3rd Step
Three
03/June/
Step Three suggests that I put my will and my life in to God's care. God loves as I am, in spite of who I am, and accepts me with compassion. In this Step I become receptive to His guidance; I become willing to be cared for by Him.
I don't need to earn God's care. I don't need to work for it. He offers it freely if I will just accept it. I continue to have my own freewill, but I now choose to let God care for me.
—Anonymous
The Third Step Prayer
14/May/
Some of the best help that I ever received came from my sponsor when he got me to promise to say the Third Step Prayer every morning before my feet hit the floor—and at night, before I went to sleep, to say thank you to God for the gift of sobriety one more day.
He didn't actually extract a promise from me. He didn't come to me and say, "OK, here's what I want you to do." No, it was something I asked. "HOW??? can I do this being sober thing?" I asked how he did it, and what I could do to have what he had, peace and sobriety. So he told me that I could try getting my knees to say the Third Step Prayer every morning before my feet hit the floor—and at night, before I went to sleep, to say thank you to God for the gift of sobriety one more day. In the beginning, I had to write out the prayer and tack it to the wall near my bed. I know it by heart now; I've been saying it every day for sixteen years.
The Third Step Prayer (from AA's Big Book, p. 63)
God, I offer myself to Thee—
To build with me
and to do with me as Thou wilt.
Relieve me of the bondage of self,
that I may better do Thy will.
Take away my difficulties,
that victory over them may bear witness
to those I would help of Thy Power,
Thy Love, and Thy Way of life.
May I do Thy will always!
—Robert P.
Came, Came To
11/April/
Here's a good summary of the first three Step: "I came. I came to. I came to believe."
I came. When I admitted my powerlessness, I came into the beginning of recovery.
I came to. When I realized that there was a Higher Power who could restore my sanity, I began to awake from my clouded thinking.
I came to believe. When I decided to turn control over to God's and place myself in His care, I began to believe that Jesus really did love me.
—Anonymous
Personal Jesus
06/April/
AA's wording of Step Three suggests that we turn "our will and our lives over to the care of God as we underst[an]d Him." This expresses a humble point of view, one that recognizes that no one of us is capable of fully understanding God and His will. While all of us in this recovery fellowship recognize Jesus as our Higher Power, no two of us have the same relationship with Him. He reaches out to us as individuals, loving each uniquely.
Chapter 4 of the Big Book closes with these words:
"Even so has God restored us all to our right minds. To this man, the revelation was sudden. Some of us grow into it more slowly. But He has come to all who have honestly sought Him.
"When we drew near to Him He disclosed Himself to us!"
Reach out and touch faith.
—Anonymous