[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 3]
[House]
[Pages 3845-3846]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                                 PRAYER

  Reverend Dr. Carl Hickerson, Springfield Baptist Church, Washington, 
D.C., offered the following prayer:
  O God, we confess our hope for the future is challenged by present 
circumstances. As we read or watch the news, our faith often falters.

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  Thank you, God, for examples of steadfastness and belief in the 
future. We thank You for people who plant trees though they may not 
live to enjoy them. We thank You for public servants and grassroots 
folks who struggle to preserve our society so that our children and 
grandchildren may inherit an inhabitable world.
  We know, O God, that all people who believe and hope for the future 
are not necessarily doing it in Your name; but we acknowledge them as 
Yours, and we pray that You help us, each of us, to join their ranks.
  Restore our faith. Remind us that You are our hope. For the sake of 
Him who died young so that we all might have a future, we pray.
  Amen.

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