<P> O God and Heavenly Father, Grant to us the serenity of mind to accept that which cannot be changed; courage to change that which can be changed, and wisdom to know the one from the other, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen . </P> <P> Some twelve - step recovery programs use a slightly different version: </P> <P> 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 . </P> <P> The earliest recorded reference to the prayer is a diary entry from 1932 by Winnifred Crane Wygal, a pupil and collaborator of Reinhold Niebuhr, quoting the prayer and attributing it to Niebuhr . Several versions of the prayer then appeared in newspaper articles in the early 1930s written by, or reporting on talks given by, Wygal . In 1940, Wygal included the following form of the prayer in a book on worship, attributing it to Niebuhr: </P>

God help me to accept the things i cannot change