{"id":641,"date":"2010-06-30T23:38:22","date_gmt":"2010-06-30T23:38:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.freedomfrommedom.com\/wp3\/?page_id=641"},"modified":"2017-01-29T23:18:14","modified_gmt":"2017-01-29T23:18:14","slug":"serenity-prayer","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.freedomfrommedom.com\/wp3\/serenity-prayer","title":{"rendered":"Serenity Prayer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Keep this in mind the next time you say The Serenity Prayer. When you pray, &#8220;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&#8230; Amen&#8221; you are admitting that you lack acceptance, courage, and wisdom. The most important words in the prayer are &#8220;God grant me&#8230;&#8221; acknowledging that you are not God and you need His favor. The word &#8220;Amen&#8221; means &#8220;let it be so&#8221; or &#8220;so be it&#8221;. When you say &#8220;Amen&#8221; after asking for God to do for you and in you what you cannot do for yourself, you are declaring that you have decided to let go of what you cannot control anyway and you&#8217;re turning your will and life over to the care and plan of God since you believe He can and will &#8220;grant you&#8230;&#8221; if you let Him.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #a7cca5;\">If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. James 1:5 (NIV)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.freedomfrommedom.com\/wp3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/2-51-4-4.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-33858\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.freedomfrommedom.com\/wp3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/2-51-4-4.jpg?resize=640%2C671\" alt=\"2-51-4\" width=\"640\" height=\"671\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.freedomfrommedom.com\/wp3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/2-51-4-4.jpg?w=785&amp;ssl=1 785w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.freedomfrommedom.com\/wp3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/2-51-4-4.jpg?resize=286%2C300&amp;ssl=1 286w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.freedomfrommedom.com\/wp3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/2-51-4-4.jpg?resize=768%2C805&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.freedomfrommedom.com\/wp3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/2-51-4-4.jpg?resize=250%2C262&amp;ssl=1 250w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #a7cca5;\"><span id=\"en-NLT-29407\" class=\"text Phil-4-4\"><sup class=\"versenum\">4\u00a0<\/sup>Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again\u2014rejoice!<\/span> <span id=\"en-NLT-29408\" class=\"text Phil-4-5\"><sup class=\"versenum\">5\u00a0<\/sup>Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #a7cca5;\"><span id=\"en-NLT-29409\" class=\"text Phil-4-6\"><sup class=\"versenum\">6\u00a0<\/sup>Don\u2019t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.<\/span> <span id=\"en-NLT-29410\" class=\"text Phil-4-7\"><sup class=\"versenum\">7\u00a0<\/sup>Then you will experience God\u2019s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span id=\"en-NLT-29411\" class=\"text Phil-4-8\" style=\"color: #a7cca5;\"><sup class=\"versenum\">8\u00a0<\/sup>And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #a7cca5;\"><span id=\"en-NLT-29414\" class=\"text Phil-4-11\"><sup class=\"versenum\">11\u00a0<\/sup>Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have.<\/span> <span id=\"en-NLT-29415\" class=\"text Phil-4-12\"><sup class=\"versenum\">12\u00a0<\/sup>I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.<\/span> <span id=\"en-NLT-29416\" class=\"text Phil-4-13\"><sup class=\"versenum\">13\u00a0<\/sup>For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. Philippians 4:4-8, 11-13 (NLT)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #a7cca5;\">But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God\u2019s people in accordance with the will of God. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:25-28 (NIV)<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Keep this in mind the next time you say The Serenity Prayer. When you pray, &#8220;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 &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.freedomfrommedom.com\/wp3\/serenity-prayer\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-641","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomfrommedom.com\/wp3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomfrommedom.com\/wp3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomfrommedom.com\/wp3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomfrommedom.com\/wp3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomfrommedom.com\/wp3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=641"}],"version-history":[{"count":29,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomfrommedom.com\/wp3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/641\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36543,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomfrommedom.com\/wp3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/641\/revisions\/36543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomfrommedom.com\/wp3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}