God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,Īnd the Wisdom to know the difference. Some twelve-step recovery programs use a slightly different version: Grant to us the serenity of mind to accept that which cannot be changed courage to change that which can be changed, and wisdom to know the one from the other, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen. A reply in the same column in the issue for August 13, 1950, p. 19, attributed the prayer to Niebuhr, quoting it as follows: So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,Īnd supremely happy with You forever in the next.Ī version (apparently quoted from memory) appeared in the “Queries and Answers” column in The New York Times Book Review, July 2, 1950, p. 23, asking for the author of the quotation. Trusting that You will make all things right, God, give me grace to accept with serenityĪccepting hardship as a pathway to peace, The most well-known form is a late version, as it includes a reference to grace not found before 1951: Reinhold Niebuhr’s versions of the prayer were always printed as a single prose sentence printings that set out the prayer as three lines of verse modify the author’s original version. The prayer has appeared in many versions. This theory suggests that in 1947, Niebuhr read the prayer in an obituary notice in the New York Tribune & was so taken by it that he shared it with Bill Wilson. Thus the simple little prayer became an integral part of the AA movement.Īnother popular theory states that Reinhold Niebuhr actually accredited Friedrich Oetinger, an 18th century theologian, for writing the Serenity Prayer. Bill & the staff read the prayer & felt that it particularly suited the needs of AA. member who liked it so much, he brought it to Bill W., the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. In 1939, it came to the attention of an early A.A. Howard Robbins, the doctor’s friend & neighbor, requested permission to use that portion of the longer prayer in a compilation he was building at the time. Reinhold Niebuhr, of the Union Theological Seminary, NYC, composed it in 1932 as the ending to a longer prayer. Records from Alcoholics Anonymous show that Dr. There is no shortage of theories as to who wrote the Serenity Prayer. Serenity prayer on a medallion A Brief History of the Serenity Prayer

Heavenly serenity meaning