11th Step – Thy will (not mine) be done
I read this reading in my morning meditation today (from As Bill Sees It) and felt like it hit home with me and decided to share with my GROW family.
Do It Our Way? p 329
In praying, 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. In that case, we are asking God to do it our way. Therefore, we ought to consider each request carefully to see what its real merit is. Even so, when making specific requests, it will be well to add to each one of them this qualification: “… if it be Thy will.”
TWELVE AND TWELVE, P. 102
The Big Book advises against praying for our needs, unless it would benefit others. I have a lot of experience in praying for selfish needs: “God please let me out of this speeding ticket” “please don’t let him know I spent this amount of money” (you get the idea, lol). My sponsor pointed out in the tenth step that the Big Book reads, “How can I best serve Thee. Thy will (not mine) be done.” It is my purpose to enter any situation as a trusted servant, opposed to my innate nature to seek for my own needs.
What is your experience, strength, and hope in practicing the eleventh step in your daily affairs, when praying for God’s help “selflessly”?