How to find God's plan for your life...the art of two-way prayer

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.

By Chaplain John E. Batterson

These are a few simple suggestions for people who are willing to make an experiment. You can discover for yourself the most important and practical thing any human being can ever learn--how to be in touch with God.

All that is needed is the willingness to try it honestly. Every person who has done this consistently and sincerely has found that it really works.

Before you begin, look over these fundamental points. They are true and are based on the experience of thousands of people.

1. God is alive. He always has been and He always will be.
2. God knows everything.
3. God can do anything.
4. God can be everywhere--all at the same time. (These are the important differences between God and us human beings).
5. God is invisible--we can't see Him or touch Him--But God is here. He is with you now. He is beside you. He surrounds you. He fills the room or the whole place where you are right now. He is in you now. He is in your heart.
6. God cares very much for you. He is interested in you. He has a plan for your life. He has an answer for every need and problem you face.
7. God will tell you all that you need to know. He will not always tell you all that you want to know.
8. God will help you do anything that He asks you to do.
9. Anyone can be in touch with God, anywhere and at any time, if the conditions are obeyed.

These are the conditions:

• To be quiet and still
• To listen
• To be honest about every thought that comes
• To test the thoughts to be sure that they come from God
• To obey

So, with these basic elements as a background, here are specific suggestions on how to listen to God:

1. Take Time

Find some place and time where you can be alone, quiet and undisturbed. Most people have found that the early morning is the best time. Have with you some paper and pen or pencil.

2. Relax

Sit in a comfortable position. Consciously relax all your muscles. Be loose. There is no hurry. There needs to be no strain during these minutes. God cannot get through to us if we are tense and anxious about later responsibilities.

3. Tune In

Open your heart to God. Either silently or aloud, just say to God in a natural way that you would like to find His plan for your life-you want His answer to the problem or situation that you are facing just now. Be definite and specific in your request.

4. Listen

Just be still, quiet, relaxed and open. Let your mind go "loose". Let God do the talking? Thoughts, ideas, and impressions will begin to come into your mind and heart. Be alert and aware and open to every one.

5. Write

Here is the important key to the whole process. Write down everything that comes into your mind. Everything. Writing is simply a means of recording so that you can remember later. Don't sort out or edit your thoughts at this point.

Don't say to yourself:

• This thought isn't important;
• This is just an ordinary thought;
• This can't be guidance
• This isn't nice;
• This can't be from God;
• This is just me thinking..., etc.

Write down everything that passes through your mind:

• Names of people;
• Things to do;
• Things to say;
• Things that are wrong and need to be made right.

Write down everything:

• Good thoughts - bad thoughts
• Comfortable thoughts - uncomfortable thoughts;
• "Holy" thoughts - "unholy" thoughts;
• Sensible thoughts - "crazy" thoughts.

Be honest! Write down everything! A thought comes quickly, and it escapes even more quickly unless it is captured and put down.

6. Test

When the flow of thoughts slow down, stop. Take a good look at what you have written. Not every thought we have comes from God. So we need to test our thoughts. Here is where the written record helps us to e able to look at them.

1. Are these thoughts completely honest, pure unselfish and loving?
2. Are these thoughts in line with our duties, to our family to our country?
3. Are these thoughts in line with our understanding of the teachings found in our spiritual literature?

7. Check

When in doubt and when it is important, what does another person who is living two-way prayer think about this thought or action? More light comes in through two windows than one. Someone else who also wants God's plan for our lives may help us to see more clearly. Talk over together what you have written. Many people do this. They tell each other what guidance has come. This is the secret of unity. There are always three sides to every question-your side, my side, and the right side. Guidance shows us which is the right side-not who is right, but what is right.

8. Obey

Carry out the thoughts that have come. You will only be sure of guidance as you go through with it. A rudder will not guide a boat until the boat is moving. As you obey, very often the results will convince you that you are on the right track.

9. Blocks?

What if I don't seem to get any definite thoughts? God's guidance is as freely available as the air we breathe. If I am not receiving thoughts when I listen, the fault is not God's.

Usually it is because there is something I will not do:

• something wrong in my life that I will not face and make right;
• a habit or indulgence I will not give up;
• a person I will not forgive
• a wrong relationship in my life I will not give up;
• a restitution I will not make:
• something God has already told me to do that I will not obey

Check these points and be honest. Then try listening.

10. Mistakes

Supposing I make a mistake and do something in the name of God that isn't right? Of course we make mistakes? We are humans with many faults. However, God will always honor sincerity.

He will work around and through every honest mistake we make. He will help us make it right. But remember this! Sometimes when we do obey God, someone else may not like it or agree with it. So when there is opposition, it doesn't always mean you have made a mistake. It can mean that the other person doesn't want to know or to do what is right.

Supposing I fail to do something that I have been told and the opportunity to do it passes? There is only one thing to do. Put it right with God. Tell Him you're sorry. Ask Him to forgive you, then accept His forgiveness and begin again. God is our Father-He is not an impersonal computer. He understands us far better than we do.

11. Results?

We never know what swimming is like until we get down into the water and try. We will never know what this is like until we sincerely try it. Every person who has tried this honestly finds that a wisdom, not their own, comes into their minds and that a Power greater than human power begins to operate in their lives. It is an endless adventure. There is a way of life, for everyone, everywhere. Anyone can be in touch with the living God, anywhere, anytime, if we fulfill His conditions.

When man listens, God speaks.
When man obeys, God acts.

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.

By Chaplain John E. Batterson

The Missing Piece: The Spiritual Malady

The Missing Piece: The Spiritual Malady

Mike L., West Orange, NJ
"Carry THIS Message" Group, West Orange, NJ

From "The Doctor's Opinion" to the end of "More About Alcoholism" the Big Book discusses the first part of Step 1, which states, "We admitted we were powerless over alcohol". We've discussed, studied, and internalized material from the "Doctor's Opinion" to page 23 to see how we're powerless over alcohol bodily. We've used pages 23 - 43 to help us experience how we've been powerless mentally. Now I'd like to talk about a part of our "disease" which is seldom discussed in meetings nowadays: the "spiritual malady."

We often hear people say something like, "I have a three-fold disease: body, mind, and spirit."

When you ask them to describe what they mean by that statement, they seem to have a firm grasp on the fact that we alcoholics suffer from "an allergy of the body and an obsession of the mind" - that once I put any alcohol in my system whatsoever it sets off a craving for more alcohol. And when I'm stone-cold sober, at my very best, the thought will occur to me to take a drink - or sometimes I think very little about it or not at all, and I come-to out of a blackout after having experienced what page 42 refers to as a "strange mental blank spot." And of course this vicious cycle of my mind continuously taking me back to a drink and my body dooming me to not drink like "normal" people puts me in a senseless series of sprees and it makes it virtually impossible to stop.

It is agreed that the "mental obsession" is the part of our "disease" which leads to the first drink; and it's the first drink that triggers the "phenomenon of craving." But, what about the part of my "disease" that triggers the mental obsession in the first place? Why is it that people who have remained abstinent from drinking in Alcoholics Anonymous for 1 year... 2 years... 5 years... 10 years... and in some cases even 20 years or more, go back to drinking?

We know the physical craving does not cause these people to drink because it's been medically proven that after a few days of not drinking the alcohol is processed out of the body. And, if you've been in the AA Fellowship for a while, for most people, the mental obsession dissipates. So why is it that after a long period of sobriety many people in our fellowship return to drinking - EVEN WHEN THEY DON'T WANT TO? What is the third fold of our illness that triggers the mental obsession - WHEN NOT DRINKING - HAVING BEEN SEPARATED FROM ALCOHOL FOR A LONG PERIOD OF TIME?

Through closely examining our Big Book, along with much experience and practice with our Twelve Steps, as well as vigorous work with other alcoholics, the "missing piece" of Step 1 appears to be what is referred to on page 64 as the "spiritual malady."

Now, let me attempt to discuss the second half of Step 1: " - that our lives had become unmanageable."

For a long time I thought my life was unmanageable because of all the crazy insane things I did while drinking - like the car accidents, hurting people when I didn't mean to, failed relationships, loss of jobs, family dysfunction, jails, asylums, etc.

Finally, someone explained to me that those things are not the insanity that the Big Book talks about; nor are those things why the alcoholic's life becomes unmanageable.

Of course those things can be classified as "unmanageability" - but they are external unmanageability. The unmanageability that the 1st Step is pointing to is the INWARD unmanageability of our lives - the restlessness, irritability, and discontentment that most alcoholics have even BEFORE they ever picked up their first drink. There are many names for this "inward unmanageability". Some refer to it as "untreated alcoholism." Others use the term "bedevilments", which comes from page 52 of the Big Book (which I'll be discussing in a moment). Page 64 simply refers to this "inward unmanageability" as "the spiritual malady."

Our book promises us that "When the spiritual malady is overcome, we straighten out mentally and physically." The mental and physical factors of alcoholism are put into remission AFTER the "spiritual malady" is overcome - which means I'm still in danger of drinking until I have a spiritual awakening - whether I think so or not.

Two key points I'd like to focus on from this point forward:

1. What really is this "spiritual malady" and how, if left untreated, can it drive an alcoholic back to drinking?
2. What is the remedy for it? (By the way, our Big Book answers both of those questions in masterly detail in Chapters 4 - 11.) What is this"spiritual malady" we alcoholics suffer from and how can "untreated alcoholism" cause an alcoholic to return to drinking - EVEN WHEN HE/SHE DOESN'T WANT TO?

Imagine three layers. The first layer is our bodily reaction to alcohol when we ingest it - the physical craving. Under that is the second layer: the insanity of the mind just before the first drink - the mental obsession. Under that is the third layer: the inward condition that triggers the second layer, which in turn triggers the first - the "spiritual malady." Symptoms of this "third layer" as described in the Big Book include:

1. being restless, irritable, and discontented (page xxvi),
2. having trouble with personal relationships,
3. not being able to control our emotional natures,
4. being a prey to (or suffering from) misery and depression,
5. not being able to make a living (or a happy and successful life),
6. having feelings of uselessness,
7. being full of fear,
8. unhappiness,
9. inability to be of real help to other people (page 52),
10. being like "the actor who wants to run the whole show" (pages 60-61),
11. being "driven by a hundred forms of fear, self-delusion, self-seeking, and self-pity" (page 62),
12. self-will run riot (page 62),
13. leading a double life (page 73),
14. living like a tornado running through the lives of others (page 82), and
15. exhibiting selfish and inconsiderate habits.

These name just a few of the symptoms of the "spiritual malady" that's described throughout our text. But still in all, these are just symptoms of the "spiritual malady."

What is it really? What is the driving force of the symptoms described above?

On page 62 the text explains that "Selfishness-self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles." This "SELFISHNESS-self-centeredness" (or the "ego", as some people refer to it) drives us to respond to life situations with the above "symptoms" as well as disorders and addictions other than alcoholism.

If this selfishness-self-centeredness continues to manifest in an alcoholic's life - EVEN IN SOMEONE WHO IS NOT DRINKING AND CONTINUES TO ATTEND MEETINGS - and the ego is not smashed and re-smashed by continuous application of all twelve steps, the sober (or "just not drinking") alcoholic is sure to drink again eventually... or even worse, continue to live miserably being "undrunk" (better known as a "dry drunk"). This is why we see people with 10 years in AA wind up in mental institutions - AND THEY HAVEN'T HAD A DROP TO DRINK!

You see, if I continue to act out with selfish - self-centered - ego-driven behaviors I will continue to experience the symptoms of the "spiritual malady."If I continue to experience this inward unmanageability, eventually my mind will seek out the "sense of ease and comfort" it thinks it can receive from taking a drink. Or, my ego can deceive me into thinking I'm doing perfectly fine. (i.e.: Fred's story in Chapter 3... Fred drank when there wasn't "a cloud on the horizon".)

Typically, we'll tell ourselves and others, "Well, at least I'm not drinking." All of a sudden, I can experience a "strange mental blank-spot" - otherwise known as a "sober blackout" - and before it even hits me I'm pounding on the bar asking myself "How'd this happened?"

So, ask yourself if you're suffering from the "spiritual malady" - particularly if you haven't had a drink for a while. What condition is your "inner life" in, currently? Are you experiencing any of the symptoms listed previously?

• Has it been a while since you've taken another alcoholic through the Steps?
• Has it been a while since you have gone through the steps?
• Have you ever taken all of AA's Twelve Steps?
• Have you done more than one 4th Step inventory?
• Have you completed all your 9th Step amends wherever possible?
• Is there something wrong in your life that you will not face and make right?
• Is there a habit or indulgence you will not give up?
• Is there a person you will not forgive?
• Is there a wrong relationship in your life you will not give up?
• Is there a restitution you will not make?
• Is there something God has already told you to do that you will not obey?
• Are you working with the disciplines and practices of steps Ten and Eleven (self-examination, meditation and prayer)... consistently... EVERY DAY?

Page 62 says, "Above everything, we alcoholics must be rid of this selfishness ("the ego"). We must, or it kills us! God makes that possible. And there often seems no way of entirely getting rid of self (ego) without [God's] aid."

Page 25 tells us, "There is a solution. Almost none of us liked the self-searching, the leveling of our pride, the confession of shortcomings, which the process requires for its successful consummation. But we saw that it really worked in others, and we had come to believe in the hopelessness and futility of life as we had been living it. When, therefore, we were approached by those in whom the problem had been solved, there was nothing left for us but to pick up the simple kit of spiritual tools laid at out feet. We have found much of heaven and we have been rocketed into a fourth dimension of existence of which we had not even dreamed."

This "fourth dimension", which we find out in the 10th Step is the "world of the Spirit", takes us beyond the physically, mental, and emotional dimensions of life - and eliminates the selfishness (ego) of the "spiritual malady." The term "spiritual malady" does not mean that our "spirit" is sick. It simply means we are spiritually blocked off from the Power of God, which enables us to remain sober, happy, joyous, and free.

To conclude, it's not my body - my allergic reaction to alcohol - that's going to take me back to drinking. It's really not my mind - the mental obsession - that is the underlying root of what will take me back to drinking. It's the "spiritual malady", as manifested by my EGO (selfishness-self-centeredness), that can eventually lead me back to drinking or sometimes even suicide.

On pages 14 and 15 Bill W. writes, "For if an alcoholic failed to perfect and enlarge his spiritual life through work and self-sacrifice for others, he could not survive the certain trials and low spots ahead. If he did not work, he would surely drink again, and if he drank, he would surely die. Then faith would be dead indeed. With us it is just like that."

Thankfully, the "spiritual malady" is no longer a "missing piece" of Step One for me. It is a reality of my powerlessness and unmanageability and enables me to see why I so desperately need to seek a Power Greater than myself. And unless this malady is recognized, and a course of action (the Twelve Steps) is taken to enable God to remove it, the root of our alcoholic illness can lie dormant and burn us when we least expect it.

Mike L., West Orange, NJ
"Carry THIS Message" Group, West Orange, NJ

ego deflation at depth

Spirituality.com
To the extent that one wavers between self-consciousness and God-consciousness, one's thoughts, words, and actions are bound to fluctuate, waver, and to become "unstable in every way." To the extent that one draws near to God, clears away the wreckage of one's past, and purifies one's heart in order that he or she may help others, however, one becomes increasingly single-minded, and fixed ever more steadily in a conscious contact with one's Higher Power.

The goal of A.A. is thus "ego deflation at depth" so that altruistic and compassionate action based on God-consciousness may increasingly predominate in our lives.

What is Big Book Sponsorship?

Spirituality.com

What is Big Book Sponsorship?

The purpose of Big Book Sponsorship is to work the steps and teach others how to work the steps. By connecting suffering addicts to recovered addicts who guide newcomers through a personalized one on one study of the original 12 step program described in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, we can achieve the same approach that produced 75% success rates in the 1940's.   >> more 

Suffering from addiction? Are you a chronic relapser? Want a REAL solution, a way out?

What is Big Book Sponsorship? WE, who have recovered as a result of following the clear-cut instructions for recovery in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, through our own experience, have found that drunk-a-logs, telling war stories, discussing our personal problems or issues, celebrating medallions or sobriety birthdays, interpreting slogans or reading poetry WILL NOT keep chronic relapsing addicts of our type clean and sober. 

We admitted we were powerless over our addictions

Spirituality.com

1. We admitted we were powerless over our addictions - that our lives had become unmanageable. Take this self-assessment test and find out!
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. Download Step 4 guide and worksheets.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.Download Steps 8 and 9 guide and worksheets.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. Download our daily program of action guide and worksheets (Steps 10 and 11).
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.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs. Download this FREE 12 Step workbook that guides the newcomer through all 12 steps.

The Twelve Steps of A.A. are a way of life for anyone seeking a spiritual program

Spirituality.com

The Twelve Steps of A.A. are a way of life for anyone seeking a spiritual program. By substituting the word "alcohol" for any particular problem of life such as drugs, gambling, sex, food/sugar, self-harm, co-dependence, etc, one can identify and apply the A.A. program, found in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous as a recipe for recovery.

Lois W., the "first lady" of A.A. and the non-alcoholic wife of Bill Wilson, the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, tells her story of "co-dependence addiction" and her spiritual growth by applying A.A. principles to her own life.

(Reprinted from the book, How Al-Anon Works for Families & Friends of Alcoholics, Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc. 1995, 2008, pp. 152-159.)

surrender does not refer to some kind of submission to the cosmos

 

surrender does not refer to some kind of submission to the cosmos, but rather, the active giving of permission to oneself to be present in the universe; to be aware of, and part of a greater whole. It is the acceptance that there is a higher power

But how were alcoholics, agnostics, atheists, and those of faith long ago destroyed

 

But how were alcoholics, agnostics, atheists, and those of faith long ago destroyed—how were such people to find confidence in a God they thought nonexistent?... Provided that their personal hopelessness was great enough, an appeal to any higher power at all would bring results. They only needed to cry out in the dark for whomever or whatever might be there. No faith would be required.

As noted in my story, “The Vicious Cycle,” in the Big Book

 

As noted in my story, “The Vicious Cycle,” in the Big Book, I came into the Fellowship in New York in January 1938. At that time A.A. was just leaving the Oxford Group. There was one closed discussion meeting a week, at Bill's home in Brooklyn, - attendance six or eight men, with only three members who had been sober more than one year: Bill, Hank, and Fitz. This is about all that had been accomplished in the four years with the New York Oxford Group. During those early meetings at Bill's, they were flying blind, with no creed or procedure to guide them, though they did use quite a few of the Oxford sayings and the Oxford Absolutes. Since both Bill and Dr. Bob had had almost-overnight experiences, it was taken for granted that all who followed would have the same sort of experience. So the early meetings were quite religious, in both New York and Akron. There was always a Bible on hand, and the concept of God was all biblical. Into this fairly peaceful picture came I, their first self-proclaimed atheist, completely against all religions and conventions. I was the captain of my own ship. (The only trouble was, my ship was completely disabled and rudderless.) So naturally I started fighting nearly all the things Bill and the others stood for, especially religion, the “God bit.” But I did want to stay sober, and I did love the understanding Fellowship. So I became quite a problem to that early group, with my constant haranguing against all spiritual angles. All of a sudden, the group became really worried. Here I had stayed sober five whole months while fighting everything the others stood for. I was now number four in “seniority.” I found out later they had a prayer meeting on “what to do with Jim.” The consensus seemed to have been that they hoped I would either leave town or get drunk. That prayer must have been right on target, for I was suddenly taken drunk on a sales trip. This became the shock and the bottom I needed. At this time I was selling auto polish to jobbers for a company that Bill and Hank were sponsoring, and I was doing pretty well, too. But despite this, I was tired and completely isolated there in Boston. My fellow alcoholics really put the pressure on as I sobered up after four days of no relief, and for the first time I admitted I couldn't stay sober alone. My closed mind opened a bit. Those folks back in New York, the folks who believed, had stayed sober. And I hadn't. Since this episode I don't think I have ever argued with anyone else's beliefs. Who am I to say? I finally crawled back to New York and was soon back into the fold. About this time, Bill and Hank were just beginning to write the A.A. Big Book. I do feel sure my experience was not in vain, for “God” was broadened to cover all types and creeds: “God as we understood Him.” I feel my spiritual growth over these past thirty years has been very gradual and steady. I have no desire to “graduate” from A.A.. I try to keep my memories green by staying active in A.A. - a couple of meetings weekly. For the new agnostic or atheist just coming in, I will try to give very briefly my milestones in recovery. 1. The first power I found greater than myself was John Barleycorn. 2. The A.A. Fellowship became my Higher Power for the first two years. 3. Gradually, I came to believe that God and Good were synonymous and were found in all of us. 4. And I found that by meditating and trying to tune in on my better self for guidance and answers, I became more comfortable and steady.

The Higher Power Prayer is

  Higher Power
    Here with me now
    Humbly I seek your grace.
    All in your care
    Your will be done
    Through me as it is through others.
    Give me today hope and courage
    To forgive all past transgressions
    As I surrender my fears and resentments.
    And strengthen me against temptation
    But free me to let go control.
    Fill my spirit with calm, and compassion, and clarity
    To carry to others.
    Amen.

A Few Words About The Higher Power Prayer...

The Higher Power Prayer is -
to pray to the god of your understanding -
to place your will in the care of your Higher Power -
to ask for guidance on the path to recovery -
to pray as an alternative to the Lord's Prayer -
to find strength and calm in the midst of fear.

The first line of the Higher Power Prayer may be substituted with your name for your god, such as Dear God, Divine Mother, Great Spirit, Heavenly Father, Holy One, Inward Light, O Goddess, Sacred Creator, Universal Essence.

The sounds, rhythms, and a few of the words of the Higher Power Prayer are intentionally a close match to those of the Lord's Prayer, so that people may join together in prayer, each one saying the prayer of their own choosing at the same time without disturbing one another.

The Higher Power Prayer is humbly offered as a gift to the community of people in recovery from alcoholism, addiction, and dysfunction; to their families and friends; and to all those seeking a nondenominational prayer for the god of their understanding.

Higher Power

 

helped ... by an early faith which with the passing of the years has ripened with him into a demonstrable conviction that there is a Spirit of Infinite Life back of all, working in love in and through the lives of all, and that in the degree that we realise it as the one Supreme Source of our lives, and when through desire and will, which is through the channel of our thoughts, we open our lives so that this Higher Power can work definitely in and through us, and then go about and do our daily work without fears or forebodings, the passing of the years sees only the highest good entering into our lives.

Eight Recovery Principles based on the Beatitudes Saddleback Senior Pastor Rick Warren devised a set of Principles based on the Beatitudes.

 

Eight Recovery Principles based on the Beatitudes Saddleback Senior Pastor Rick Warren devised a set of Principles based on the Beatitudes.[5] Realize I'm not God; I admit that I am powerless to control my tendency to do the wrong thing and my life is unmanageable. "Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor" Earnestly believe that God exists, that I matter to him, and that he has the power to help me recover. "Happy are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted" Consciously choose to commit all my life and will to Christ's care and control. "Happy are the meek" Openly examine and confess my faults to God, to myself, and to someone I trust. "Happy are the pure in heart" Voluntarily submit to every change God wants to make in my life and humbly ask Him to remove my character defects. "Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires" Evaluate all my relationships; Offer forgiveness to those who have hurt me and make amends for harm I've done to others except when to do so would harm them or others. "Happy are the merciful" "Happy are the peacemakers" Reserve a daily time with God for self examination, Bible readings and prayer in order to know God and His will for my life and to gain the power to follow His will. Yield myself to God to be used to bring this Good News to others, both by my example and by my words. "Happy are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires"

The Twelve Steps and their Biblical comparisons Celebrate Recovery teaches the Twelve Steps by relating them to Biblical verses

 

The Twelve Steps and their Biblical comparisons Celebrate Recovery teaches the Twelve Steps by relating them to Biblical verses.[4] We admit that we are powerless over our addictions and compulsive behaviors. That our lives have become unmanageable. (Romans 7:18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.) We believe that a power greater than ourselves can restore us to sanity. (Philippians 2:13 For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.) We have made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God. (Romans 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship.) We have made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. (Lamentations 3:40 Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD.) We have admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being, the exact nature of our wrongs. (James 5:16a Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.) We are entirely ready for God to remove all these defects of character. (James 4:10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.) We humbly asked Him to remove all our shortcomings. (1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.) We have made a list of all persons we have harmed and are willing to make amends to them all. (Luke 6:31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.) We made, or will make direct amends to such people whenever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. (Matthew 5:23-24 Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.) We have continued to take personal inventory and when we are wrong, promptly admit it. (1 Corinthians 10:12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!) We have sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and power to carry that out. (Colossians 3:16a Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.) Having had a spiritual experience as the result of these steps, we seek to carry this message to others, and practice these principles in all our affairs. (Galatians 6:1 Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.)

Higher Power

 

The terms 'Higher Power' and 'power greater than ourselves' appear in the "Big Book", on three occasions: Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.[7] The alcoholic at certain times has no effective mental defense against the first drink. Except in a few cases, neither he nor any other human being can provide such a defense. His defense must come from a Higher Power.[8] Follow the dictates of a Higher Power and you will presently live in a new and wonderful world, no matter what your present circumstances![9]

I can watch my serenity level rise when I discard my expectations.

 

I can watch my serenity level rise when I discard my expectations. But then my “rights” try to move in, and they, too, can force my serenity level down. I have to discard my “rights,” as well as my expectations, by asking myself, “How important is it, really? How important is it com­pared to my serenity, my emotional sobriety?” And when I place more value on my serenity and sobriety than on anything else, I can maintain them at a higher level—at least for the time being.   -- Doctor, Alcoholic, Addict, Alcoholics Anonymous, page 452 (3rd Ed.) -- Acceptance Was The Answer, Alcoholics Anonymous, page 422 (4th Ed.)

You and I are miracles, walking miracles.

 the Contemplation to Attain Love. This is a tremendous exercise, and for centuries it has helped generations of people, on all continents, of all cultures. In this exercise, the retreatant is given four steps of prayer, of deepening one’s relationship with God and one’s direct experience of divine communion and personal freedom.

The first step in this exercise is to recall the gifts of your life: your birth, baptism, family, children, redemption, grace, qualities, and talents—anything and everything you have to be grateful for. In gratitude for these gifts that God has given you—and that includes the Divine himself—you offer it all, including yourself, back to God.

The second step is to ponder that the Divine is in every creature by its essence, power, and presence, and especially in you, the temple of the Holy Spirit, made in the likeness and image of the Divine. You are the temple of God’s spirit. Scripture says it clearly: God dwells in you. You are God’s image and divine likeness. Here are the words of St. Ignatius: See God present in you just as God is present in a temple. See yourself as God’s own image and divine likeness.

In the third step of the exercise, St. Ignatius has you think through all these gifts again and see God laboring in them. See God, like a woman in labor, working in each one of his gifts to you, and especially in you. What is a woman in labor doing? She is working to bring something to life, to bring something to fruition, to give birth in fullness, to convey life. What is God laboring to do? He is trying to perfect us, the temple where he dwells. He is trying to perfect his own image, his own likeness. He is trying to convey to us the fullness of life and make us good and beautiful. God is trying to help us see ourselves the way he sees us already.

The fourth step of the exercise will shatter you. To the Western mind, it will be almost impossible to accept or even believe. St. Ignatius says that the gift becomes divine. You and God become one, like the rays of the sun and the sun. You can distinguish the rays from the sun, but there are no rays without the sun. And there is no sun without rays. The two of them have one identity. And just in case you did not get that symbol, Ignatius goes on to say that it is like the waters of the fountain and the fountain. There is no fountain without water, and the water has its identity only in being part of the fountain.

Thus, at the end of the Spiritual Exercises, you and the Divine become one. Not only do you and God become one, but also everything is seen as a manifestation of the Divine. You look at a tree and see God and experience God. It is a manifestation of the Divine. It is the presence of the Divine that makes a tree a tree. It is a miracle.

From the energy of a tiny seed you get such a huge tree. If that is not a miracle, what is? You and I are miracles, walking miracles. Every human creature is a miracle. That is why the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins says that “the world is charged with the grandeur of God.” Everything is charged with God. Everything commands reverence.

This is the peak experience of the Spiritual Exercises—when you experience your identity in the Divine. That is the invitation of the Contemplation to Attain Love.

Spiritual integration is a prominent theme of the Exercises: integration of contemplation and action, prayer and service, and emotions and reason.

First week. The first week of the Exercises is a time of reflection on our lives in light of God’s boundless love for us. We see that our response to God’s love has been hindered by patterns of sin. We face these sins knowing that God wants to free us of everything that gets in the way of our loving response to him. The first week ends with a meditation on Christ’s call to follow him.

Second week. The meditations and prayers of the second week teach us how to follow Christ as his disciples. We reflect on Scripture passages: Christ’s birth and baptism, his sermon on the mount, his ministry of healing and teaching, his raising Lazarus from the dead. We are brought to decisions to change our lives to do Christ’s work in the world and to love him more intimately.

Third week. We meditate on Christ’s Last Supper, passion, and death. We see his suffering and the gift of the Eucharist as the ultimate expression of God’s love.

Fourth week. We meditate on Jesus’ resurrection and his apparitions to his disciples. We walk with the risen Christ and set out to love and serve him in concrete ways in our lives in the world.

Prayer in the Exercises

The two primary forms of praying taught in the Exercises are meditation and contemplation. In meditation, we use our minds. We ponder the basic principles that guide our life. We pray over words, images, and ideas.

Contemplation is more about feeling than thinking. Contemplation often stirs the emotions and enkindles deep desires. In contemplation, we rely on our imaginations to place ourselves in a setting from the Gospels or in a scene proposed by Ignatius. We pray with Scripture. We do not study it.

The discernment of spirits underlies the Exercises. We notice the interior movements of our hearts, and discern where they are leading us. A regular practice of discernment helps us make good decisions.

All the characteristic themes of Ignatian spirituality are grounded in the Exercises. These include a sense of collaboration with God’s action in the world, spiritual discernment in decision making, generosity of response to God’s invitation, fraternity and companionship in service, and a disposition to find God in all things. Spiritual integration is a prominent theme of the Exercises: integration of contemplation and action, prayer and service, and emotions and reason.

What Are the Spiritual Exercises?

 

 Exercises: “have as their purpose the conquest of self and the regulation of one’s life in such a way that no decision is made under the influence of any inordinate attachment.” He wanted individuals to undertake these exercises with the assistance of an experienced spiritual director who would help them shape the retreat and understand what they were experiencing.