Perfect Prayer For Worriers and Indecisive People

We all go through worries and experience anxiety to one degree or another.
Some of our worries are honestly our own made-up fears that prove to have no roots in reality like
what if the battery I need is on a high shelf and the taller person in my house is not home to reach it for me,
I then have to forgo using the object I need to use for now.

Other forms of worry are things beyond our control like the orbit of the earth rotating around the sun.
Others are some form of scrupulosity that latches on to our minds like a leech causing

a noxious fume of anxiety that can cripple our motivation to act proactively or can leave us in
the ditch of indecisiveness, like how to handle an obnoxious person you have to be around for some reason or another.

What’s a sane, perplexed and good person to do to overcome this emotional drama gripping the soul and mind?
If necessary there is therapy depending on how destructive it is.
For the less afflicted there is also

this perfect prayer for worriers and indecisive people.

It was composed in 1933 by a man named Winnifred Crane Wygal for the March 15th Santa Cruz Sentinel.
It was adopted and popularized by Alcoholics Anonymous in 1941 and
It is attributed to the American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr (1892–1971) in 1943.
It is…

The Serenity Prayer.

My worries don’t match the scale of those trying to feed children in an orphanage in Uganda or
fleeing from your life from someone who literally wants to kill you.
But perspective alone does not necessarily cure mental anguish even if it is rather small in comparison to those who have real worries.

My Own Little Worries and Indecisions

I’m told at work to have confidence in what I’m doing.
So sometimes when I act in confidence in what I think is the right thing to do it gets me yelled at.

If I misunderstand a figure of authority that wants me to perform a certain task,
If it is not clear to me what they want,
If I did not fully comprehend what is being asked of me
and I act confidently in what I think I’m supposed to do
I could get reprimanded for it if my action does not correspond to what is in their mind.

If I try to get clarity and understanding of what the real expectations are
I may get shut down or shut off and not listened to.

Now this doesn’t happen all the time to the point where I need to find a new job ASAP.
But it happen to the point where I couldn’t shake this worry camped out in my brain for the last couple of days.

It makes me ask these questions.

• Do I have to go to work walking on eggshells waiting for the next outburst of anger directed at me?
• Do I continue to do what I think is right not worrying about what others think and just placate them when their mad at me?
• Is this something I should have a conversation about with someone or is it not really a big deal?

And then there are these other questions I could ask and questions that might apply to anyone in any situation.

• How much attention should I really give to this?
• How do I not worry and make an informed decision?
• What can I and cannot I do in this particular situation?

First as St. Padre Pio has instructed us, “Pray, hope, and don’t worry. Worry is useless. God is merciful and will hear your prayer.”

And here is the perfect prayer to pray when you don’t know what to do.

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 Carmelite Praying by the Catechist

This prayer asks God  to help you accept what you can and cannot do in certain situation.
It helps you to gain clarity to do and to know God’s will.

It’s better then this prayer uttered by Calvin in in Bill Watterson’s comic strip Calvin and Hobbes where he says…

“Know what I pray for? The strength to change what I can, the inability to accept what I can’t, and the incapacity to tell the difference.”

The Serenity Prayer will usually result in one of two things.

1. Were told we have to carry our crosses which means things are gonna hurt. But what God promises us is that he will give us the strength to endure something hurtful and painful. No promises of no pain. No promises of  nice warm gushy feelings and a hallmark movie existence. Sometimes a Shakespearean tragedy will thrust itself upon our lives.
2. Or a miraculous situation will occur taking a sad song of life and making it better by avoiding a terrible situation altogether.

“Do not fear what may happen tomorrow. The same loving Father who cares for you today will care for you tomorrow and every day. Either He will shield you from suffering, or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace, then, and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginings.” – St. Francis de Sales.

A co-worker of mine recently experienced some problems with her husband’s health. He had to go to Boston for an operation of some kind. She knows I’m the religious guy at work who prays and didn’t hesitate to ask for my prayers when the crap hit the fan. She is not a huggy type of person but the following day after the surgery she asked if she could hug me. I asked why and she said “Just because your you.”

So remember to… “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”- 1 Peter 5:7 NIV

And to…

Let nothing disturb you,
Let nothing frighten you,
All things are passing away:
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things
Whoever has God lacks nothing;
God alone suffices.
— St. Teresa of Avila

You never know what your pain might produce.
This blog post sprang out of my hurt, worry and indecision.
Perhaps it will help you with yours.

And lastly perhaps you might want to pray the whole Serenity prayer.

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 He will make all things right,
If I surrender to His will,
That I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with Him forever in the next.
Amen.