[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 65 (Thursday, May 9, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Page S3285]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

                                 prayer

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Today's opening prayer will be offered by Rev. 
Miniard Culpepper, pastor of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church in 
Dorchester, MA.
  The guest Chaplain offered the following prayer:
  Let us pray.
  Our God and our Lord, our help from ages past and our help for the 
years to come, we thank You, Lord, for this day, for this is a day that 
You have made. Let us be glad and delight in it.
  We thank You, Lord, for watching over our Senators all night long and 
waking them up clothed in their right mind. We pray, Lord, that You 
would bless them this day. Let them be the voice for all that is good 
and just. Let them be the voice of all that is peaceful and prosperous, 
loving and lifting.
  Bless the Senators, Lord, as they deliberate, that they would be 
mindful of the homeless and the hungry, the rich and the poor, the 
helpful, the hopeful, and the hopeless.
  Lord, we realize and acknowledge that You are a God of our weary 
years, that You are a God of our silent tears. Lord, You are the one 
who brought us thus far on the way. Lord, Thou are this God who has by 
thy might led us into the light. Lord, we pray, God, that You would 
keep us forever in the path, we pray.
  These and all other prayers we ask in Your Name. Amen and amen.

                          ____________________