The Serenity Prayer, made famous by its use in Alcoholics Anonymous, is ready made prayer for inner turmoil.

WHAT’S A READY-MADE PRAYER ANYWAY?

Anthony Bloom, a doctor who served in the French resistance during WWII, then became a bishop in Eastern Orthodox Church, wrote a great little book on prayer called, Beginning to Pray. Bloom orients us to “Ready Made” prayers. He says spontaneous prayers (from the heart and on-the-fly) are good for “peaks & valleys.” Something great happens and you bust out with “THANK YOU GOD!” Or you’re in dire straits and cry, HELP GOD! These prayers erupt like geysers when our hearts are full of joy or desperation.

But most of time, our hearts not bursting with anything. Enter Step 11 of AA: “we sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood God” Ready-Made prayers are daily-bread prayers—prayers for the daily slog.

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