Opening Prayer in the Senate - February 11, 2011 - Richmond, VA

O God Almighty, we need Your help –

Today we acknowledge and rejoice in Your greatness, Your power and Your love . . . and in the same breath we admit our sins and are sorry for them.  God, please forgive us and change our selfish hearts.  

O God Almighty, we need Your help here in Virginia –

We need your peace to overcome our anxieties and our violence, Your love to conquer our lusts and our hate, Your truth to free us from our errors and we need a humility that keeps You in first place.

Arise, O God and help us!  Come to our rescue because of your unfailing love.  We know You are able, for nothing is too difficult for You.

Would You give us glimpses of Your desire for planet earth, for this nation and for Virginia, for our cities, towns and our families – even Your will for our lives.  And let Your desire become ours and impart in us the courage to pursue these desires with all our strength so that we, the people of Virginia would act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with You.

O God, we pray for these men and women of our Senate.  Give them wisdom and grace from above to lead us.  Give them health and friendships, vision and conviction.  Please break all divisions and rivalries that hinder real progress; granting them a unity in solutions that transcend all lesser loyalties.

We pray also for their families: for their spouses, children and grandchildren – bless them, O God, to be a blessing.  Protect and bless their marriages with joy and faithfulness that their children and grandchildren will receive and pass on a legacy of love and integrity.

Awake the all of us in these chambers and awake the people of the Commonwealth of Virginia just as You awoke Jacob . . . to the reality of Your Presence and let us say with him: “Surely the LORD is in this place and I knew it not.”  With this awareness, what we do and say will work for and not against the coming of Your blessed Kingdom.

We pray together for the Commonwealth . . . that it would be just that . . . a shared prosperity, a shared blessing and peace; a true equality of opportunity and justice, all flowing from Your goodness and abundance, O God.  Above all let us be a people that love You, and love our neighbors as ourselves.

So LORD, with respect for people of all faiths, I submit this prayer in the name of Jesus Christ.  

Amen.