Prayer Steps to Serenity the Twelve Steps Journey New Serenity Prayer Edition

Prayer Steps to Serenity
Daily Quiet Time Edition

Inspirational Thoughts
The Serenity Prayer and the Twelve Steps

The Serenity Prayer

"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."

Day 1:  God, grant.

God, grant: The beginning phrase in the Serenity Prayer indicates that God is the source of our serenity. The prayer trusts that our loving God will grant us serenity when we ask Him. "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." Think about the difference between "God" without the comma, and "God," with the comma: "God grant me the Serenity" and "God, grant me the Serenity." Pray the Serenity Prayer with a slight pause where the comma is after God, and pray it without the pause as you probably hear the prayer recited. Does this make any difference to you as you think of personally talking to God? If you do not "hear" the difference in your mind, think of it this way: "Father please give me the car keys" and "Father, please give me the car key." Which sounds more like a personal relationship request to you? We can pray the Serenity Prayer as a personal request to God that shows we have a personal relationship with God as our Higher Power; just as in some sense the father with the car keys to give is a smaller, limited higher power to the person who needs to borrow the car. The Serenity Prayer is personal, because the one who needs serenity is "me," but that does not mean that I cannot also pray, "God, grant [fill in the name] the Serenity." We all know of people other than ourselves who need the Serenity Prayer answered in their lives. We can pray for them. Perhaps we need to pray that they will find the Serenity Prayer and the 12 Steps Program hold keys to serenity, sobriety, and success (even as we have found this to be true in our own lives). Serenity means personal, inner, peace. God, grant the personal, inner peace I and others need today! We have found through our recovery program that we cannot find the serenity we seek apart from our Higher Power; therefore, we pray God, grant me the Serenity. We have found that God, our heavenly Father, will answer this prayer.

Day 2:  God, grant me the serenity.

Day 3:  To accept the things I cannot change.

Day 4:  The courage to change the things I can.

Day 5:  The wisdom to know the difference.

The First of the 12 Steps

"We admitted we were powerless over alcohol -- that our lives had become unmanageable."

Day 1:  We admitted.

In the First of the Twelve Steps, we affirm the phrase We admitted. Please notice first: the First Step begins with the word "We," not "I." Many have gone before us. We join a fellowship of millions when we say that first word "We," and begin to work our Program, whatever 12 Steps Program we join. When we say, "We," we understand that we are not alone. We end our isolation. When we feel pressured to use again or yield to a compulsion or dependency, we can join with others in our Fellowship, call our Sponsor, or attend a meeting. We do not need to face our problems or obstacles alone. We can get help from others in our Fellowship. Notice the next word: "admitted." We need to end our denial. We need to quit denying first to ourselves (and later to others) that "We don't have a problem." We do have a problem, addiction, weakness, or co-dependency that is disrupting our lives, and probably the lives of others, especially our families and co-workers. Some of us can affirm all of the First Step quickly and easily because we know we have hit bottom. For others, to say "We admit" is not so easy. Given enough experience with our situation and time for reflection, we will be able to say from our hearts: "We admitted we were powerless over alcohol (or change the word "alcohol" to your own situation) -- that our lives had become unmanageable."

Day 2:  We were powerless.

Day 3:  Over alcohol (or other weakness).

Day 4:  That our lives.

Day 5:  Had become unmanageable.

The Second of the 12 Steps

"Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity."

Day 1:  Came.

In the Second of the Twelve Steps, we affirm that we Came. Think how significant this word "Came" is for us!  Think what our lives would be like today if we had never taken that First Step and "came" to our First Recovery Meeting (perhaps AA, Al-Anon, OA, CODA, EA, or some other group).  By the grace of God, we "came."  We came to find help!  We found what we came for!  We came and found others who were struggling with many of the issues and obstacles that we faced.  We came and discovered that they had found a measure of sanity and serenity that we thought we would never find again.  We found encouragement from others similar to us, and we came again, and again, and again, and found a Program that met our needs.  We "came" and learned that the 12 Steps to Recovery and Serenity were a Proven Program.  The 12 Steps had been tried and tested by millions of others, who had found healing and strength when faced with problems that seemed impossible to overcome at the time.  We "came," and with fear and trembling we took the First Step.  And when we took that first step, we found what others had found after they began the Program, and we started down the road to sanity and serenity with new friends and companions.

Day 2:  To believe.

If you found these readings helpful, you might also enjoy the weekly International Bible Lessons.