Serenity Prayer

Following are some meditations on the Serenity Prayer.

How this prayer has changed my life! God has shown me that He is willing to grant me the petition stated in this prayer. I don't demand the gift of serenity, but neither must I beg for it. I simply ask God to grant me serenity.

God is the source of lasting serenity. God provides His serenity abundantly for the asking. My task is to find the true serenity that God alone grants. No other power or thing or person has the measure or the quality of serenity God is willing to provide.

God allows me to partake of all His serenity—an endless, infinite supply.

Why is God willing to so bless me with this level of serenity? Simply because God wills to give me serenity. God wills serenity for my life. I am so grateful God will grant me serenity. I am more than grateful.

Serenity is essential for acceptance; acceptance is essential for serenity. God is asking me to accept and I am asking God for the power to accept. Acceptance begins with God and ends with God. God is the cause of my acceptance and God's serenity is the result. Through serenity and acceptance, I move in unison with God's plan for me. I move in harmony with God's will for me.

God's will and my will become one through acceptance. God's will for me is serenity—a peace that goes beyond comprehension. I touch that peace; I become peace; I am God's peace through God-enabled acceptance.

What are the things I cannot change? I must rely on God's wisdom to make the determination. It is not within me to decide for myself what I cannot change—but neither is it ever solely up to me to discover those things. God grants wisdom to those who seek His will. His will is for me to be wise with His wisdom. I have no innate wisdom to discern the things that God grants me to know. Again, I must ask. Wisdom is God's gift to the seeker of wisdom. Wisdom is God's gift to those who are courageous enough to admit a power higher than self and ask that power for the gift of a higher wisdom.

Abundant wisdom is God's gift to those who seek a wisdom higher than their own—a wisdom to see all things within their proper context—what can be changed; what cannot be changed. Such wisdom can only come from a Higher Power. Such wisdom can only be granted. Such wisdom can only be sought.

I must accept the fact that there are things I can not change and do not have the wisdom to change. The request for wisdom is merely to know the difference between what I can change and can not change. What I can not change is left in God's capable hands. What I can change, God leaves in my hands, provided I am seeking His will and His wisdom. God's will is for me to change what I can, by first asking Him to change me.

The Serenity Prayer is really a prayer asking God to change me into someone who is serene, accepting, courageous, and wise. God's will is for me to ask Him to change me into that type of person. One of the things I can change is my attitude and posture toward God.

God's will is for me to allow Him to change me into the person He knows I can be. The process begins the moment I ask. The moment I pray. I ask in the full faith and confidence that God will grant me the request. The process of my change and my serenity begins as soon as I ask. As soon as I begin moving toward God, He moves to grant my request.

God's serenity is a well of sweet, miraculous, living water. Now that I've tasted it, I want more. More serenity is mine for the asking. The more I request, the more God gives. God's well of serenity is never empty. God's well is bottomless. How deep I drink is determined solely by my courage and my desire. No matter how deep I go, there are deeper, richer, depths to God's serenity. The level of my God-given serenity, acceptance, wisdom, and courage are as deep as my desire.

Therefore, as with all prayers, I must be careful with the Serenity Prayer. God, grant me the courage to accept the profound levels of serenity You are willing to show me. Respect for God's power to answer this prayer is necessary.

Just how far God takes me into the paradise of serenity is up to me. God never pushes me further than I am ready to go, but God is willing to lead me as far as I am willing to follow.

God, grant me the courage to follow You wherever You would lead and the serenity to accept what You are willing to show me when You lead me there.

The path to serenity is never-ending; yet the destination is always just a step and a prayer away.

next: Attitude