Following the shooting at the Republican Congressional baseball practice in June, which injured several people (Majority Whip Steve Scalise, a congressional staffer, and two Capitol Hill police officers), Senator James Lankford (R-OK) led in prayer on the Senate floor. He first commented on hearing spontaneous prayer meetings in offices as he walked the halls. He challenged his colleagues, “We can help lead. We can set a tone to tell the nation we should disagree on things, but we don’t ever do this. So I’d like for us to take a moment of privilege and to just be able to pray.”
He then prayed, “Father, thank You for the way that You have protected . . . those individuals that are in surgery now and are recovering now, for the Capitol Hill Police, for Steve Scalise, for other individuals that were affected today. God, we pray that You would bring them healing. We pray that You would take care of families that are worried and a nation that’s worried. I pray that You would cause something good to come out of something that is very evil. Help us to know how we respond as a nation. I ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.”
