[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Page 3893]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                                 prayer

  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Today's prayer will be offered by guest 
Chaplain Rev. Michael V. Kelsey, Sr., New Samaritan Baptist Church, 
Washington, DC. We are pleased to have you with us.
  The guest Chaplain, Rev. Michael V. Kelsey, Sr., New Samaritan 
Baptist Church, Washington, DC, offered the following prayer:
  Let us pray:
  Father, we thank You for this day and for this Nation. We pray and 
intercede for the men and women who are in positions of authority. We 
hold them up before You, that the Spirit of wisdom and discernment may 
rest upon each of them as they seek to do what is blessed in Your sight 
and right for Your people.
  God, may the hearts and ears of these Senators be attentive to Your 
divine order. We believe You cause them to be men and women of 
integrity who lead with compassion and commitment, competence and 
character.
  Your Word, O God, declares, ``Blessed is the nation whose God is the 
Lord.''--Psalm 33:12. And God, we expect to receive Your blessing as 
the ultimate One who can guide and govern the affairs of this Nation.
  Thank You for this land and the leaders You have given to us. We say 
discretion watches over them; understanding keeps them; and godliness 
surrounds them.
  May the words of their mouths and the meditations of their hearts be 
acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, our Strength, and our Redeemer.--
Psalm 19:14. This is our prayer, in the name of the Lord.
  Amen.

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