[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 101 (Thursday, July 19, 2001)]
[House]
[Page H4221]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page H4221]]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

                        House of Representatives

  The House met at 10 a.m.
  The Reverend B. William Vanderbloemen, Jr., Memorial Presbyterian 
Church, Montgomery, Alabama, offered the following prayer:
  Eternal and everlasting God, we thank You that You have given us 
another day. And not only another day, O Lord, but a day in the 
greatest country in the world. Today we ask that You bless us, bless us 
indeed, and allow our Nation to prosper. We pray that You keep Your 
hand upon us, protect us from evil, and keep us from causing pain. 
Bless us O Lord.
  Lord, we shudder to think that You have called us to be the leaders 
of this great Nation, and we humbly ask for Your help. If the task is 
left only to us and to our abilities, we will surely fail, O Lord. If 
we should seek to build this country on our own guidance, we will build 
only a house of cards. But You O Lord, are the rock; may You be our 
foundation and our help today.
  We know O God, that You do not simply call the qualified to lead, but 
You qualify the called. So qualify us by Your grace. Empower us to 
follow the calling You have given us.
  May we as individuals, as a deliberative body, and as a nation, 
follow You this and every day; so that one day, when time finally falls 
exhausted at Your gates of glory, we might hear You say, ``Well done, 
thou good and faithful servant.''
  Bless us O Lord. Bless us indeed.
  In the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ our Saviour, we pray.
  Amen.

                          ____________________