It’s not just for AA any more

That’s right. It’s not just for AA any more, and never was. Read on.

In fact, The Serenity Prayer, as we know it, was only shortened and adopted by the good people of AA after its original use.

There’s a bit of disagreement and controversy about the true history, but it seems to be commonly accepted by most that sometime in the 1930s the great American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr wrote down and used this prayer that is so widely well-known even still today. However, the part of his prayer that is well-known is only a portion, about a third, of its full length.

The reason I bring The Serenity Prayer to our attention now is that I believe we’re living in times that beg for a prayer that would help us through, beg for a prayer that would not only release our fears and doubts, but also bring God’s true peace to us as we pray it.

I would like us to hear and pray Niebuhr’s full prayer today and tomorrow and the next day and the next. And as we pray it, I ask you to pay particular attention to all the words, especially the ones that go beyond the more familiar. And please, fellow companions through our tough times, I ask that we apply the meaning of this prayer to our lives as we move forward into our still-bright future.

Let us pray:

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 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.

Now that’s a prayer for us all! I hope we will all use it. Especially in these tough times.

God loves you! And so do I !

Kollmeyer is Pastor of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church on Hwy. 314 in Fayetteville, between Lowe’s and The Pavilion. He invites anyone without a church right now, or anyone seeking to find out more about what “Lent can do for you” to come to Sunday Worship at 9:15 (Contemporary) or 11:15 (Pipe Organ). Classes for all at 10:20. For more information log on at www.princeofpeacefayette.com or call 770-461-3403.