Prayer Tool For Maintaining Recovery

What does prayer have to do with recovery, particularly relapse prevention?  Step Eleven, one of the maintenance steps of the program of Alcoholics Anonymous helps us understand this relationship: we "sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out."  Those who have walked a while in recovery know that it is God’s power and wisdom that has carried them forward in recovery.  He has brought them through the challenges of life to a steady and satisfying existence.

The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me.  I will protect those who trust in my name. When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them. I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation.”  (Psalm 91:14-16 NLT)

Life with God in recovery requires prayer as its foundation.  Our friendship with Jesus Christ our higher power allows us, in daily conversation with Him, to share our heart and hear His response.  Early in their relationship, Jesus’ friends wondered how to pray and asked Him to teach them.  Jesus responded, This, then, is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. (Matthew 6:9-13 NIV)

As we pray each day, we can speak with God just as we would with a loving parent who is deeply committed to our wellbeing. We can tell him how much we love him.  We can talk about our families, our friends, our neighbours, or ourselves.  We can talk about those things that are causing us concern or those things that are giving us joy.  We can bring our obsessive thoughts, our temptations, and all our concerns to God.  We can talk about God's work in "carrying the message.”  We can express our thoughts about anything.

God is greater than any problem we face as we navigate new and unfamiliar paths in our recovery.  God wants us to seek Him through prayer over and over again so our strength is renewed for each day's challenges. The key to prayer is recognizing the all-powerful God we are praying to, and praying as Jesus taught us to pray.

©2015 Partners in Hope