Celebrate Recovery Prayers

Serenity Prayer

Rienhold Niebuhr

8 Recovery Principles-Based on the Beatitudes

R Realize I am not God; I admit that I am powerless to control my tendency to do the wrong thing and that my life is unmanageable. Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor. Matthew 5:3 (Step 1)

E Earnestly believe that God exists, that I matter to Him and that He has the power to help me recover. Happy are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Matthew 5:4 (Step 2)

C Consciously choose to commit all my life and will to Christs care and control. Happy are the meek. Matthew 5:5 (Step 3)

O Openly examine and confess my faults to myself, to God and to someone I trust. Happy are the pure in heart. Matthew 5:8 (Step 4 and 5).

V Voluntarily submit to every change God wants to make in my life and humbly ask Him to remove my character defects. Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires. Matthew 5:6 (Steps 6 and 7)

E Evaluate all my relationships. I offer forgiveness to those who have hurt me and make amends for harm I’ve done to others, except when to do so would harm them or others. Happy are the merciful. Matthew 5:7 Happy are the peacemakers. Matthew 5:9 (Step 8 and 9)

R Reserve a daily time with God for self examination, Bible reading, and prayer in order to know God and His will for my life and to gain the power to follow his will. (Steps 10 and 11)

Y Yield myself to God to be used to bring this Good News to others, both by my example and my words. Happy are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires. Matthew 5:10 (Step 12)

The Twelve Steps and Their Biblical Comparisons

1. We admitted we were powerless over our addictions and compulsive behaviors. That our lives had become unmanageable. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. (Romans 7:18)

2. Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. (Philippians 2:13)

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God. Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. (Romans 12:1)

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD. (Lamentations 3:40)

5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being, the exact nature of our wrongs. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. (James 5:16a)

6. We're entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. (James 4:10)

7. Humbly asked Him to remove all our shortcomings. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all. Do to others as you would have them do to you. (Luke 6:31) .

9. Made direct amends to such people when ever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. (Matthew 5:23-24)

10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! (1 Corinthians 10:12)

11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and power to carry that out. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly. (Colossians 3:16a)

12. Having had a spiritual experience as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others, and practice these principles in all our affairs. Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. (Galatians 6:1)

Principle 1 Prayer

Dear God, Your Word tells me that I can't heal my hurts, hang-ups and habits by just saying that they are not there. Help me! Parts of my life, or all of my life are out of control. I now know that I cannot "fix" myself. It seems the harder that I try to do the right thing the more I struggle. Lord, I want to step out of my denial into the truth. I pray for You to show me the way. In Your Son's name I pray, Amen.

Principle 2 Prayer

Dear God, I have tried to “fix” and “control” my life’s hurts, hang-ups and habits all by myself. I admit that by myself I’m powerless to change. I need to begin to believe and receive Your power to help me recover. You loved me enough to send Your Son to the cross to die for my sins. Help me be open to the hope that I can only find in Him. Please help me to start living my life one day at a time. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

Principle 3 Prayer

Dear God, I have tried to do it all by myself, on my own power, and I have failed. Today, I want to turn my life over to You. I ask You to be my Lord and my Savior. You are the One and only Higher Power! I ask that You help me start to think less about me and my will. I want to daily turn my will over to You, to daily see Your direction and wisdom for my life. Please continue to help me overcome my hurts, hang-ups, and habits and may that victory over them help others as they see Your power at work in changing my life. Help me to do Your will always. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

Principle 4 Prayer

Dear God, You know my past, all the good and bad things that I’ve done. In this step, I ask you give me the strength and the courage to list those things so that I can “come clean” and face them and the truth. Please help me to reach out to others You have placed along my “road to recovery.” Thank you for providing them to help me keep balanced as I do my inventory. In Christs name I pray. Amen.

Principle 5 Prayer

Dear God, thank you for taking me this far in my recovery journey. Now I pray for Your help in making me be entirely ready to change all my shortcomings. Give me the strength to deal with all my character defects that I’ve turned over to you. Allow me to accept all the changes that You want to make in me. Help me be the person that You want me to be. In Your Son’s Name I pray. Amen.

Principle 6a Prayer

Dear God, I pray for willingness -- willingness to evaluate all my past and current relationships. Please show me the people whom I have hurt, and help me to become to offer my amends to them. Also, God give me Your strength to become willing to offer forgiveness to those who have hurt me. I pray for your perfect timing for taking the action that Principle 6 calls for. I ask these things, In Your Son’s Name I pray. Amen.

Principle 6b Prayer

Dear God, Thank you for Your love, for your freely given grace. Help me model Your ways when I make amends to those who I’ve hurt and offer my forgiveness to those who have injured me. Help me to set aside my selfishness and speak the truth in Love. I pray that I would focus only on my part, my responsibility in the issue. I know that I can forgive others because You first forgave me. Thank you for loving me. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Principle 7a Prayer

Dear God, thank you for today. Thank you for giving me the tools to work my program and live my life differently, centered in Your will. Lord, help me to make my amends promptly and ask for forgiveness. In all my relationships today help me to do my part in making healthy and growing. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Principle 7b Prayer

Dear God, help me set aside all the hassles and noise of the world to focus and listen just to You for the next few minutes. Help me to get to know you better. Help me to better Understand Your plan. Your purpose for my life. Father, help me live within today, seeking Your will and living this day as You would have me.

It is my prayer to have other see me as Yours; not just in my words but, more importantly, in my actions. Thank you for Your love. Your grace, Your perfect forgiveness. Thank you for all of those You have placed in my life, for my program, my recovery, and my church family. Your will be done, not mine, In Your Son’s name I pray, Amen.

Lesson 6 (ACTION) Prayer

Dear God, Thank you for Your love, for your freely given grace. Help me model Your ways when I make amends to those who I’ve hurt and offer my forgiveness to those who have injured me. Help me to set aside my selfishness and speak the truth in Love. I pray that I would focus only on my part, my responsibility in the issue. I know that I can forgive others because You first forgave me. Thank you for loving me. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Lesson 13 (ADMIT) Prayer

Dear God, I ask that you fill me with Your peace and strength during the sharing of my inventory. I know that You have forgiven me for my wrongs, my sins. Thank you for sending Your Son to pay the price for me so my sins can be forgiven. During this meeting help me to be humble and completely honest. Thank you for providing me with this program and (The name of the person with whom you are sharing your inventory) Thank you for allowing the chains of my past to be snapped. In my Savior’s name I pray. Amen.

Lesson 14 (READY) Prayer

Dear God, thank you for taking me this far in my recovery journey. Now I pray for your help in making me entirely ready to change all my shortcomings. Give me the strength to deal with all my character defects that I have turned over to you. Allow me to accept all the changes that You want me to make in me. Help me be the person that You want me to be. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.