Serenity Prayer

Serenity Prayer

by Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)

God, give us grace to accept with serenity

the things that cannot be changed,

Courage to change the things

which should be changed,

and the Wisdom to distinguish

the one from the other.

Living one day at a time,

Enjoying one moment at a time,

Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,

Taking, as Jesus did,

This sinful world as it is,

Not as I would have it,

Trusting that You will make all things right,

If I surrender to Your will,

So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,

And supremely happy with You forever in the next.

Amen.

This prayer is also known as Acceptance Prayer.

I like this prayer a lot. Change will take place if we follow the first part of the prayer. Through regular reflection, we become aware that we have to accept others as they are. We cannot change them. With God’s grace, we will know and accept who we are. Then we can adapt and take action to change ourselves.

The second part of the prayer is our serene disposition as we work through our action plan.

The prayer has worked its way into so many cultural outlets that many non-Christians know it, or at least the beginning, by heart:

Alcoholics Anonymous adopted the Serenity Prayer and began including it in AA materials in 1942.