I posted this previously on this blog (July 17, 2011) but in light of this week’s message on the 6th Beatitude, “Blessed are the pure in heart…” I want to repost…
Several years ago I read a little booklet by Robert Munger titled, “My Heart, Christ’s Home.” It’s a great tool for examining our hearts to make sure we are completely surrendered to the Lordship of Christ in all areas of our life. Click HERE to read “My Heart, Christ’s Home.”
Many people are familiar with the “Serenity Prayer” in this form:
“God,
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.”
But few people know the history or original version of this prayer. Reinhold Neibuhr was an American theologian, who wrote an embryonic form of this prayer in the mid-1930s and developed it to its current form sometime in the early 1940s. It is a prayer that was circulated among U. S. troops during wartime and adopted into popular use among various recovery groups. It is a prayer of trust and surrender to a loving Father who is providentially governing all things.
Here is the prayer in full…
“God, give me grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things which should be changed,and the
Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.
Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.
Amen.”
soundoftruth.org 