Tuesday, February 28, 2012
The Serenity Prayer
We have just begun a new year. Hopes are high, goals are made, and efforts are in place to accomplish what we have set out to do. One thing is for sure: surprises await us all. Some will be great, and some will be painful. I have found the following prayer and its personal application helpful when my sorrows outnumber my joys.
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 the pathway to peace.
Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it.
Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life, and supremely
happy with Him forever in the next.
Amen
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 the pathway to peace.
Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it.
Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life, and supremely
happy with Him forever in the next.
Amen
Now apply your circumstances to this prayer.
Prayer:
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change
[my child’s disability, my divorce, losing my job, financial loss]
The courage to change the things I can
[my attitude, my beliefs, my behavior, my perspectives, my values]
And the wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time
[my child’s smile, soul, my partner’s strengths, my home, my abilities to think or move, taste and smell, talk and read, my needs being met by the Lord]
Accepting hardship as the pathway to peace
[I cast my anxieties and worries onto you, Lord, so I may be given your peace which will surpass my understanding]
Taking, as he did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it. Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His will
[I place my will under Your sovereign control, desiring that this cup shall pass but welcoming Your call and walking obediently according to Your will]
That I may be reasonably happy in this life, and supremely happy with Him forever in the next. Amen
[Lord, my faith is cultivated in the refiner’s fire (1 Peter 1:6–7), and I choose to believe that my suffering will produce perseverance, character, and hope (Romans 5:1–4) ]
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