[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Page 6812]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                                 prayer

  The guest Chaplain offered the following prayer:
  Shall we pray.
  Gracious God, we begin another day in this great country, and we seek 
You for help. We look for You to fulfill Your promises, for You have 
promised to be our guide. You promised that we will know Your voice, 
and that we will listen to it. So lead us to decisions that would make 
this Nation an even greater one. We pray for ears to hear that mighty 
voice, and the courage to follow the path to which it leads.
  You promised to be our protector. You have said that You are a shield 
about us, the One who goes before us, and our rear guard. Guard us on 
every side and at every border. Be our protection. Watch over our 
troops in battle, our colleagues in the House, in the courts, our 
President, and the people of this great country. Defend them from every 
enemy, and grant the peace that only You can grant. At a word, You 
calmed the storms that raged on the sea. Use that same power, O God, to 
still the storms that rage throughout this world. May we be a beacon of 
that peace today.
  Lord, You have promised to be our inspiration. You have said that You 
are like a morning dew that brings new life to the buds of spring. On 
this spring day, rain down Your renewal on us. Stoke the flames of 
courage, vision, and life in us as leaders and in the hearts of our 
country men and women today. Be for us that higher power, that mystical 
calling, the Voice that moves us to become more than we currently are 
and more than we ever dreamed we could be.
  When we think of the great task to which You have called us, all we 
can do is humbly ask for Your help. And we know that You will grant it 
because You are the God who keeps all of Your promises. Be who You have 
said You will be. Fulfill Your promises. Hear us in Your great Name we 
pray. Amen.

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