"The Lord's Prayer" "The Lord's Prayer"
Al-Anon Prayers
While Al-Anon is not a religious program, it is a spiritual program. As such, it is customary to open Al-Anon meetings with the Serenity Prayer and to close meetings with The Lord's Prayer.
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.
Amen.
The Lord's Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power,
and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
From page 214 and 215 in As We Understood…
Dear God, I am powerless and my life is unmanageable without your help and guidance. I come to you today because I believe that You can restore and renew me to meet my needs today. Since I cannot manage my life or affairs, I have decided to give them to You. I put my life, my will, my thoughts, my desires and ambitions in Your hands.
I give You all of me: the good and the bad, the character defects and shortcomings, my selfishness, resentments and problems. I know that You will work them out in accordance with Your plan. Such as I am, take and use me in Your service. Guide and direct my ways and show me what to do for You.
I cannot control or change my friends or loved ones, so I release them into Your care for Your loving hands to do with as You will. Just keep me loving and free from judging them. If they need changing, God, You'll have to do it; I can't. Just make me willing and ready to be of service to You, to have my shortcomings removed, and to do my best.
Help me to see how I have harmed others and make me willing to make amends to them all. Keep me ever mindful of thoughts and actions that harm myself and others, and which separate me from Your light, love and spirit. And when I commit these errors, make me aware of them and help me to admit each one promptly.
I am seeking to know You better, to love You more. I am seeking the knowledge of Your will for me and the power to carry it out.
--Anonymous
Lord, teach me patience, and remind me that it is hard work, but well worth my labor. Guide me in all I do to remember that waiting is the answer to some of my prayers, and that when I need You, You will be there to help me.
--Florida, United States
© Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc., 1985
PRAYER FOR TODAY
Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy.
O, Divine Master, grant that I may not For it is in giving that we receive. --St. Francis of Assisi •
so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
To be understood, as to understand;
To be loved, as to love.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.
And it is in dying to self that we are born to eternal life.