[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 198 (Tuesday, December 20, 2022)]
[House]
[Page H9907]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 PRAYER

  The Chaplain, the Reverend Margaret Grun Kibben, offered the 
following prayer:
  When all around are voices of enticement and invitation, the lure of 
possessions and position, remind us, O Lord, that to You belong the 
Earth and all who live in it. Such is Your love for us that no power or 
opportunity can measure up to the design You intend for us, the grace 
plan You have laid out for us.
  This kind of imagining is too wonderful for us, so high that we 
cannot comprehend that You, who founded the Earth on the seas, gave 
breath to every living creature. We live because You give us life.
  Who are we, then that we dare approach You? Who of us can stand, 
without sin or blame, before You?
  Holy and merciful God, cleanse our hands from all wrongdoing. Purify 
our hearts from all that has kept us from right living. Strengthen us 
to deny our trust in idols, to turn away from the false gods we have 
placed before You.
  Then may we receive Your blessing, O Lord. Grant us Your absolution, 
that we may enter Your presence with confidence and live in 
faithfulness the day You have set before us.
  In Your great and wonderful name we pray.
  Amen.

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