The Seventh Step Prayer
from page 76 of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous
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.
Amen
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.
Amen
The little coda of "Amen" does not infuse this empty prayer with any more truth of holiness.
In fact, this second prayer dramatically points out the mixed message, the mixed conceptions, of God presented by the Big Book.
This prayer refers to God as "you", whereas in the Third Step prayer, God is referenced with the more antiquated "thee" and "thy".
Did the writers of Alcoholics Anonymous even note this odd difference? Are we supposed to think of God as some Shakespearean patriarch, a loving father, a grandmaster, a principal? The image of God is distorted and confused. "God as we understand Him" has already fallen apart for the writers, as evinced by the strange change of address.
The Bible reveals God as Creator, but Jesus specifically came to reveal God as Father! This intimate relationship resists easy comprehension for mankind, especially for those who had at best a troubled relationship with their earthly fathers, or never knew their fathers to begin with!
Jesus illustrates who God the Father is!:
"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
"For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
"Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
"Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
"If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" (Matthew 7: 7-11)
Jesus confirms the status of every believer:
"Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God." (John 20: 17)
The Fatherhood of God, a lavishly loving and never-ending supply, defies man's limited understanding, a love which we receive by revelation, not through repetition of vacuous prayers.
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.
every single defect of character which stands in the way
of my usefulness to you and my fellows.
Before God, we have now been perfected in Christ:
"For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." (Hebrews 10: 14)
and
"To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved." (Ephesians 1: 6)
We are even loved as much as Jesus Christ Himself1:
"I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me." (John 17: 23)
God's perfect love towards us establishes our identity before Him:
"Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world." (1 John 4: 17)
God is more interested in working through us than our striving to work for him!
We are not called to figure out a specific intinerary of obedience, but rather to grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord! (2 Peter 3: 18)
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