WEEK 13 - STEP 11
[To the person reading the talk: there is a separate handout, which should be given to
all. The handout contains lists of prayers from the Big Book, which the talk points out to
them but doesn�t list � so make sure all who would like one have the handout.]
This week we are considering Step 11:
Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we
understood him, praying only for his will for us and the power to carry that out
The reading in the Big Book is pages 85-88. We have the framework for Step 11 in place if
we are doing the daily suggestions that are on the cards that we make available. They contain
the prayers that for many of us began our conscious contact with God. Daily adherence will
continue the improvement of our conscious contact with God. The Just for Today card is an
example of meditation. It allows us to consider how we can improve in doing the right things
in our life before resolving to do so.
As the second part of Step 11 indicates, we cannot pray for our selfish desires.
However, we can pray for ourselves if it improves our usefulness to others. And, it says on
page 13: �Then only might I expect to receive. But that will be in great measure.�
The Step, as detailed in the Big Book, gives us the vital prayers for when we get up, for
during the day and when we retire at night and a special set aimed at difficulties with lust,
which it describes as the �imperious urge�. These are listed in your handout and most are self
explanatory we won�t go into them now. However, some are worthy of consideration now:
First of all:
MORNING MEDITATION or �QUIET TIME�
The book outlines a way of setting ourselves up to do God�s will, in planning the day
ahead, we say:
- �Please show me today what I can do for the man who is still sick.� Then�
- �Please show me the way of patience, kindness, tolerance and love.� Then we say..
- �Please direct my thinking, let it be divorced from self-pity, dishonest or self-seeking
motives.�
For it says that free of these self-centred impulses we can throughout the day �employ our
mental faculties with assurance, for after all God gave us brains to use.�
Now, in accordance with the Big Book we sit quietly for perhaps 10-20 minutes. During this
period we write our list of things to do for that day. There�s no hurry. We sit out the period,
quietly putting down on paper the thoughts that occur regarding what we are to do that day.
At the end we say:
- �Please show me all through the day what my next step is to be and give me whatever I
need to take care of such problems. Please give me freedom from self-will.�
There are two points of experience worth noting in regard to the directions for the day that
appear on the list. First, the spiritual life is one lived by right principle � we try to do �the
right thing�. The items on our list of things to do, which are generated by the meditation, are
very often actions that are straightforward for many but represent a turnaround in attitude for
the alcoholic -- for example: pay the electricity bill, clean my teeth, return a video to
Blockbusters, go to work (and even, perhaps, try to get there on time). For us, these actions
constitute as much a participation in the spiritual life as the meditation that generated the
ideas in the first place.
Second, as the book says on page 87: �� it is not probable that we are going to be
inspired at all times. We might pay for this presumption in all sorts of absurd actions and ideas.� We should not slavishly follow all the jottings of this period, taking everything to be
direct revelation from God. Sometimes this meditation will generate ideas that are unusual.
For example, it might suddenly occur to you that it is a good idea to sell up and emigrate to
Papua New Guinea. This might be a good thing to do, but then again� it might not. We have
found it best to consider the product of meditation as ideas that can be rejected later on when
viewed in the cold light of day. If any major decisions are to be made, it is always best, we
feel, to consult our sponsor first. And it often pays not to assume that we know what our
sponsors will say. Sometimes the responses are surprising. You never know, he might tell you
that he�s heard that there are some great opportunities for people with your skill set in Papua
New Guinea these days.
There are some other points to make about this period of quiet-time, meditation: as long
as we are trying our best, we shouldn�t be worried if our meditation seems full of distracted
thought � that is, if it seems anything but quiet inside our heads. Meditation is not an end in
itself: we are not looking for altered states of consciousness (however pleasurable), out-of-
body experiences or the like, any sort of indication as to the quality of our meditation. We
find it best to remind ourselves why it is we have to do prayer and meditation at all: we are
powerless over alcohol and so we need that contact with a Higher Power so that He will
intervene at those moments when otherwise we would have drunk. Prayer and meditation is
the process of actually establishing a relationship with the Higher Power, opening the door to
Him. When opening a door, the hinges can be rusty and it can make a lot of noise, but it
doesn�t mean that the door isn�t opening. So, just because our meditation might seem full of
random and noisy thoughts, it doesn�t mean it isn�t working. As with all matters in the
programme, as long as we give it our best shot we cannot fail because God will do the rest.
After this quiet-time, we have concluded our period of morning prayer and meditation. The
whole thing probably takes about 2 minutes plus the 10-minutes quiet time.
PRAYERS DURING THE COURSE OF THE DAY
The three prayers for the different situation faced during the day, fear, anxiety, or indecision are listed in the handout. It is worth noting
that the Serenity
Prayer combines the sentiments of all three prayers into one. So the easiest
thing to do in moments of either uncertainty or anxiety is to repeat the Serenity Prayer. You
may recall that this was one of our very first suggestions.
PRAYERS FOR THE THE END OF THE DAY
AFTER, THIS the Big Book goes on to describe some simple prayers for the end of the
day. It suggests first a review of the day considering where we could have done better, and
which includes a Step-10 style inventory of any resentments. The gratitude list is another
form of daily meditation. It can allow us to think about (ie meditate upon) the blessings we
have received that day. We find that it is good for our humility to put things we have done
well down as items on the gratitude list also. Then we give God the credit and stop taking the
credit for it ourselves. The gratitude list also demonstrates clearly the truth of our situation �
it shows us in black and white that we are getting what we need and so we can see that the
plain truth: that it is a good day, regardless of how we happen to feel about it.
Finally, we thank God, on our knees for the greatest blessing of the day: sobriety.
There are some other general points, the book also suggests that we incorporate any
devotions of our religion, if we have one; and that we read spiritual books. The Big Book
encourages contact with organized religion, while stressing that it is a matter of personal
choice, and says on page 87: �Be quick to see where religious people are right. Make use of
what they offer�.
That is the end of the talk. Now I am delighted to hand over to [Name] who will disclose in a general way, what it was like, what happened, and what it is like now.