Prayer To Continue Living One Day At A Time Although Hardship Drags On

STILL LIVING ONE DAY AT A TIME

For a long time the blog that is visited by the most people on our site is one that encourages us to live one day at a time.  It’s good to circle back to these fundamental principles on a regular basis I think.  They ground us and give us a firm foundation during times of upheaval and uncertainty. 

The Serenity Prayer is famous not just in 12-step circles but with many other folks as well.  Most people know the short version:

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.

Now that is a great prayer for any of us to pray at any time on any day.  But, when we pray the full version of the Serenity Prayer we are introduced to some rich thoughts that help us make practical application of these broad principles.  After the short version section we quickly come to a line that says, "living one day at time, enjoying one moment at a time."  We want to do that but as one day drags into the next in this covid-19 pandemic and we add all the stresses from things related to it to all the other fears and worries we were already carrying, the load feels pretty heavy.   

Here we are months into our “new reality” with who knows how many weeks and months left to go in spite of the rolling out of the vaccines.  For many one mundane day seems to slide into another.  Even though the weather is cold, people still long to get outside.  Parents are struggling to know whether to send their kids to school or keep them at home. The lack of contact with others beyond our family members for so many months increases a certain disconnectedness in our hearts.  We long for that closeness again. 

So today, we want to refocus on what’s necessary for today to be a day we can not just get through and but get through well.  We pray to ask God to heal and restore us so we can experience joy and enter into the life of security and peace God has planned for us one day at a time.  Today we pray for faith to trust God's ability to help us handle any situation we face now and will face going forward.  We pray for the power of the Holy Spirit to grow perseverance and patience in us as this journey moves along slowly from one day to the next. 

Let’s begin today’s prayers with the Serenity Prayer and 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, forever and ever.  Amen

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. Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardship as a 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.

Heavenly Father,  we thank you for the gift of this day and your loving presence with us in it.  We are so grateful that we don’t have to go through seasons like this on our own.  Your ways are higher than ours and your thoughts are wiser than ours so we surrender all our unknowing and all of our impatience and insecure feelings to you today.  We don’t know tomorrow or even what things will be like later today but in this moment we ask for the serenity, courage, and wisdom to make the next right choice and to live one day at a time, one moment at a time. 

Forgive us for the times we see how far short we fall.  We do complain about the hardships of these days.  We do not want to take this world as it is in this state of pandemic but we are powerless to make it all go away.  You know we would if we could but we can’t.  So, help us to surrender our frustration and worry about the things we are powerless over to you.  We can trust You with what is too big for us.  We can be confident that You will guide us and empower us to get through each situation that presents itself.

Help us to keep it simple – dealing with the things we can and leaving the rest.  Help us to seek Your heart and Your peace and Your strength trusting that You will bless us as we open our heart and lift them up to you. 

Thank You for Your great mercy which is new every morning and for being faithful to me even when I have not been faithful to You.  You truly are an amazing God.  AMEN