From the books ... Alcoholics Anonymous (Big Book) and Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (12 & 12)
Click
to display the full page from the Big Book1.
... prayer?
12&12 p.24,
Step One
2.
... prayer.
12&12 p.97,
Step Eleven
Of course we finally did
experiment, and when unexpected results followed, we felt different; in fact we knew different; and so we
were sold on meditation
and prayer.
3.
... prayer.
12&12 p.98,
Step Eleven
4.
... prayer.
12&12 p.99,
Step Eleven
5.
... prayer.
12&12 p.101,
Step Eleven
6.
... prayer?
12&12 p.102,
Step Eleven
Now, what of prayer?
7.
... prayer:
12&12 p.125,
Step Twelve
With each passing day of our lives, may every one of us sense more deeply the inner meaning of A.A.'s simple prayer:
8.
... prayer.
BB p.85,
Into Action
9.
... prayer across
the centuries is, of course, ...
12&12 p.98,
Step Eleven
10.
... prayer, and
again try to see what ...
12&12 p.101,
Step Eleven
11.
... prayer and
meditation.
BB p.85,
Into Action
12.
Prayer and
meditation are our principal means ...
12&12 p.96,
Step Eleven
13.
... prayer and
meditation to improve our conscious ...
12&12 p.96,
Step Eleven
"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."
14.
... prayer and
meditation to improve our conscious ...
BB p.59,
How It Works
11. 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.
15.
... prayer are
beyond question.
12&12 p.104,
Step Eleven
16.
... prayer are
those who never tried it ...
12&12 p.97,
Step Eleven
It has been well said that "almost the only scoffers at
prayer are those who never tried it enough."
17.
Prayer, as
commonly understood, is a petition ...
12&12 p.102,
Step Eleven
18.
... prayer as
obstinately as the scientist who ...
12&12 p.97,
Step Eleven
But we recoiled from meditation and prayer as obstinately as the scientist who refused to
perform a certain experiment lest it prove his pet theory wrong.
19.
... prayer as
something not really necessary.
12&12 p.96,
Step Eleven
So it isn't surprising that we often tend to slight serious meditation and prayer as something not really necessary.
20.
... prayer as
soon as we can, doing ...
12&12 p.105,
Step Eleven
21.
... prayer because
they don't believe in it, ...
12&12 p.105,
Step Eleven
All this should be very encouraging news for those who recoil from prayer because they don't believe in it, or because
they feel themselves cut off from God's help and direction.
22.
... prayer, by
this self-serving demand of God ...
12&12 p.103,
Step Eleven
The A.A., or indeed any man, who tries to run his life rigidly by this kind of prayer, by this self-serving demand of God for replies, is a particularly disconcerting individual.
23.
... prayer for
guidance in all matters great ...
12&12 p.103,
Step Eleven
To any questioning or criticism of his actions
he instantly proffers
his reliance upon prayer for guidance in all matters great or small.
24.
Prayer is
the raising of the heart ...
12&12 p.102,
Step Eleven
25.
... prayer is
the sense of belonging that ...
12&12 p.105,
Step Eleven
Perhaps one of the greatest rewards of meditation and prayer is
the sense of belonging
that comes to us.
26.
... prayer may,
despite all the logic and ...
12&12 p.96,
Step Eleven
To certain newcomers
and to those one-time agnostics who still cling to the A.A. group as their higher power, claims for the power of prayer may, despite all the logic and experience in proof of it, still be unconvincing or quite objectionable.
27.
... prayer meeting.
BB p.172,
Doctor Bob's Nightmare
From childhood through
high school I was more or less forced to go to church, Sunday School and evening service, Monday night Christian Endeavor and sometimes
to Wednesday evening
prayer meeting.
28.
... prayer or
phrase that has appealed to ...
12&12 p.103,
Step Eleven
If at these points our emotional disturbance
happens to be great, we will more surely keep our balance, provided we remember, and repeat to ourselves, a particular prayer or phrase that has appealed to
us in our reading or meditation.
29.
... prayer secure
from Him sure and definite ...
12&12 p.103,
Step Eleven
Of course, it is reasonable and understandable that the question is often asked: "Why can't we take a specific and troubling dilemma straight to God, and in prayer secure from Him sure and definite answers to our requests?"
30.
... prayer several
times very slowly, savoring every ...
12&12 p.99,
Step Eleven
As beginners in meditation, we might now reread this prayer several times very slowly, savoring every word and trying to take in the deep meaning of each phrase and idea.
31.
... prayer surrounds
us.
12&12 p.100,
Step Eleven
As though lying upon a sunlit beach, let us relax and breathe deeply of the spiritual atmosphere with which the grace of this prayer surrounds us.
32.
... prayer that
we be shown all through ...
BB p.87,
Into Action
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.
33.
... prayer there
can be a certain amount ...
12&12 p.104,
Step Eleven
This means that side by side with an earnest prayer there can be a certain amount of presumption
and conceit in us.
34.
... prayer was
his expression of what he ...
12&12 p.99,
Step Eleven
And as he came out the other side of that painful experience, this
prayer was his expression of what he could then see, feel, and wish to become:
35.
... prayer, we
found, did open the channel ...
12&12 p.109,
Step Twelve
The persistent use of meditation and prayer, we
found, did open the channel so that where there had been a trickle, there now was a river which led to sure power and safe guidance from God as we were increasingly better able to understand Him.
36.
... prayer, we
likewise deprive our minds, our ...
12&12 p.97,
Step Eleven
And when we turn away from meditation and prayer, we
likewise deprive our minds, our emotions, and our
intuitions of vitally
needed support.
37.
... prayer would
no more do without it ...
12&12 p.97,
Step Eleven
Those of us who have come to
make regular use of prayer would no more do without it than we would refuse air, food, or sunshine.
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.
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