The Serenity Prayer

“God, grant me the grace to accept with serenity  the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, And wisdom to know the difference.”

As we go through life, we are often bombarded on every side with all kinds of troubles. Sometimes, the challenges of life maybe so difficult that it seems that there is no way out.

A good prayer to pray at such times is the serenity prayer.

Today, it is used by many twelve step programs  like Alcoholics Anonymous.  However, the prayer has been around for a long time. The original recorded form of the prayer that was done by Reinhold Niebuhr is:

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.

Another prayer that can be extremely helpful is the prayer of St Francis of Assisi

Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury,pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen