ASK in Big Book Alcoholics Anonymous, 12 Steps and 12 Traditions

From the books ... Alcoholics Anonymous (Big Book) and Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (12 & 12)

ashore

asia

aside

ASK occurs 63 times (Definition from Merriam-Webster Online)

See also... asks

askance

asked

asking

Click

to display the full page from the Big Book

... ask. 12&12 p.106, Step Twelve

"What do you mean when you talk about a 'spiritual awakening'?" they ask.

... ask. BB p.152, A Vision For You

"How is that to come about?" you ask.

... ask about their behavior respecting financial and ... 12&12 p.51, Step Four

Also of importance for most alcoholics are the questions they must ask about their behavior respecting financial and emotional security.

... ask an experienced A.A. member if this ... 12&12 p.132, Tradition Two

They dubiously ask an experienced A.A. member if this really works.

Ask any woman who has sent her ... BB p.101, Working With Others

Ask any woman who has sent her husband to distant places on the theory he would escape the alcohol problem.

... ask, because many alcoholics, being warped and ... BB p.142, To Employers

You ask, because many alcoholics, being warped and drugged, do not want to quit.

... ask, "can such a crowd of anarchists ... 12&12 p.130, Tradition One

"How," they ask, "can such a crowd of anarchists function at all?

... ask especially for freedom from self-will, and ... BB p.87, Into Action

We ask especially for freedom from self-will, and are careful to make no request for ourselves only.

... ask for ourselves, however, if others will ... BB p.87, Into Action

We may ask for ourselves, however, if others will be helped.

10.

... ask for quiet, and in the stillness ... 12&12 p.41, Step Three

In all times of emotional disturbance or indecision, we can pause, ask for quiet, and in the stillness simply say: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference. Thy will, not mine, be done."

11.

... ask for specific solutions to specific problems, ... 12&12 p.102, Step Eleven

Our immediate temptation will be to ask for specific solutions to specific problems, and for the ability to help other people as we have already thought they should be helped.

12.

... ask for the right thought or action. BB p.87, Into Action

As we go through the day we pause, when agitated or doubtful, and ask for the right thought or action.

13.

... ask for those right things of which ... 12&12 p.102, Step Eleven

Having opened our channel as best we can, we try to ask for those right things of which we and others are in the greatest need.

14.

... ask forgiveness for ourselves, why shouldn't we ... 12&12 p.78, Step Eight

If we are now about to ask forgiveness for ourselves, why shouldn't we start out by forgiving them, one and all?

15.

... ask God at once to remove them. BB p.84, Into Action

When these crop up, we ask God at once to remove them.

16.

... ask God for inspiration, an intuitive thought ... BB p.86, Into Action

Here we ask God for inspiration, an intuitive thought or a decision.

17.

... ask God's forgiveness and inquire what corrective ... BB p.86, Into Action

After making our review we ask God's forgiveness and inquire what corrective measures should be taken.

18.

... ask God to direct our thinking, especially ... BB p.86, Into Action

Before we begin, we ask God to direct our thinking, especially asking that it be divorced from self-pity, dishonest or self-seeking motives.

19.

... ask God to help us be willing. BB p.76, Into Action

If we still cling to something we will not let go, we ask God to help us be willing.

20.

... ask God what we should do about ... BB p.69, How It Works

In meditation, we ask God what we should do about each specific matter.

21.

... ask, God will certainly forgive our derelictions. 12&12 p.65, Step Six

If we ask, God will certainly forgive our derelictions.

22.

... ask him how you can be still ... BB p.120, To Wives

Cheer him up and ask him how you can be still more helpful.

23.

Ask him if he thinks he has ... BB p.144, To Employers

Ask him if he thinks he has the answer.

24.

... ask him if he wants to quit ... BB p.90, Working With Others

Then let his family or a friend ask him if he wants to quit for good and if he would go to any extreme to do so.

25.

... ask him if he would really like ... BB p.112, To Wives

But after his next binge, ask him if he would really like to get over drinking for good.

26.

Ask Him in your morning meditation what ... BB p.164, A Vision For You

Ask Him in your morning meditation what you can do each day for the man who is still sick.

27.

... ask him to look at the chapter ... BB p.112, To Wives

If you think he will be shy of a spiritual remedy, ask him to look at the chapter on alcoholism.

28.

... ask him to read this book in ... BB p.95, Working With Others

If he is sincerely interested and wants to see you again, ask him to read this book in the interval.

29.

... ask Him to remove our fear and ... BB p.68, How It Works

We ask Him to remove our fear and direct our attention to what He would have us be.

30.

Ask him what you should do if ... BB p.116, To Wives

Ask him what you should do if he places you in such a position again.

31.

... ask him why he started on that ... BB p.23, There Is A Solution

If you ask him why he started on that last bender, the chances are he will offer you any one of a hundred alibis.

32.

... ask, "How can we accept the entire ... 12&12 p.68, Step Six

Many will at once ask, "How can we accept the entire implication of Step Six?

33.

... ask if I were still sane. BB p.14, Bill's Story

For a moment I was alarmed, and called my friend, the doctor, to ask if I were still sane.

34.

... ask if we have omitted anything, for ... BB p.75, Into Action

Carefully reading the first five proposals we ask if we have omitted anything, for we are building an arch through which we shall walk a free man at last.

35.

... ask, "Just how do I go about ... 12&12 p.50, Step Four

Now willing to commence the search for his own defects, he will ask, "Just how do I go about this?

36.

... ask medical advice as the sprees got ... BB p.106, To Wives

We began to ask medical advice as the sprees got closer together.

37.

... ask myself to what extent have my ... 12&12 p.52, Step Four

I can ask myself to what extent have my own mistakes fed my gnawing anxieties.

38.

... ask our wives or friends to join ... BB p.87, Into Action

If circumstances warrant, we ask our wives or friends to join us in morning meditation.

39.

... ask ourselves, "Am I doing to others ... 12&12 p.93, Step Ten

And we can often ask ourselves, "Am I doing to others as I would have them do to me -- today?"

40.

... ask ourselves but one short question. BB p.47, We Agnostics

We needed to ask ourselves but one short question.

41.

... ask ourselves, in all earnestness and sincerity, ... BB p.37, More About Alcoholism

Next day we would ask ourselves, in all earnestness and sincerity, how it could have happened.

42.

... ask ourselves what we mean when we ... 12&12 p.80, Step Eight

We might next ask ourselves what we mean when we say that we have "harmed" other people.

43.

... ask ourselves why we shouldn't apply to ... BB p.52, We Agnostics

We had to ask ourselves why we shouldn't apply to our human problems this same readiness to change our point of view.

44.

... ask questions like these: In addition to ... 12&12 p.51, Step Four

Surveying his business or employment record, almost any alcoholic can ask questions like these: In addition to my drinking problem, what character defects contributed to my financial instability?

45.

... ask simply that throughout the day God ... 12&12 p.102, Step Eleven

We ask simply that throughout the day God place in us the best understanding of His will that we can have for that day, and that we be given the grace by which we may carry it out.

46.

... ask that he do it for you ... BB p.112, To Wives

Do not ask that he do it for you or anyone else.

47.

... ask, that in A.A. no member can ... 12&12 p.16, Foreword

Why is it, they ask, that in A.A. no member can be set in personal authority over another, that nothing like a central government can anywhere be seen?

48.

... ask, "that in A.A. the individual doesn't ... 12&12 p.129, Tradition One

"Does this mean," some will anxiously ask, "that in A.A. the individual doesn't count for much?

49.

... ask that we be given strength and ... BB p.79, Into Action

Reminding ourselves that we have decided to go to any lengths to find a spiritual experience, we ask that we be given strength and direction to do the right thing, no matter what the personal consequences may be.

50.

Ask the polio sufferer confined to an ... 12&12 p.36, Step Three

Ask the polio sufferer confined to an iron lung who depends with complete trust upon a motor to keep the breath of life in him.

51.

... ask the press also, to observe this ... BB xiii, Foreword to First Edition

Display entire Foreword to First Edition

Very earnestly we ask the press also, to observe this request, for otherwise we shall be greatly handicapped.

52.

Ask them to remember, when they are ... BB p.100, Working With Others

Ask them to remember, when they are impatient, the blessed fact of his sobriety.

53.

... ask too much, and father will see ... BB p.127, The Family Afterward

Little by little, mother and children will see they ask too much, and father will see he gives too little.

54.

... ask until it comes. BB p.76, Into Action

If we haven't the will to do this, we ask until it comes.

55.

... ask us to give up personal desires ... 12&12 p.184, Tradition Twelve

Because A.A.'s Twelve Traditions repeatedly ask us to give up personal desires for the common good, we realize that the sacrificial spirit -- well symbolized by anonymity -- is the foundation of them all.

56.

... ask us to go contrary to our ... 12&12 p.55, Step Five

All of A.A.'s Twelve Steps ask us to go contrary to our natural desires . . . they all deflate our egos.

57.

... ask what a spot-check inventory is, let's ... 12&12 p.90, Step Ten

Before we ask what a spot-check inventory is, let's look at the kind of setting in which such an inventory can do its work.

58.

... ask when their marriage is ever going ... 12&12 p.119, Step Twelve

Both of them blame each other and ask when their marriage is ever going to be happy again.

59.

... ask why he should believe in a ... BB p.48, We Agnostics

The reader may still ask why he should believe in a Power greater than himself.

60.

... ask with much earnestness and faith for ... 12&12 p.103, Step Eleven

We have seen A.A.'s ask with much earnestness and faith for God's explicit guidance on matters ranging all the way from a shattering domestic or financial crisis to correcting a minor personal fault, like tardiness.

61.

... ask you that question, if he will. BB p.93, Working With Others

Let him ask you that question, if he will.

62.

... ask you to drink. BB p.102, Working With Others

If you do this thoroughly, few people will ask you to drink.

63.

... ask yourself on each occasion, "Have I ... BB p.101, Working With Others

Therefore, ask yourself on each occasion, "Have I any good social, business, or personal reason for going to this place?

Passages from the Big Book Alcoholics Anonymous and the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions are reprinted with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc. The A.A. Preamble, copyright © The A.A. Grapevine, Inc., is reprinted with permission. Permission to reprint does not in any way imply affiliation with or endorsement by either Alcoholics Anonymous or The A.A. Grapevine, Inc.

Top

"164 and More" Home Page