Serenity Prayer with Shan and Sammy

Serenity Prayer with Shan and Sammy

Curious about how others navigate their sobriety journey? This conversation between Shan, the Recovery Pastor, and Pastor Sammy Hodges takes a familiar line from recovery meetings – the Serenity Prayer – and digs into what it actually looks like in day-to-day life. Aimed at people in recovery, those who love them, and anyone trying to live out their faith in real life, the chat has a relaxed, church‑hall‑coffee kind of feel.

Shan and Sammy walk through the prayer phrase by phrase: “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.” Along the way you’ll hear about jail ministry, wild goose chases, and a legendary attempt at a teenage ponytail that “just wasn’t Sammy”.

They make a clear point that the Serenity Prayer isn’t in the Bible, but its ideas are: Sammy links it to Jesus’ promise of peace and to scriptures like Proverbs and John 14. For anyone in recovery, their talk about perspective hits home.

They stress how hard it is to see clearly when you’re emotionally wrapped up in a situation, and why outside voices – sponsors, church ‘mamas and granddaddies’, recovery communities – help you gain “a new way of looking at whatever is happening”. Acceptance comes up as a key theme: accepting that you can’t fix other people, can’t control opinions, and sometimes can only “love them right where they’re at”.

Courage, they suggest, often means asking God to change you first, not the other person. And wisdom? That’s learning to pause long enough to tell the difference between God’s peace and a quick feel‑good moment. If faith, recovery, and real life sometimes feel like a traffic jam in your head, this easygoing chat might help you pause, breathe, and rethink your next step. So what might the Serenity Prayer be inviting you to accept, change, or see differently today?