[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16473]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                                 PRAYER

  The Reverend Roy Mays, III, Southland Christian Church, Lexington, 
Kentucky, offered the following prayer:
  Dear Gracious Father, for years we have sung ``America, America, God 
shed his grace on thee,'' and in this prayer we affirm You have done it 
and we ask You to do it again.
  As the Giver of grace, we need Your presence and assistance; Your 
good favor and great power. For whatever situation we face today, show 
us that Your strength is sufficient.
  On the day following my diagnosis with myeloma cancer, You gave me an 
insight for experiencing grace in the metaphor of a railroad track, one 
rail represented healing and one rail symbolized dealing. I was invited 
to embrace Your grace and endure my race, keeping both rails parallel 
or I would wreck. Your part was to establish Your purpose and supply 
Your power. My part was to pray and persevere.
  For all of the Members of this House and those they represent, we 
implore You to please touch us with Your healing grace, forgive us when 
we have forgotten You, lift us up when we have let You down, deliver 
help to those who are hurting, and provide peace for those who are in 
pain.
  Also, we entreat You to please give us Your dealing grace: wisdom for 
our work, discernment for our decisions, resources for our 
responsibilities, and joy for our journey.
  In all these requests, Heavenly Father, we pray that Your will be 
done, and we accept that Your grace is sufficient. For thine is the 
kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

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