The Serenity Prayer

Penned in the 1930’s by Reinhold Niebuhr, the Serenity Prayer remains one of the most sacred and relevant prayers, shared by Christians around the world.  In only a few, short poignant words, the Serenity Prayer captures the very essence of the Christian heart, each line packed with a powerful, Biblical reminder to sustain us through each day.

Surrender

God does His greatest work when we surrender to Him, especially to things that are outside of our control. A great reminder of this can be found in Job 11: 13-14, “Surrender your heart to God, turn to him in prayer, and give up your sins—even those you do in secret…” What things can you surrender over to God today?

Courage

It’s these moments of complete surrender to God, that His sweet voice can be heard in our hearts, guiding us through His plan for our lives with each and every decision we face.  Job 11:15 concludes this reminder with this very promise, “…Then you won’t be ashamed; you will be confident and fearless.”

 

Time

How many times in the past few months have you said, “wow, that week just flew by!”, as you struggle to remember the events of the 7 short days that seemed to move faster than your mind and body could keep up with? Time is precious and our lives are best lived inside of each moment, being present and available to God’s will for us. James 4: 14-15 reminds us of the fleeting nature of time, “How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, ‘if the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.’ ”

 

Hardships

In only a special way that God could provide, He uses the hardships and struggles we endure in this life for His good.  Instead of resisting these moments, we can begin to accept and embrace them as part of God’s greater plan and use them to truly learn what He is trying to teach us. We can find this encouragement in James 1:2-4. “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”

 

Trust

Surrendering to God’s will for our lives means being less like ourselves and being more like the greatest man to ever walk this earth, Jesus.  Galatians 2:20, “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Pure Joy

With so many things on this earth vying to bring us happiness and contentment, none can compare to the promise of joy we receive as followers of Jesus, “I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in Him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13

Download and Print: The Serenity Prayer