Higher Power Spirituality My First Prayer By admin Posted on May 1, 2018 4 min read 2 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Google+ Share on Reddit Share on Pinterest Share on Linkedin Share on Tumblr My personal first spiritual experience was my first weight loss in OA. I came in because of desperation and rage. My family was crazy (so was I), and I had nowhere else to go. I had just been on a fast of water and diet soda, but when I weighed myself, I had gained ten pounds. I felt empty and desolate—what had I done wrong? A woman mentioned OA, so I called her. As usual, I wanted what I wanted immediately, so I called and called desperately as I gained weight more and more during the holidays. In January, I came into OA with her. At first, I was turned off by the word “God,” but I had nowhere else to go and I needed a sponsor. Somewhere in my mind I knew this was the solution. That first month was all about hearing what God had done for these OA members. Maybe, just maybe, I could get the same thing. “Act as if,” I was told. Try it. If it didn’t work, they would be glad to give back any weight I lost. Some guarantee! In my first prayer, I said to God, “If you are there, you will have to help me. I will do the footwork (food plan), and you will have to do the rest. If you will just help, I will stay in program.” Well, I am happy to say, I lost 15 pounds (7 kg) that month and started my Steps. That was my first spiritual experience, for which I am humbly grateful. I am grateful to say I do the Steps over and over, all twelve of them. God works with me on a daily basis. My faith is stronger than any happiness, more than I could ever have believed or hoped for. My faith in God is maintained one day at a time. My three home-group OA meetings help keep it that way by the grace of God. — Edited and reprinted from The Road to Recovery newsletter, Westchester United Intergroup, November 2006 Atheists and agnostics wondering whether OA can work for them can read a new PDF download at oa.org. “What If I Don’t Believe in God?” explains, in the words of atheist and agnostic OA members, how a belief in God is not necessary to find and recovery from compulsive eating in OA