The Serenity Prayer

August 26, 2024 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible. 

I am a big fan of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). They are founded on biblical principles. I would paraphrase two of the most important ones as: (1) We need a Savior to set us free and (2) We need friends to lean on. James 5:16 says this as succinctly as any verse: “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” 

(Check out all of the Scriptures in this blog post by clicking here.) 

AA says: “Often times, a person with substance use disorder may have a need for control that can prevent them from achieving peace of mind. They may feel frustrated that they cannot control the actions of other people and turn to substances like alcohol to control their feelings, even though the control that alcohol provides is a farce. The Serenity Prayer is a gentle reminder that letting go and accepting a loss of control can help put an end to the substance abuse cycle.” 

In light of our series called Is That in the Bible? let’s ask, is the serenity prayer in the Bible. 

No, it’s not, but still there are some very important principles we shouldn’t miss from this prayer. 

The full prayer is—

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. 
Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardships 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 and ever in the next. Amen.



Should Christians pray a prayer like this? Biblically, there is nothing wrong with Christians praying prayers that have been written by men or women, provided that they don’t contradict the words God has spoken to us. 


Remember James 5:16 that we looked at earlier? The Personalized Promise Bible has a prayer for that verse: 


If I have stumbled in any way, I do not need to fret over it—I can rest in full confidence that the Lord loves me and forgives all of my shortcomings. I also know that sin is a hindrance to my healing. Therefore, if there is any sin in my life I repent of it. I confess my sins to trusted brothers and sisters in Christ, gaining strength and praying in agreement with them so that I will be healed. 


And then they cross-reference about 10 more biblical passages that support this prayer—Psalm 103:1-5; Isaiah 53:4-5; 1 Peter 2:24; Matthew 9:22, 29; 18:19, 20; Mark 11:22-26; 16:18; Hebrews 12:1-3; Galatians 6:1-2. 


In a similar fashion, I see several passages of Scripture that are woven into the serenity prayer. 


“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.” Proverbs 1:2-3 describes the help God’s wisdom gives us for daily living. 


“Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time.” Jesus taught us to pray each day for our daily bread (Matthew 6:8, 11). 


“Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace.” Jesus also taught us to pray, “Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven” (Matthew 6:10), and He also prayed a very similar prayer Himself when He was in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Yet not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:39). 


“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.” Jesus promised us both trouble in this world and His overcoming power to stand strong in that trouble (John 16:33). 


“That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever and ever in the next. Amen.” Jesus promises eternal rewards that vastly outweigh the trouble we may face in this life (Luke 12:32; Matthew 25:21, 34). 


The bottom line: The Bible is not just a Book to read through but a Book to pray through. ALL Scripture is for ALL servants of God. ALL Scripture is applicable to ALL the circumstances we will ever face in life.  


If something like the serenity prayer—or any other man-made prayer—is based on Scripture and helps give voice to your prayers, use them! But use them as guides to help you begin to form your own prayers from biblical passages you are reading for yourself. 


Check out some of the other topics we have covered in this Is That in the Bible? series here.  


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Poetry Saturday—I Stay Near The Door

March 26, 2022 — Craig T. Owens 




Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.



I stay near the door. 
I neither go too far in, nor stay too far out, 
The door is the most important door in the world— 
It is the door through which men walk when they find God. 
There’s no use my going way inside, and staying there, 
When so many are still outside, and they, as much as I, 
Crave to know where the door is. 
And all that so many ever find 
Is only the wall where a door ought to be. 
They creep along the wall like blind men. 
With outstretched, groping hands, 
Feeling for a door, knowing there must be a door, 
Yet they never find it… 
So I stay near the door.




The most tremendous thing in the world 
Is for men to find that door—the door to God. 
The most important thing any man can do 
Is to take hold of one of those blind, groping hands, 
And put it on the latch—the latch that only clicks 
And opens to the man’s own touch. 
Men die outside that door, as starving beggars die 
On cold nights in cruel cities in the dead of winter— 
Die for want of what is within their grasp. 
They live, on the other side of it—live because they have found it. 
Nothing else matters compared to helping them find it, 
And open it, and walk in, and find Him… 
So I stay near the door.




Go in, great saints, go all the way in— 
Go way down into the cavernous cellars, 
And way up into the spacious attics— 
In a vast, roomy house, this house where God is. 
Go into the deepest of hidden casements, 
Of withdrawal, of silence, of sainthood. 
Some must inhabit those inner rooms, 
And know the depths and heights of God, 
And call outside to the rest of us how wonderful it is. 
Sometimes I take a deeper look in, 
Sometimes venture a little farther; 
But my place seems closer to the opening… 
So I stay near the door.




The people too far in do not see how near these are 
To leaving—preoccupied with the wonder of it all. 
Somebody must watch for those who have entered the door, 
But would like to run away. So for them, too, 
I stay near the door.




I admire the people who go way in. 
But I wish they would not forget how it was 
Before they got in. Then they would be able to help 
The people who have not even found the door, 
Or the people who want to run away again from God. 
You can go in too deeply, and stay in too long, 
And forget the people outside the door. 
As for me, I shall take my old accustomed place, 
Near enough to God to hear Him, and know He is there, 
But not so far from men as not to hear them, 
And remember they are there too. 
Where? Outside the door— 
Thousands of them, millions of them. 
But—more important for me— 
One of them, two of them, ten of them, 
Whose hands I am intended to put on the latch, 
So I shall stay by the door and wait 
For those who seek it.  
‘I had rather be a door-keeper…’ 
So I stay near the door. —Samuel Shoemaker




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