The Serenity Prayer

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.

For many years, this beautiful prayer above, known as “The Serenity Prayer,” was thought to be the work of Reinhold Niebuhr, Professor of Practical Theology at Union Theological Seminary in New York.

According to Niebuhr’s daughter, Elisabeth Sifton, her father first used this prayer in 1943 in a sermon during a Sunday service at a church in Heath, Massachusetts.

In an article to be published in the Yale Alumni Magazine, Fred R. Shapiro, associate library director and lecturer at Yale Law School, says that forms of the prayer have been used as far back as 1936 and were always used by women.

To read the details of the controversy, click here.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Reinhold Niebuhr, Serenity Prayer