This is a spiritual Step, but people who have reached this point have usually come to terms with the “God” language that the 12 Steps of AA contains. In other words, they have already formed their own personal concept of a Higher Power. For some, GOD is an acronym that stands for Good Orderly Direction – the path that they want their life to take. For others, it can even stand for a Group Of Drunks/Druggies – the fellowship they receive from others in their AA/NA meetings.

Prayer and meditation means making a conscious effort to improve our understanding of the path that our Higher Power has for us. To be more specific, prayer means TALKING to our Higher Power – sharing our burdens, admitting our wrongs, asking for help, and expressing our gratitude. Meditation, on the other hand, means LISTENING to that same Higher Power – putting aside our own egos and desires in order to understand what we should be doing.

Step Eleven allows us the opportunity to find our own spiritual path, or further refine our path if we’ve already embarked on one. Our spirituality has been developing since we first came to NA. Exploring our spirituality in the eleventh step is a wonderful and illuminating experience. We will be exposed to many new ideas, which come from our knowledge. In NA they are not the same thing about religion (we should not confuse religion with spirituality); NA is not a religion. It offers a set of spiritual principles and uses a concept referred to as “God” as a “higher power” or a power greater than ourselves’ for members to use as a path out of active addiction.

Step Eleven suggests prayer and meditation. We shouldn’t be shy on this matter of prayer. Better men than we are using it constantly. It works if we have the proper attitude and work at it. It would be easy to be vague about this matter. Yet, we believe we can make some definite and valuable suggestions.

When we retire at night, we constructively review our day. Were we resentful, selfish, dishonest or afraid? Do we owe an apology? Have we kept something to ourselves which should be discussed with another person at once? Were we kind and loving toward all? What could we have done better? Were we thinking of ourselves most of the time? Or were we thinking of what we could do for others, of what we could pack into the stream of life?

But we must be careful not to drift into worry, remorse or morbid reflection, for that would diminish our usefulness to others. After making our review we ask God’s forgiveness and inquire what corrective measures should be taken.

On awakening let us think about the twenty-four hours ahead. We consider our plans for the day. Before we begin, we ask God to direct our thinking, especially asking that it be divorced from self-pity, dishonest or self-seeking motives. Under these conditions we can employ our mental faculties with assurance, for after all God gave us brains to use. Our thought-life will be placed on a much higher plane when our thinking is cleared of wrong motives. In thinking about our day we may face indecision. We may not be able to determine which course to take. Here we ask God for inspiration, an intuitive thought or a decision. We relax and take it easy. We don’t struggle. We are often surprised how the right answers come after we have tried this for a while.

What used to be a hunch or the occasional inspiration gradually becomes a working part of the mind. Being still inexperienced and having just made conscious contact with God, 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. Nevertheless, we find that our thinking will, as time passes, be more and more on the plane of inspiration. We come to rely upon it.

We usually conclude the period of meditation with a prayer that we be shown all through the day what our next step is to be, that we be given whatever we need to take care of such problems. We ask especially for freedom from self-will, and are careful to make no request for ourselves only. We may ask for ourselves, however, if others will be helped. We are careful never to pray for our own selfish ends.

Many of us have wasted a lot of time doing that and it doesn’t work. You can easily see why. If circumstances warrant, we ask our wives or friends to join us in morning meditation. If we belong to a religious denomination which requires a definite morning devotion, we attend to that also. If not members of religious bodies, we sometimes select and memorize a few set prayers which emphasize the principles we have been discussing. There are many helpful books also. Suggestions about these may be obtained from one’s priest, minister, or rabbi. Be quick to see where religious people are right. Make use of what they offer.

As we go through the day we pause, when agitated or doubtful, and ask for the right thought or action. We constantly remind ourselves we are no longer running the show, humbly saying to ourselves many times each day “Thy will be done.’’ We are then in much less danger of excitement, fear, anger, worry, self-pity, or foolish decisions. We become much more efficient. We do not tire so easily, for we are not burning up energy foolishly as we did when we were trying to arrange life to suit ourselves. It works—it really does. We alcoholics are undisciplined. So we let God discipline us in the simple way we have just outlined. But this is not all. There is action and more action.

Faith without works is dead

CONSCIOUS CONTACT:- It just means that we have a conscious awareness of our link to a Higher Power. We notice the presence of that power and see some of the ways it works in our life. The point is that we are looking and we are willing to acknowledge that our Higher is active in our lives.

GOD’S WILL:- The knowledge that has been building in us as we’ve prayed and meditated is the essence of God’s will for us. The whole purpose of praying and meditating is to seek knowledge of a Higher Powers’ will for us and of course, the power to carry it out.

Remember, it is not God’s will for us to RELAPSE.

IT WORKS’: HERE'S HOW AND WHY

God’s will for us is the ability to live with dignity, to love ourselves and others, to laugh and find great joy and beauty in our surroundings. It is a good expression of purpose to help others stay clean and find recovery the individual ways we go about doing that – sponsorship, sharing with new comers at meetings, carrying the message into institutions, working with professionals to develop programs that will lead addicts to NA – are our choice.

THE POWER TO CARRY THAT OUT

In addition to praying for knowledge of God’s will for us, we’re also asking for the power to carry out that will. There are many different qualities we may need to carry out our Higher Power’s will: Humility, a sense of compassion, Honesty, Integrity or an ability to persevere and the patience to wait for results over a long period.
Courage and fortitude are qualities that will often call upon to display. Quality to promote God’s will is a sense of humor, we have to trust that the ones we need will be provided. How does humility apply to this?

SPIRITUAL PRINCIPLES

In the Eleventh step, we will focus on commitment, humility, courage and faith. A commitment to the practice of regular prayer and meditation. The long-term results of peace of mind and a deeper relationship with our Higher power are worth waiting for.

How I prayed and meditated today?

The warning to “Be careful what you pray for” captures the kind of humility we need to practice in this step. We simply need to acknowledge that we don’t always know what is best for us or for anyone else. That’s why we ask for knowledge of God’s will for us.

There’s nothing that requires as much courage as trying to live according to our Higher power’s will when there is frequent pressure not to refraining from gossiping” courage is required. The principle of faith will help us to practice of courage and live our lives with integrity. We have faith that if we have to let go of old friends or having relationships change or even having our lives profoundly affected because we know that we’re being cared for. That we have people whose values we share, faith that we’ll be given the power of God.

Have I so far, been given what I need? What have I received?

MOVING ON

Our practices in this step show up in every area of our lives. From the regular practice of meditation, we may notice that we are able to listen more attentively to what others have to say in meetings. We no longer find ourselves so consumed with planning what we’ll say when it’s our turn that we are unable to listen to others. We begin to be satisfied with our lives. We’re focused on a higher purpose instead of on ourselves. Regrets begin to the addict who still suffers. In step twelve, we will explore some ways of doing that, and see how practicing the principles of recovery are essential to such an effort.