When I first came into recovery from alcoholism, I was quite lost when it came to prayer and/or meditation. Maybe even a little intimidated by hearing about prayer. My prayers had usually been “God, get me out of this…..(fill in the blanks)… and I will never do it again.” He would get me out of the mess and I would chump Him or He wouldn’t get me out and I believe that God had chumped me.
The main point was that my prayer was a selfish begging, pleading, self-centered plea to make me feel better about myself after whatever I had just done. That was probably horribly wrong in the first place.
It was always about poor, little, self-centered me. The Spiritual program of AA of course had an answer in Step 11. There it said “Praying only for the knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry it out.” We have talked here before about “Fake it ‘till you make it” and so that is just what I did. Long, drawn-out prayers asking for mercy or help for a long list of transgressions and/or people were instantly shrunk into the few words of the 11th step. “God thank you for today’s sobriety and thank you for the knowledge of your will for me and the power to carry it out.”
Thanking in advance is Affirmative Prayer, which we learn about in our Spiritual studies. Bingo, my life immediately started to get much better. I had not known how to pray without it sounding stilted and fake until I read Emmet Fox. I learned about Dr. Fox because he was the Spiritual Advisor for Bill W. He said “Every thought is a prayer!” Now, that can be both energizing and fear-inducing. “Now I’ve gotta even clean up my thoughts!”
Dr. Fox became my spiritual advisor through his essays and writings. For many years I would pore through his writings seeking answers to my conflicting thoughts. His book Sermon On The Mount was used as AAs first Big Book, until Bill W.wrote the one that is used today. The 12 Steps are steeped in New Thought Spirituality which Dr. Fox was an early leader in.
The AA Program is a simple program for complicated folks. So, let’s simplify the difference between prayer and meditation. Simply put – prayer is talking to God and meditation is God is talking to you.
So, to properly utilize prayer and meditation, just stick to the simplicity of the AA Program. Pray only for the knowledge of His will for you and the power to carry it out. You might also add the shortened version of the 3rd Step, saying simply, “God help me,” then getting out of his way and letting Him. When you do this, the next thing done will be right. Right as in do the next right thing. After you pray, God communicates with you by guiding you to the next right thing. After prayer, you will know if it is right because you FEEL it and KNOW. If there is any apprehension at all, it is time to reconsider.
This, folks, is how I became today happy, joyous, and free. If I can do it, you can too. It is NEVER too late to start! God bless you!
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