[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 697]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                                 PRAYER

  Reverend Gary Grogan, Stone Creek Church, Urbana, Illinois, offered 
the following prayer:
  Heavenly Father, we thank You for the stewards of our government that 
are gathered here today, those who are willing to serve under grueling 
public scrutiny. I pray that You would grant them wisdom, grace, and 
the fortitude to execute their responsibilities.
  Lord, You know, as a Nation, we are facing some of the biggest 
challenges in our young history. We ask for Your guiding hand. We seek 
Your guiding hand to do what we cannot do. We acknowledge Your ability 
to move us past our failures, our sins, and our humanity.
  I pray that this session be a time of healing, humility, and laying 
down our differences to unite us, even as Your son, Jesus Christ, laid 
down his life for us, a greater purpose. Help our government officials 
to lay down their own agendas for the greater good: providing for the 
underserved, caring for the disenfranchised, and fighting for those who 
cannot fight for themselves.
  Bless and protect these men and women and their families from those 
who would be unreasonable and those who would try to harm them. We 
pray, Lord, that You would bless the United States of America. In Your 
name, we pray.
  Amen.

                          ____________________