Prayer for Addiction
Gathered together on this page are a number of prayers to help with overcoming addictions. The "Serenity Prayer" is a prayer asking God to help us change our behaviour, and is used by Alcoholics Anonymous. Further down this page there is also a specific prayer for recovery from drug addiction, and an adapted version of the prayer for those who have a son or daughter who is currently a drug addict. We begin with a short prayer that can be used for different forms of addictions (such as gambling or smoking etc):-
Dear Father,
Please meet me in my loneliness, help me to have the confidence to speak with someone about my addiction. I trust that you can lead me out of this prison, that you can heal my mind and body.
I long to be free, yet I still feel so trapped by my thoughts and fears. Cover me with your love and grace, until, with your help Lord, I can walk in freedom, break out and fully live again.
Amen.
(a prayer for freedom from addiction from www.lords-prayer-words.com)
The Serenity Prayer
The following prayer has been made famous by the work of Alcoholics Anonymous, an organisation concerned solely with the personal recovery and continued sobriety of individual alcoholics who turn to them for help:-
The Words to the "Serenity Prayer"
God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.
(a prayer attributed to Reinhold Neibuhr)
read the full version of this prayer, with a commentary here.
Prayer for Drug Addiction
O Lord,
I trust that you understand me. You have carried me in the hardest times. Only you have seen each despairing moment and only you have walked beside me. Now I ask that you, with your gentle, healing hands would lead me away from my drug addiction. Cover my mind and body as I face the withdrawal and fill my heart with songs of hope. Help me to see what you can already see. Me, cleansed of all the upset and brokenness, free to live and love, restored and redeemed.
Amen.
(a prayer for drug addiction from www.lords-prayer-words.com)
Prayer for Drug Addiction (for a son or daughter)
O Lord,
I trust that you understand my son/daughter. You have carried him in the hardest times. Only you have seen each despairing moment and only you have walked beside him. Now I ask that you, with your gentle, healing hands would lead him away from his drug addiction. Cover his mind and body as he faces the withdrawal and fill his heart with songs of hope. Help him to see what you can already see. My son, cleansed of all the upset and brokenness, free to live and love, restored and redeemed.
Amen.
(a prayer for drug addiction from www.lords-prayer-words.com)
Tomorrow Came
An inspiring song about discovering the redeeming power of Christ in the midst of great despair or depression:-
The Words of Christ
Peace is what I leave with you; it is my own peace that I give you. I do not give it as the world does. Do not be worried and upset; do not be afraid.
John 14:27, (GNT)
Prayer for the Victims of Addiction
O blessed Lord, you ministered to all who came to you:
Look with compassion upon all who through addiction have lost
their health and freedom.
Restore to them the assurance of
your unfailing mercy;
remove from them the fears that beset them;
strengthen them in the work of their recovery;
and to those who care for them,
give patient understanding and persevering love.
Amen.
(source: Book of Common Prayer, 1979 version, Protestant Episcopal Church in the USA.)