The Office of the Chaplain United States House of Representatives

Opening Prayer

07/20/2026
Chaplain Margaret Grun Kibben

Holy God, source of all wisdom, goodness, truth, and knowledge, we appeal to you for the direction and counsel needed to meet the challenges and faithfully execute the tasks set before us.

Make us wise, first in our asking. Given the purity of your wisdom, may we humble ourselves to receive it.

Aware that what comes from you is peace–loving and gentle, may we be willing to slow our tempers and temper our judgment in the disagreements we are sure to encounter.

What you offer requires that we be open to reason and full of mercy. May the fruit of today’s labors be sensible and abounding in your goodness.

Lord, the guidance and grace you offer us are neither uncertain nor insincere. May we, in our certitude, be sincere in our engagement, one with another. And may we reflect the sincerity found in your wisdom, confident in your will for the living of this day.

In your sovereign name, we pray.

James 3:17

Thought of the Week

To bear with patience wrongs done to oneself is a mark of perfection, but to bear with patience wrongs done to someone else is a mark of imperfection and even of actual sin.

—Thomas Aquinas

Featured Events