[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 165 (Tuesday, December 14, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H8297]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 PRAYER

  The Chaplain, the Reverend Daniel P. Coughlin, offered the following 
prayer:
  Lord God, at this time when You desire to be close to Your people, 
the truth of Isaiah, the prophet, frightens us. So we withdraw to a 
more comfortable place, content with fictitious demands on our time.
  You said to Isaiah:
  ``Since this people draws near with words only and honors Me with 
their lips alone, their hearts are far from me. Their reverence for Me 
has become routine observance.
  ``I will now deal with this people in surprising and wondrous 
fashion.
  ``Woe to those who would hide their plans, thinking they are too deep 
for the Lord; who work in the dark saying, Who sees us or who really 
knows what we are about?''
  It is time, Lord, to shake us from our stupor. Send forth Your word 
to shatter our illusions and all our fears, both now and forever.
  Amen.

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