[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 172 (Tuesday, January 1, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Page S8611]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

                                 prayer

  The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, offered the following prayer:
  Let us pray.
  Almighty God, source of strength for stressed-out emotions and 
strained minds, we don't pray to inform You of things You don't know or 
to urge You from a reluctance to help us. Lord, we pray to obey Your 
command, to allow ourselves to action, to mitigate anxiety, to exercise 
faith, and to embrace Your promises.
  Thank You for using our Senators in the early morning hours of this 
new year to accomplish Your purposes. May the sparks from their 
bipartisan cooperation ignite flames of unity that will illuminate the 
inevitable darkness to come. Lord, give our lawmakers the resiliency, 
resourcefulness, and resolve to accomplish Your will on Earth even as 
it is done in Heaven.
  We pray in Your merciful Name.
  Amen.

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