The Serenity Prayer: Full Text, Short Version & Original Wording

Chances are you already know a version of this prayer by heart. Maybe you learned it at a meeting. Maybe it was on a plaque in your grandmother’s kitchen. Maybe someone just texted it to you on a hard day.

But there’s more than one version, and the wording matters more than most people realize. Here’s the full text, in every form worth knowing.

The Serenity Prayer (Short Version)

This is the version most people recognize immediately. It’s the one used in twelve-step meetings and printed on nearly everything, from coffee mugs to recovery chips:

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

This exact wording appears in Alcoholics Anonymous’s own book, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, in the Third Step essay. It’s the version most closely tied to recovery, though plenty of people outside twelve-step programs pray it just as often.

The Full (Long) Serenity Prayer

Fewer people know there’s a longer version. It carries the same opening lines, then continues into something more personal and reflective:

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; 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.

This version tends to show up in devotionals and personal prayer journals rather than meeting rooms. If you want a closer look at what each of these lines actually means, our full breakdown of the Serenity Prayer’s meaning walks through it line by line.

The Original Wording (What Niebuhr Actually Wrote)

The version most of us know isn’t quite the one that started it all.

According to Elisabeth Sifton, daughter of theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, her father’s own wording in 1943 read like this:

God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things that should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.

That’s the documented original, as Niebuhr’s own family has recorded it. The fuller story of who first wrote these words down, and why historians still debate it, is its own subject. If you’re curious about that history, we’ve covered the full, disputed origin story in a separate article.

What Changed Between the Original and the Version You Know

Set the two versions side by side and a few real differences stand out.

The original asks for grace first, with serenity woven into how that grace is received. The familiar version simplifies this down to serenity alone.

The original says “us.” The familiar version says “me.” That’s a shift from a shared, communal prayer to a personal, individual one.

The original asks for courage to change what should be changed. The familiar version asks for courage to change what can be changed. Those sound similar, but they’re not quite the same request. One is about moral responsibility. The other is about ability.

None of these changes are dramatic. But they’re worth knowing, especially if you’ve ever wondered why two people can recite “the same” prayer and still say slightly different words.

Other Common Versions and Adaptations

Beyond the short and long versions, you’ll sometimes come across a modern plural adaptation, closer to Niebuhr’s original tone:

God, grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, the courage to change the things we can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

This form shows up often in group settings, Bible studies, and some church services. The prayer has also been adapted for use across different Christian traditions, and even in secular recovery spaces that keep the wording but leave out the word “God” entirely.

One common mix-up worth clearing up: some older recovery materials mistakenly connected this prayer to Saint Francis of Assisi, likely because of its resemblance to his well-known prayer for peace. The two prayers are not the same, and this one isn’t his.

Which Version Should You Use?

There’s no wrong version to pray, but context can help you choose.

In a twelve-step meeting, the short version is what people will recognize and pray together. For personal devotion or journaling, the long version gives you more to sit with. In a group or church setting, the plural adaptation can feel more fitting, since it speaks as “we” instead of “I.”

If you’d like guidance on actually praying this prayer in a way that becomes part of your daily life, our step-by-step guide to praying the Serenity Prayer walks through that in detail.

Printable Serenity Prayer

Both the short and long versions above are formatted to copy or print exactly as written. The short version works well on a small card you can keep in a wallet, a Bible, or by your bedside. The long version fits nicely on a full page for a journal or devotional binder.

Since Niebuhr never copyrighted the prayer, and by his own family’s account never wanted it treated as a source of income, you’re free to print, copy, and share any of these versions freely.

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