Addictions – Step 11

STEP 11

 

“SOUGHT THROUGH PRAYER AND MEDITATION TO IMPROVE OUR CONSCIENCE CONTACT WITH GOD, AS WE UNDERSTOOD HIM, PRAYING ONLY FOR KNOWLEDGE OF HIS WILL FOR US AND THE POWER TO CARRY THAT OUT.”

 

Step Eleven suggests prayer and meditation.  We shouldn’t be shy on this matter of prayer. Better men then we are using it constantly.  It works, if we have the proper attitude and work at it.

 

“When we retire at night, we constructively review our day” (Page 86).

Remember – we read this every night!

 

  1. Was I angry or resentful today? YES___ NO ___

 

  1. Was I selfish today? YES___ NO___

 

  1. Was I dishonest today? YES___ NO___

 

  1. Was I afraid today? YES___ NO___

 

  1. Do I owe an apology today? YES___ NO___

 

  1. Was I kind and loving toward all today? YES___ NO___

 

  1. Have I kept something to myself that should be discussed with another person at once? YES___ NO___

 

  1. Was I thinking of myself most of the time, or was I thinking of what I could do for others, of what I can pack into the stream of life today? YES___ NO___

 

  1. Did I drift into worry, remorse, or morbid reflections of the past today?

YES___ NO___

 

  1. After making our review, we ask God’s forgiveness? YES___ NO___

 

  1. Have I inquired what corrective measures should be taken? YES___ NO___

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“On awakening, let us think about the twenty-four hours ahead.  We consider our plans for the day” (Page 86-88).  Remember – we read this every morning!

 

  1. We ask God to direct my thinking, especially asking that it be divorced from self-pity, dishonest or self-seeking motives?

 

  1. Here we ask God for inspiration, an intuitive thought or a decision. We relax and take it easy. We don’t struggle.

 

  1. We usually conclude the period of meditation with a prayer that we be shown all through the day what our next step is to be, that we be given whatever we need to take care of such problems. We ask especially for freedom from self-will, and are careful to make no request for ourselves only.  We are careful never to pray for our own selfish ends.

 

  1. As we go through the day we pause, when agitated or doubtful, and ask for the right thought or action. We constantly remind ourselves we are no longer running the show, humbly saying to ourselves many times each day “Thy will be done.”

 

IT WORKS, IT REALLY DOES.

 

We alcoholics are undisciplined.  So we let God discipline us in the simple way we have just outlined.

 

But this is not all.  There is action and more action.  “Faith without works is dead.”  The next chapter (Chapter 7, Working With Others, Pages 89-103) is entirely devoted to Step Twelve.

 

 

 

 

NOTES: