The Office of the Chaplain United States House of Representatives

Opening Prayer

05/29/2026
Chaplain Margaret Grun Kibben

Holy God, we draw near to You. Draw near to us.

We dare to come into Your presence when so much has caused us to wander farther and farther from You. We confess that we have allowed ourselves to be distracted by our sense of what is important and delayed by things on which we have chosen to spend our time.

Should You, in Your mercy, receive us back into fellowship with You, we would repent of our sin and look to You for forgiveness from our wrongdoing. Should You, in Your steadfast love, accept us again into communion with You, we would confess the fickleness of our hearts and yield to You to purify our unrighteousness.

Lord, from this day forth, go before us and remain with us. Never leave or forsake us. And to this promise, then, may we remain faithful, without fear or despair.

In humility we offer ourselves to You, and in the strength of Your name we dare to pray. Amen.

Deuteronomy 31:8
James 4:8

Thought of the Week

It is not God’s way that great blessings should descend without the sacrifice first of great sufferings. If the truth is to be spread to any wide extent among the people, how can we dream, how can we hope, that trial and trouble shall not accompany its going forth.

—John Henry Cardinal Newman

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