[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 65 (Wednesday, April 19, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H1850]
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:
  O Lord, receive this day our prayers of concern for our world and 
help us bear wisely our responsibility to intercede on behalf of the 
afflicted, rescue the downtrodden, and pursue avenues of peace in areas 
of war and turmoil.
  Where, O Lord, do we start? There are so many under the threat of 
tyrants and tormentors around the world, to include the countless 
Ukrainians for whom we haven't ceased praying. They are on their knees 
daily before You, the Almighty, appealing to You and to allies and 
friends like us to stand with them in their suffering. Where in the 
world do we best serve You?
  Holy God, how should we intervene in the discord among nations and in 
conflict within countries? By what right do we step in in order to 
affect the peace you have obliged us to pursue, when our own country is 
fragmented, fractured by so many competing views? What do we need to do 
to unify ourselves around our sacred values of freedom and justice, 
life, and liberty?
  Indeed, O Lord, our prayers are heavy laden with the complexity and 
responsibility of each of these burdens. We pray that the kind of rest 
You promise us would allow time for discernment, clarity of purpose, 
and faithfulness to the tasks You have entrusted to us this day.
  We offer ourselves to Your guidance in all these things as we pray in 
Your sovereign name.
  Amen.

                          ____________________