“God get me out of this and I will never do it again! I just want to be happy!”
“God, I prayed to you every Sunday, Christmas, and Easter so why do bad things keep happening to me?” “God, I joined a church and became an usher and everything and problems still haunt me!” “Why am I net over happy anymore?”
Just what makes me think that an hour or so a week thinking good thoughts and trying to do right will carry me through the week? My God, before, was in humanized form sitting “up there in the sky” on a golden throne. He was making judgments about whether I went to heaven or hell. Live or die. Be happy or sad.
Spirituality teaches us that our Higher Power or God is inside our hearts, not “out there somewhere.” This is why we can call our Higher Power anything and any time that we choose. He is our own personal Higher Power.
Some new to AA think of their AA or church group as their Higher Power, and it is. When leaving an AA meeting, we mostly leave feeling better than when we entered and happy because of what has been said and/or done there.
Now comes the hard part — how do I keep these good feelings about myself being happy and others flowing on a regular basis, not just during church or AA meetings?
Spirituality tells us to go back to the 3rd Step whenever we are feeling either too high or too low or even if we don’t know just how we are feeling. Here we search to discover what part of our will and life we took back from our God. How can we ever be happy again?
Every morning, before entering our busy day, we use the 11th Step, asking only for the knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry it out. His will for me is to be Happy, Joyous, and Free, not full of problems. I get this feeling by asking for help regularly throughout every day, not just Sunday morning and/or at AA meetings.
How do I ask? I use the shortened version of the 3rd Step to solve the question. Simply saying “God Help Me!” This shortened version helps me to remember on a daily basis, not just a weekly basis, that I am a Spiritual Being. Living in a Spiritual Universe. One that is governed by Spiritual Law. And that I am an individualized expression of God and One with all that exists.
With all of this good going on for me and others, how can I fail? When I say that this can work for you too, no matter how long or short you have been in the program, it is absolutely true. Just say “God Help Me” and let Him.
Check out our articles that are being published at https://medium.com/@spiritualityandrecovery