Holy Bible: Faith VerseThe Serenity Prayer: the full text, what it means and where it comes from
By Sophie · October 22, 2026 · 5 min read
The Serenity Prayer is one of the best-known prayers in the world. In a single sentence it asks for three things: peace about what cannot change, courage for what can, and the wisdom to tell them apart.
Below are the short version most people know and the longer version that is often printed with it, followed by its history, the meaning of each line and the Scripture that echoes it.
The Serenity Prayer (short version)
This is the version prayed in many churches and recovery groups:
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 Serenity Prayer (long version)
A longer form is widely shared, with these lines following the first sentence:
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 in the next. Amen.
Who wrote the Serenity Prayer?
The prayer is credited to Reinhold Niebuhr, an American theologian and pastor, who used it in sermons and prayer services in the 1930s and 1940s. His own early wording was slightly different, asking God for grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed. Alcoholics Anonymous adopted the prayer in the early 1940s, and it spread around the world from there.
The longer version is a later addition. It is often printed under Niebuhr's name, but historians question whether those extra lines are his.
What each line means
Serenity to accept the things I cannot change. Some things are outside our control: the past, other people's choices, an illness, a loss. Acceptance here means placing them in God's hands. Jesus prayed this way in Gethsemane, asking for the cup to pass and then yielding to His Father's will:
“And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.”
Courage to change the things I can. Acceptance is only half the prayer. Where we can act, we ask for the nerve to do it: an apology, a habit, a hard conversation. God's word to Joshua fits here:
“Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”
Wisdom to know the difference. This is often the hardest part, and the Bible promises that God gives wisdom to anyone who asks:
“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”
Is the Serenity Prayer in the Bible?
No. It was written in the twentieth century. Its ideas are deeply biblical, though. Ecclesiastes speaks of seasons we do not choose:
“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:”
Paul describes learning to be content in every circumstance, with strength from Christ:
“Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
And the longer version's call to live one day at a time echoes the words of Jesus:
“Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”
How to pray the Serenity Prayer
- Name the situation. Before you pray, say plainly what is weighing on you.
- Sort it. Ask yourself what part of it you can change and what part you cannot. Pray the first line over one, the second over the other.
- Pray it slowly, more than once. On a hard day, praying it every hour is not too often.
- Then take one step. Courage usually starts small: a phone call, a message, a first honest sentence.
For more Scripture on finding calm, see Bible verses about peace and Bible verses for anxiety.
Holy Bible offers a prayer and a verse for every day, and can read prayers aloud when you need to hear the words.
Questions
What is the full Serenity Prayer?
The short version asks for serenity to accept the things you cannot change, courage to change the things you can and wisdom to know the difference. The long version adds lines about living one day at a time, accepting hardships as the pathway to peace and trusting God's will. Both are given in full above.
Who wrote the Serenity Prayer?
It is credited to the American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, who used it in the 1930s and 1940s. The added lines of the long version are of uncertain authorship.
Is the Serenity Prayer in the Bible?
No, but it echoes Scripture closely: Jesus yielding to the Father in Matthew 26:39, Paul's contentment in Philippians 4:11-13 and the promise of wisdom in James 1:5.
Why is the Serenity Prayer used in recovery groups?
Alcoholics Anonymous adopted it in the early 1940s because it names the heart of recovery: accepting what cannot be undone and finding the courage to change what can.
