Does the Serenity Prayer Really Work

Does the Serenity Prayer Really Work?

Written in the early 20^th Century by renowned theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, the serenity prayer has been widely adopted as a principle verse in church, during rehabilitation programs, and many more scenarios in between. Its intention is to offer the speaker a way to accept their current situation, whilst encouraging fate, karma, or God to intervene in their difficulties and guide them in the right direction.

Does the Serenity Prayer Require Faith?

There are people experiencing hard times that believe that faith is the only way to overcome them, whilst others take on a more scientific view and completely negate the presence of a higher power. Those that use this prayer in specific will often state that they feel a sense of guidance – but as with all things supernatural in nature, there is no true way to test whether or not the prayer actually has an effect on a person’s life.

Why Is The Serenity Verse So Important For So Many People?

To those that are experiencing difficulties such as alcohol or drug addictions, it’s not so much about being able to say a prayer out loud for support, but the strength of faith that it provides. There are countless verses of prayers in the world, but for some reason this one speaks to those that are experiencing the things that many recovering addicts undergo during their treatments.

Instead of asking for specific things, or encouraging particular behaviors, the prayer takes on a much broader approach - and one that can appeal to a wider spectrum of needs. For instance, the first word used is God and even non-believers may find themselves wanting to replace this word with others such as ‘lord’, ‘guide’, or ‘fate’.

Asking For The Serenity of Acceptance

The first line asks for serenity to accept the things in their life that they may not be able to change. This isn’t an excuse as such, more of a way to ask for understanding as to how best to cope with a situation that may be beyond the control of the individual. The prayer then goes on to request courage to identify the things that can be controlled, followed by wisdom to recognize the difference between something that can be managed and other things that can’t.

But that doesn’t answer the question as to whether the prayer actually works or not. To answer that there is only one way – and that’s to say that with faith, our minds can focus on aspects of our being that may have been numbed over time. Although there may or may not be a higher power up there watching over us; hoping that there is and asking them for guidance can be incredibly reassuring, as is demonstrated within countless recovery programs across the country.