Step 11 says: 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. How simple can this get, huh? Praying ONLY for the knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out. This does not sound like we are being advised to make a long list of cares and problems to discuss with our Higher Power. This only is asking for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry it out.
If I know His will for me, EVERYTHING ELSE just falls into place. Maybe we should start out answering the question of Just what is prayer? Emmet Fox says that every thought is a prayer. It now seems like we have been praying for a long time and not knowing it. When we desire someone or something and think about it, it is a form of prayer. When we wish a situation to be different than it is, this is a form of prayer.
So prayers are something that we have always done by thinking, whether or not we were seeking Holy intervention or assistance. Now Step 11 is asking us to continue asking but now to add thoughts of our Higher Power to these thoughts. Also, since we are wondering how to realistically do this, I suggest that we keep thinking these thoughts. Only now, adding our Higher Power to them as if we were talking to another person right next to us who is our friend. Just straight thoughts. No need to be concerned with sentence structure or using old biblical terminology. Just talking with our new friend, who just happens to be our Higher Power.
I really like to take as many complications out of my life as I can. To me, prayer is my talking to God and meditation is God talking to me. When I notice the warm feelings that I get after doing a good act or deed, that is meditation. When I think how beautiful it is to look out over the large chasm in the ground called Grand Canyon or a sunset, that is meditation. When I thank God for allowing me to see the beautiful scenarios that are in front of me, that is prayer, Fill in the blanks for what you see and appreciate and the great feelings and thoughts that come from it, that is meditation.
Don’t overthink or complicate it. It has and continues to work for me. Because of this, my life is not complicated anymore. I am truly Happy, Joyous, and Free. You can be, too, if you work your program to the best of your ability 24/7/365. Don’t think your way out of it – JUST DO IT!!! You now have choices. Do you choose to be miserable or do you choose to be Happy, Joyous, and Free? The choice is yours and nobody else’s’. Choose wisely!