It’s true, for over a year now, I say the Serenity Prayer every day. You might recognize the Serenity Prayer if you know anything about AA(Alcoholics Anonymous) which uses an abridged version of the prayer in every meeting.
AA’s version of the Serenity Prayer is the following:
“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.”
The Original Serenity Prayer
Reinhold Niebuhr initially delivered the prayer in 1934 in its entirety as the following:
“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. 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”
Celebrate Recovery use of the Serenity Prayer
Other organizations and groups use the Serenity Prayer. Celebrate Recovery; a Christian twelve-step program started at Saddleback Church uses the full Prayer in their material. The small groups recite the prayer every time they meet and is where I first learned the prayer.
Celebrate Recovery uses the Serenity Prayer to address Hurts, Habits, and Hang-ups for Christians. Anyone who is struggling with issues in their life is welcome to participate in the meetings no matter what the challenge.
The Beatitudes(The Sermon on the Mount by Jesus ‘Mathew 5:3-10’) serves as the base for the Celebrate Recovery program.
Why do I recite the Serenity Prayer every day?
Life is full of many challenges and reciting the Serenity Prayer every day helps me to come back to God relying on him to take me through the problems of my day. Doing so brings about joy no matter what the situation in good times and bad.
No longer does a moment ruin a day or even a week, but is isolated and overcome. Everything issue is no longer a roadblock but becomes an opportunity to turn a struggle into an asset.