[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Page 13897]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                                 prayer

  The Chaplain, Dr. Lloyd John Ogilvie, offered the following prayer:
  Joyous God, in whose heart flows limitless joy, we come to You to 
receive Your artesian joy. You have promised joy to those who know You 
intimately, who trust You completely, and who serve You by caring for 
the needs of others. We agree with Robert Louis Stevenson, ``To miss 
the joy is to miss everything.'' And yet, we confess that often we do 
miss the joy You offer. It is so much more than happiness which is 
dependent on people, circumstances, and keeping things under our 
control. Sometimes we become grim. We take ourselves too seriously and 
don't take Your grace seriously enough. Give us the psalmist's 
assurance about You when he said, ``To God be exceeding joy'' or 
Nehemiah's confidence, ``The joy of the Lord is my strength'' or Jesus' 
secret of lasting joy: abiding in Your love.
  May this be a day when we serve You with gladness because Your joy 
has filled our hearts. You are our Lord and Saviour. Amen.

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