Serenity Prayer

The Serenity Prayer: Origin and Text

The Serenity Prayer is one of the most widely recited prayers in the modern English-speaking world — especially known through its use in twelve-step recovery programs since the 1940s. Its best-known form reads:

"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."

The prayer is not found in the Bible. It was written by American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, most likely in the early 1930s. The earliest known attestation is a 1932 diary entry by Niebuhr's student, Winnifred Crane Wygal.

Biblical Themes Behind the Prayer

While the text itself is modern, its three petitions echo biblical ideas:

• "Serenity to accept" — paralleled in Philippians 4:11, where Paul writes, "I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content."
• "Courage to change" — paralleled in Joshua 1:9, "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed."
• "Wisdom to know the difference" — paralleled in James 1:5, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God... and it shall be given him."

Full Original Version

Niebuhr's original longer form continued beyond the popular three lines:

"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 hardship as the pathway to peace..."

Historical Reception

Alcoholics Anonymous adopted the prayer in 1941 after co-founder Bill Wilson encountered it in a newspaper obituary. It has since been translated into dozens of languages and used well beyond its original Protestant context. The prayer's authorship was disputed for decades but confirmed to Niebuhr through the discovery of Wygal's diary in 2008.