The OA Promise
(also known as Rosanne's Prayer):
I put my hand in
yours, and together we can do what we could never do alone. No
longer is there a sense of hopelessness, no longer must we each
depend upon our own unsteady willpower. We are all together now,
reaching out our hands for power and strength greater than ours, and
as we join hands, we find love and understanding beyond our wildest
dreams.
Serenity Prayer
God grant me the
serenity to
Accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And the Wisdom to know the difference.
11th Step Prayer
(from the AA Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Book,
page 99)
Lord, make me a channel of thy peace
that where there is hatred, I may bring love
that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness
that where there is discord, I may bring harmony
that where there is error, I may bring truth
that where there is doubt, I may bring faith
that where there is despair, I may bring hope
that where there are shadows, I may bring light
that where there is sadness, I may bring joy.
Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than
to be comforted
to understand, than to be understood
to love, than to be loved.
For it is by self-forgetting that one finds.
It is by forgiving that one is forgiven.
It is by dying that one awakens to Eternal Life. Amen.
Another version of that prayer:
Lord, make me an
instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred let me sow love
where there is injury, pardon
where there is doubt, faith
where there is despair, hope
where there is darkness, light
where, there is sadness, joy.
0 Divine Master
grant that I
may not so much seek to be consoled.
as to console; to be understood as to
understand; to be loved as to love.
For it is in
giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned
and it is in dying that we are born
to eternal life.
Prayers from the Big Book (Alcoholics Anonymous)
3rd Step Prayer用age 63
God, I offer myself to thee-to build
with me and to do with me as Thou wilt. Relieve me of the bondage of
self, that I may better do Thy will. Take away my difficulties, that
victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of Thy Power,
Thy Love, and Thy Way of life. May I do Thy will always.
4th Step Prayer (Resentments)用age 67
God, help me to show tolerance, pity
and patience. This is a sick man. How can I be helpful to him? God save
me from being angry. Thy will be done.
Fear Prayer用age 68
God, I ask that you remove my fear
and direct my attention to what you would have me be.
Sex Prayer用age 69
God, I ask that you would mold my
ideals, and help me to live up to them. Where I have done harm, God show
me what I should do about each specific matter.
Forgiveness用age 70
God, I am sorry for what I have done,
and have an honest desire to let You take me to better things.
Sanity and Strength Prayer用age 70
God, I earnestly pray for the right
ideal, for guidance in each questionable situation, for sanity, and for
the strength to do the right thing.
5th Step Prayer用age
75
God, I thank You from the bottom of
my heart that I may know you better.
6th
Step Prayer用age 76
God, I still cling to some things
that I have admitted are objectionable. Help me to be willing to let
them go.
7th Step Prayer用age 76
My Creator, I am now willing that You
should have all of Me, good and bad. I pray that you now remove from me
every single defect of character which stands in the way of my
usefulness to You and my fellows. Grant me strength, as I go out from
here, to do Your bidding.
8th Step Prayer用age
76
God, I ask for the
willingness to make amends for the damage I have done in the past.
9th Step Prayer用age
79
I pray that I may be given
strength and direction to do the right thing, no matter what the
personal consequences may be.
Change Prayer用age
81
I am sorry for what I have
done. God willing, it shall not be repeated.
Morning Prayer用age
83
My creator, show me the
way of patience, tolerance, kindness and love.
10th Step Prayer用age
84
I pray, God, that You
remove my selfishness, dishonesty, resentment and fear.
Daily Prayer用age
85
How can I best serve
Thee裕hy will (not mine) be done.
11th Step Prayer用age
86
God, I pray for
forgiveness for the wrongs I have done today. I ask that I be shown what
corrective measures should be taken.
Decision Prayer用age
86
God, I am faced with
indecision and I am unable to determine which course to take. I ask You
for inspiration, an intuitive thought, or a decision. God, I pray to be
shown what my next step should be. Give me whatever I need to take care
of my problems. Especially free me from self-will so that I may be of
help to others. What can I do today to help others?
During the Day Prayer用age
87
I am agitated (doubtful)
God. Please give me the right thought or action. I am no longer running
the show. Thy will be done.
Morning Prayer用ages
86 and 164
God, please direct my
thinking; especially, that it be divorced from self-pity, dishonesty or
self-seeking motives. What can I do for the man that is still sick?
A Blessing用age
164
May God bless You and keep
You.
Acceptance Prayer用age 417
And acceptance is the
answer to all my problems today. When I am disturbed, it is because I
find some person, place, thing, or situation耀ome fact of my
life蓉nacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until I accept that
person, place, thing, or situation as being exactly the way it is
supposed to be at this moment. Nothing, absolutely nothing happens in
God痴 world by mistake. Until I could accept my compulsive overeating, I
could not stay abstinent; unless I accept life completely on life痴
terms, I cannot be happy. I need to concentrate not so much on what
needs to be changed in the world as on what needs to be changed in me
and in my attitude.
Shakespeare said, "All the
world痴 a stage, all the men and women merely players." He forgot to
mention that I was the chief critic. I was always able to see the flaw
in every person, every situation. And I was always glad to point it out,
because I knew you wanted perfection, just as I did. O.A. and acceptance
have taught me that there is a bit of good in the worst of us and a bit
of bad in the best of us; that we are all children of God and we each
have a right to be here. When I complain about me or about you, I am
complaining about God's handiwork, I am saying that I know better than
God.
|