in their service to this Nation, to discern their service 
to You.
  Lord God, bless America, we pray. Forgive us for our callousness to 
Your blessings. Forgive this Nation particularly we pray for the ways 
in which we abuse our leaders. Give this Nation a sense of the hope for 
justice and prosperity that America still is to many around the globe 
today. We ask that You would give us a renewed sense of Your bounty in 
this land, an appreciation of the wealth You have given us in the 
abundance of natural resources, in the hard work of so many people, in 
the stability of our society.
  Give us a nation marked by gratitude for Your blessings, and 
stewardship of them in kindness and compassion and self-control. We 
pray that this Chamber would reflect Your character in this.
  And along with a renewed sense of Your bounty, we pray for a renewed 
sense of our accountability. Remind all who work here, in massive 
buildings which seem so permanent, remind them of the brevity of life, 
and the certainty of judgment.
  We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
  

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