As a counselor, I am familiar with The Serenity Prayer. It’s used frequently with individuals working on their issues with addiction.  I can remember when I first began to familiarize myself with the prayer, I thought it was so profound. Not only were you asking for help from God, but you were realizing you were not in control of everything.

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

I memorized it word for word and used it not only while working with others, but when I felt myself becoming anxious about things beyond my control.

Yesterday I was asked by a colleague if I knew the Serenity Prayer. Of course I happily said “Yes!” I recited the prayer aloud. Then I was asked about the rest of the prayer. ” I sat there like a student called upon in class with a pounding heart that did not know the answer to the question. I reluctantly admitted I said all I knew of the prayer. When she presented the rest of the prayer to me, I was literally speechless. It was so beautiful. There was so much more to the prayer that I have been missing all of this time. It read like a beautiful note written to God asking Him for guidance to make it through this life so that we can meet Him in the next. I discovered the bigger picture on my narrow day to day view of the prayer.  I hope when you read this prayer, it makes your heart smile as it did mine. May it inspire you the way it inspired me.

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.