STEP ELEVEN
Sought through prayer and meditation
to improve our conscious contact with God
as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge
of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
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Essay Higher Power, as I understand You, I pray to keep my connection with You open & clear from the confusion of daily life. Through my prayers & meditation I ask especially for freedom from self-will, rationalization & wishful thinking. I pray for the guidance of correct thought & positive action. Your will, Higher Power, not mine, be done. You know what is best for me God. Give me faith to believe in your goodness and not my fear. God-help me remember that I can’t afford to miss my time with you. You’re my most important appointment. Talk to your sponsor everyday! If you think you have "nothing to say", write her/him anyway! Step eleven principle is awareness! We have stopped being in our own confused minds and wandering around in despair, we are not connected to a safety network with meetings, recovery friends, telephones, literature and a constant TALK with our higher power. Praying is not only 5 minutes in the morning before we start our day, it is a continuing process. "God, there is nothing that can happen today, that YOU and I cannot handle, I know that you are always with me!" is a way of life. Talk to God inside you; look for his signs, his help, and his way of communicating with you. Open your ears and eyes, and listen and question what is happening. Things are not always what they seem! Be aware! If you can let go of old ideas and expectations, and be open for what happens it happens and ACCEPT IT as part of Gods plan for you, you will learn a whole lot of new things. When you ask God, and pray for help and support - you talk and God listen. When you meditate and sit silent for guidance - God talks to you, and you listen. This broadband of communication is already installed in your heart and the only thing you have to do, is to take your time and build the motivation, efforts and trust that is will work, it always works. If you think you don’t get answers or help or support, you just don’t see it yet. But he always help you, because he loves you so much and wants you to keep on asking for guidance and support. http://www.aabacktobasics.org/wallybio.html In the book "How to talk to God" Wally P. gives us an example of how they taught newcomers in AA from before the beginning (The Oxford Group) how to connect to their Higher Power. This has been very helpful to me and I would like to share it with you: Please remember The Oxford Group was a Christian movement , but it doesn’t matter. (I am not a Christian and this technique works for anyone that tries it).
This is the law of prayer. God’s plan for this world goes forward through the lives of ordinary people who are willing to be governed by Him. ( John E. Batterson) Only extracts of the text Summary questions: 1. How can you "pray"? Which methods do you use and why? 2. How can you "meditate"? Which methods do you use and why? 3. Please describe a conscious contact with God. 4. How do you get knowledge of His will? 5. How do you really know this is Gods will and not your will? 6. Are you willing to obey Gods will? 7. How do you think God can and will give you the power to carry it out? 8. Does it sometimes occur to you that you have no clue at all, of what is best for you? 9. When you get angry, frustrated or sad about something that happens, how can you come back into the warm communication with God, and ask for acceptance of what happens? 10. When you start to feel and build a strong intuition and honesty from what God wants from you, are you willing to do it? Even if it may turn your life upside down? 11. Are you willing to pray with others, like your sponsor, husband or friend? 12. Can you make it a daily commitment? 13. Describe how this new routine has helped your recovery? Step 11 guarantees: This step will change your life totally for the better. You will not have to take impulsive decisions or stress into bad habits, you can practice integrity by saying "I don’t know. If it can wait, I will take that decision later after I have talked to my sponsor". If it is not in my plan for the day, I must consider if it is worth it. Often our emotions and thinking change quickly, and what seemed so terrible a few hours ago, really wasn’t when we once again get balanced and peaceful with the help of our higher power. Faith will be essential in your life. You will accept and understand there is no help in a little bit belief or a stressful emergency prayer now and then, when life is not treating you well. It must be 100% all the time serious, if you want the 100% wonderful guarantee also! What you put into it, is only a small portion of what you get back in ten times of help and peace. You will acknowledge that your higher power is something you can not live a happy life without. You will never be shy or embarrassed to talk about how important this is in your life, and how much it is helping you. You will start to accept religious people and maybe even try it yourself. You will see you have nothing to fear, not today and not tomorrow, you are always taken care of! Scheduled prayers, short communications and remembrance, crying out for help, listening for signs and answers becomes a daily activity of doing God’s will for you, and helping you to stay away from abuse and compulsiveness. All the best to you, Mariam |
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