<P> The Serenity Prayer is the common name for a prayer written by the American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr (1892--1971). The best - known form is: </P> <P> 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 . </P> <P> Niebuhr, who first wrote the prayer for a sermon at Heath Evangelical Union Church in Heath, Massachusetts, used it widely in sermons as early as 1934 and first published it in 1951 in a magazine column . The prayer spread through Niebuhr's sermons and church groups in the 1930s and 1940s and was adopted and popularized by Alcoholics Anonymous and other twelve - step programs . </P>

God please help me accept the things i cannot change