AA Prayer: The Serenity Prayer and Step Prayers in Recovery

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) has been using prayer to God or any other higher power since its inception.

Whether said aloud at the beginning or end of a meeting, integrated into the morning routine, or internally connected during a time of difficulty, prayer within Alcoholics Anonymous serves as a way to stay focused on the recovery journey. This guide will take you through some of the most widely used prayers in Alcoholics Anonymous and how they can be used in the recovery process to support your lasting sobriety.

What Is the AA Prayer?

When most individuals refer to “the AA prayer,” they are typically referring to the Serenity Prayer — one of the most well-known prayers used in the recovery community, recited at Alcoholics Anonymous meetings all over the world. It is usually recited at the beginning or at the end of a meeting, making it both a cornerstone of the 12-step program and a tangible resource for millions of recovering individuals.

The short form of the Serenity Prayer reads:

“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.”

The three requests of the Serenity Prayer — serenity, courage, and wisdom — address the emotional and spiritual challenges of recovery. These include coming to terms with the fact that the individual is powerless over alcohol, finding the willingness to take action where possible, and being able to see which situations can or cannot be changed. For members of Alcoholics Anonymous, these requests serve as a daily practice. The Serenity Prayer is simply a tool used to reaffirm each request to themselves daily, one day at a time.

The Serenity Prayer can also be said in its complete form, which offers more religious language and may resonate more with some recovering individuals for whom faith is important. The rest of the Serenity Prayer is as follows:

“Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardship as a pathway to peace; taking, as He 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.”

Although it includes religious language, the short version is intentionally vague in order to provide a more personal perspective for both AA members who follow a religion and members who do not.

The Origins of the Serenity Prayer

The Serenity Prayer is most commonly credited to American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, who is thought to have written it in the early 1930s. It was later adopted by Alcoholics Anonymous and popularized through AA literature and meetings. As a result, many people assume the Serenity Prayer was created specifically for Alcoholics Anonymous and people in recovery.

Bill Wilson, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, found the prayer in a newspaper clipping in 1941 and immediately recognized that the message aligned with the principles upon which Alcoholics Anonymous was founded — taking responsibility for the things that can be changed while accepting that there are things that cannot be changed. Since then, the Serenity Prayer has been a fundamental component of Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and a symbol of the recovery journey worldwide.

The Role of Prayer in the 12-Step Program

The role of prayer within the context of a 12-step program like Alcoholics Anonymous is very important, but it’s important to clarify that being spiritual and being religious are two separate things. The Big Book makes it very clear that AA is open to people of all faiths and atheists alike, and encourages everyone who participates to develop their own personal relationship with their notion of a higher power, however they choose to define that.

For most members of Alcoholics Anonymous, prayer is more about building humility, self-awareness, and openness than it is about practicing religion. It is a daily practice of stepping aside from self-will (the self-seeking behavior that is so often a core driver of addictive behavior) and concentrating on something that creates a greater purpose. The manner in which members pray differs (traditional prayer, meditation, or quiet reflection), but the intention is the same: to remove negative behaviors and get out of one’s own way.

That being said, the Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous state that as a group, there is no opinion on outside issues, including religion. This principle extends to prayer. There is no single prescribed way to pray in AA, and no requirement to pray at all. The prayers you’ll find below that are associated with the 12-step program are offered as suggestions, not mandates.

AA Step Prayers

Many of the prayers used in AA correspond to a specific step as a means of preparing members for each of the 12 Steps and providing a way of expressing the spiritual aspect of working through them.

The First Step Prayer

The First Step involves admitting powerlessness over alcohol and acknowledging that life has become unmanageable. The First Step Prayer reflects this surrender:

“Lord, I admit that I am powerless over my addiction. I admit that my life is unmanageable when I try to control it. Help me this day to understand the true meaning of powerlessness. Remove from me all denial of my addiction.”

The Third Step Prayer

The Third Step involves making a decision to turn one’s will and life over to the care of a higher power. The Third Step Prayer comes directly from the Big Book and is one of the most often-used prayers in the AA 12-step program:

“God, I offer myself to Thee — to build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt. Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do Thy will. Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of Thy power, Thy love, and Thy way of life. May I do Thy will always.”

This prayer captures the shift from self-will to willingness that is central to the AA program. For many members, the Third Step Prayer marks a turning point in their recovery journey.

The Fifth Step Prayer

The Fifth Step involves admitting to a higher power, to oneself, and to another person the exact nature of one’s wrongs, and asks for assistance in providing courage and clarity in this area.

“Higher Power, my inventory has shown me who I am, yet I ask for Your help in admitting my wrongs to another person and to You. Assure me, and be with me, in this Step, for without this Step I cannot grow.”

The Seventh Step Prayer

In the Seventh Step, individuals humbly ask that their defects of character (the behavioral patterns identified through Steps Four and Five’s personal inventory process that obstruct healthy living and relationships) be removed by their higher power.

“My Creator, I am now willing that you should have all of me, good and bad. I pray that you now remove from me every single defect of character which stands in the way of my usefulness to you and my fellows. Grant me strength, as I go out from here, to do your bidding. Amen.”

The Tenth Step Prayer

The Tenth Step is about continuing to take a personal inventory and promptly admitting when one is wrong. A common Tenth Step Prayer reflects the ongoing nature of this work:

“Higher Power, I pray I may continue to grow in understanding and effectiveness. Help me to watch for selfishness, self-pity, dishonesty, and self-seeking. When I discover these things, help me to ask You at once to remove them. Help me to not be hard on myself when I make mistakes, but rather to grow from them.”

The Eleventh Step Prayer

The Eleventh Step seeks to build a stronger conscious connection with a higher power by means of prayer and meditation. The most common prayer recited for this step is the Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi, which AA members have long used as a daily reflection, a morning or evening prayer, and a process to meditate on selfless living:

“Lord, make me a channel of thy peace — that where there is hatred, I may bring love; that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness; that where there is discord, I may bring harmony; that where there is error, I may bring truth; that where there is doubt, I may bring faith; that where there is despair, I may bring hope; that where there are shadows, I may bring light; that where there is sadness, I may bring joy. Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted, to understand than to be understood, to love than to be loved; for it is by self-forgetting that one finds; it is by forgiving that one is forgiven; it is by dying that one awakens to eternal life.”

The Prayer of St. Francis does not appear in the Big Book, but it does appear in the A.A. Grapevine (the international journal of Alcoholics Anonymous) and is popular in AA for the Eleventh Step.

How AA Prayers Support Mental Health and Recovery

Beyond the spiritual value provided, AA prayers provide tangible mental health benefits for those in recovery. Studies on mindfulness and contemplative practices repeatedly demonstrate that regular reflection and intentional pauses decrease anxiety, improve emotional regulation, and increase self-awareness — conditions absolutely necessary for recovery.[1]

For many members of AA, prayer functions as a daily mental health practice. A morning prayer sets an intention for the day. In a moment of stress, prayer can provide an opportunity to stop automatic thinking and create room for a more thoughtful response. The various step prayers support the emotional and psychological work of recovery with a concrete and repeatable source.

AA has long identified self-pity as a major contributor to relapse — the repetitive focus on perceived injustices and the sense that a person is trapped in their situation. Prayers like the Serenity Prayer and the Prayer of St. Francis are intended to counter self-pity by directing attention away from oneself and toward service, acceptance, making amends, and appreciation.

Finding Support for Recovery in New Jersey

If you or someone you love is struggling with substance use or alcohol addiction, attending local support groups and reaching out for professional support is the most important step you can take.

And when you are ready to take that step, New Jersey Behavioral Health in Hillsborough Township is here. We offer outpatient programs that use proven methods of treatment that address both substance use and co-occurring mental health conditions that may be driving it. Through integrated treatments including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and other holistic therapies, participants gain experience using multiple self-help tools to achieve long-term recovery.

Get started today and take the first step toward lasting recovery.