Regardless of how we understand a Power greater than ourselves, prayer is an important part of our lives. Relating to a Higher Power leads us out of our egotism into a conscious relationship with powers far beyond ourselves.
How do we pray? We can use words to state what’s on our mind. We can say them silently or out loud. We can quiet our mind and simply enter into the peace of God, opening our mind to receive
The
chief activator of our defects has been self-centered fear.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p.
76
When I feel
uncomfortable, irritated, or depressed, I look for fear. This "evil and
corroding thread" is the root of my distress: Fear of failure; fear of others'
opinions; fear of harm, and many other fears. I have found a Higher Power, who
does not want me to live in fear and, as a result, the experience of A.A. in my
life is freedom and joy.
I am no longer willing to live with the multitude of
character defects that characterized my life while I was drinking. Step Seven is
my vehicle to freedom from these defects. I pray for help in identifying the
fear underneath the defect, and then I ask God to relieve me of that fear. This
method works for me without fail and is one of the great miracles of my life in
Alcoholics Anonymous.
~Elizabeth Farrell
Many of us didn’t feel alcoholism or addiction was a gift when we first got into recovery. We felt shame or perhaps anger that we couldn’t drink or use like other women. Alcohol or other drugs made us feel less self-conscious and more courageous. Accepting that we couldn’t handle these substances meant feeling the fear of many situations, perhaps for the first time.
But most of us have come to appreciate the rewards of sobriety. When we were using, our lack of consistent values caused us to stumble many times. Now we have the Steps
