Fashioned Prayer

In 2008, I worked on a prayer based on the Big Book passage that begins, “On awakening . . .” (Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., pp. 86–88). Early in my program, I read this passage every morning for two years, and I wanted a way to incorporate the spirituality of this reading into my daily routine. I fashioned and refashioned the prayer for weeks and then started praying it every morning, which I still do to this day.

I say this each day along with a related religious prayer and the Third Step Prayer (p. 63):

Merciful Friend, show me your way today.
Let me know your love so I can love you
with my whole heart, mind, and strength
and be a blessing to everyone I meet.

Throughout this day, show me the way of
kindness, courage, patience, and forgiveness.
Deliver me from self-pity and dishonesty.
Help me to live in gratitude and integrity.
Don’t let me be caught in resentment or fear.
If they appear, turn my thoughts into prayer
for my enemy or someone in need.

When anxiety besets me,
may I find peace in you
and not escape in gluttony, lust, envy
arrogance, greed, lethargy,
or any misuse of my freedom.
If I do harm someone, including myself,
show me the best way to make amends.

When I am stuck in indecision,
I will relax and remember
that you want the best for me
and will show me the next step.
Guide me as I plan what to do today.
Give me the intuition to know your will
in all I do and the strength to do it.
Help me to be of service to others.
Good God, keep me in the flow of your grace.

Amen.

— Frank

For Discussion . . . and Journaling

In Fashioned Prayer, the writer explains that a passage in OA-approved literature so inspired him that he wrote a prayer based on that passage. What passage in our literature is meaningful to you? Take some time to use it to write a prayer of your own.