Step 11: Getting Out of the Cockpit

Step 11: 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.
Principle 7 (CR): Reserve a daily time with God for self-examination, Bible reading, and prayer in order to know God and His will for my life and to gain the power to follow His will.


Ohhh this can be such a hard one for us self-centered alcoholics and addicts.  To not pray for what we want, but to only pray for what God wants!  That takes trust.  That takes will-power.  That takes persistence.  That takes Self-Awareness.  That takes us out of our own muck where problems lie and into focused action where solutions and new life are found.  This step is hard, but it is a necessary one if we are going to be able to fulfill the mission found in step 12.  It is also necessary if we are going to live a joyous and free sober life!  

And the thing is - we’ve all done it!  In moments of dire need we have called out saying something like “Help me know what to say”, or “Whatever happens, help it be what’s supposed to happen”, or “whatever the outcome - just lead me through this cuz I just can’t”, or some that I’ve been saying a lot lately, “please don’t let me make a mistake!”, and “I have my preferences, but if its not mine - don’t bring it back to me” …. And the list goes on, right?

Hopefully, you saw yourself in those calls for help because reminding ourselves of when we’ve called out for help and how our God has answered us gives us the confidence to start turning our will over to the care of our Higher Power all the more.  We came into the rooms because we lost ourselves somewhere along the way and as a consequence developed character defects that we need to try to correct.  The answer is the continual turning over of our lives to our Higher Power as we understand Him.  The more we pray for God’s will, the more we pray to accept that will and carry it out - the less our character defects become and the more free we become and the more happy we become and the more willing we become for the mission in Step 12.  

I call it a mission, but it is more of a way of life… But you can’t live that way of life on your own - you need your Higher Power directing your steps and you need your recovery community walking with you.  Are you ready to truly start stepping away from your own muck?  Are you ready to start seeing people and situations differently?  Are you ready to replace anxiety with peace?  It starts with being willing to pray for God’s will for you and the power to carry it out.