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A moving poem by Rabbi Jack Riemer reminds us that we cannot merely ask God in prayer to do something which is within our power, so as to spare us the chore of doing it.

Is there anyone among us who has never been tempted to blame external circumstances for their problems? People hold their parents responsible, their government, the constellation of planets, Loch Ness or God - the supreme "scapegoat" in the sky.

What about God anyways? Does he even exist?! We have never seen him, he has no Twitter account and doesn't show up in the Facebook friend search.

Catch 22

People have long tried to understand why God would allow us to suffer. A scene from the movie Catch 22 comes to my mind:

'Good God, how much reverence can you have for a Supreme Being who finds it necessary to include tooth decay in His divine system of creation? Why in the world did He ever create pain?'

'Pain?' Lieutenant Shiesskopf's wife pounced upon the word victoriously. 'Pain is a warning to us of bodily dangers.'

'And who created the dangers?' Yossarian demanded. 'Why couldn't He have used a doorbell to notify us, or one of His celestial choirs? Or a system of blue-and-red neon tubes right in the middle of each person's forehead?'
'People would certainly look silly walking around with red neon tubes right in the middle of their foreheads.'
'They certainly look beautiful now writhing in agony, don't they?'

I won't go into the whole back story about the creation of the universe this time, and whether or not it was designed for our maximum benefit. Instead, I will leave you with a poem by Rabbi Jack Riemer, and a wish that it will inspire you "to be the change you want to see":

Prayer and Action

We cannot merely pray to you, O God, to end war;
For the World is made in such a way
That we must find our own path of peace
Within ourselves and with our neighbors.

We cannot merely pray to you, O God, to root out prejudice:
for we already have eyes
With which to see the good in all people
If we would only use them rightly.

We cannot merely pray to you, O God, to end starvation:
For we already have the resources
With which to feed the entire World
If we would only use them wisely.

We cannot merely pray to you, O God, to end despair:
For we already have the power To clear away slums and to give hope
If we would only use our power justly.

We cannot merely pray to you, O God, to end disease:
For we already have great minds
With which to search out cures and healing,
If we would only use them constructively.

Therefore we pray instead
For strength, determination, and will power,
To do instead of merely to pray
To become instead of merely to wish.

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Pray for truth and of truth. The first step is a simple admission of our powerlessness, and because what seems so simple sometimes feels so hard, we pray.

The first step of the Christian 12, takes you closer to getting better through Christ than anything else. The first step is simply an honest and heartfelt admission to God that you can no longer control your drinking or drugging; an admission that you are an alcoholic or a drug addict, and that you need His help.

Prayer Inspired By the Big Book of AA

God, my name is ______, And I'm a real alcoholic ... and I need your help today.

¹1st Step Prayer (Anonymous)

Lord

I am out of control
My use has taken over my life, and I can see that it has done great harm
I want to stop, but I can’t, on my own
I believe in You Lord, and I need Your help

Amen

It's devastating watching a loved one struggle with addiction. We try everything we can think of, and nothing seems to work. We blame ourselves for our failings and wonder what we could have done differently, done better.

The heartbreak is so great we often lose perspective in life. We blame ourselves for the uncontrollable actions of another. We do it out of love, but our misguided love rarely serves to better the situation, and often our frantic attempts at control only seem to make things worse.

We have, out of love, forgotten God's love.

We try to accomplish what only He can do, and we live away from His grace.

There is nothing easy about addiction, and the pains of addiction always ripple through the family. Understand what you can do and do all that you can, but pray also for guidance on what you cannot do, and accept that only Christ can truly lead a loved one to salvation.

You don’t have to sit around impotent…you can pray! Pray for guidance and strength and let God's grace and love flow through. Do what you can! Run an intervention, get educated, don’t enable…and then leave the rest up to God. Trust in Him. He has not forsaken or forgotten.

Let go and let god.

Pray.

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Overcome addiction with the Christian 12 steps as you also build a deep foundation for a true life in Christ. Working the 12 steps is rarely easy, but through them you reap a glorious reward. Pray for guidance, strength and courage, and find through Christ what you seek.

The Power of Prayer Through the 12 Steps

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We will for always remember our grown children as the innocent laughing souls they were, and it hurts us deeply when we see them in pain. Pray for love; pray that they feel God's love.

A mother's prayer; a prayer from despair, for love and out of trust and faith in the Lord.

God, my heart is aching and I need your strength.

I pray that You will fill my heart with love and courage and strength; I pray that you will let me feel your presence in this dark time.

I pray that my daughter will feel how much love surrounds her

I feel boundless love for her. I think of her as a little girl splashing in the tub, and my heart breaks to see her as she has become. I love her so much, and I know that You love her more than I ever can.

Please, let her feel this love.

Please let her use this love to break free from drugs.

Please show both of us the path we must walk.

Amen

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Prayers for understanding, so that we may use our new self-awareness to live better, for God.

The difficult task of completing a moral inventory does little good if we do not use our newfound self-awareness to change our lives.

In the 6th of the Christian 12 steps, we pray to God so that we may free ourselves from those negative traits of character that we may yet cling to.

We are imperfect, we have faults, and pettiness and meanness, and only through God's grace can we hope to overcome our human weaknesses.

The 12 steps are called steps for a reason. They are an upward journey, and all steps have meaning, and you can’t get to the top without climbing all of the steps. The 6th step calls for faith, it asks that we open our hearts fully to God, and that we be ready to have Him lead us forward, finally free from those petty resentments and fears that have for so long kept us in worldly pain.

It, like all the steps, is difficult yet necessary, and through the power of prayer you will climb it.

Pray.

AA 6th Step Prayer

God help me become willing to let go of all the things to which I still cling. Help me to be ready to let You remove all of these defects, that Your will and purpose may take their place.

Amen

Anonymous 6th Step Prayer

God, thank you for helping me realize what I am
And thank you for helping me realize how much I need You
God I'm going to try to do better, but I need your help
Help me to live better, for You
Help me to see my wrongs and faults, at all times
And help me to overcome my weak and sinful nature
God, I've been away for too long,
Help me to stay with You, for You, and for always

Amen

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The Christian 12 steps evoke beauty and power. They lead us away from drugs and alcohol as they lead us back to a strong connection with Christ....but although the process works, the journey is far from easy. Here are some prayers long used for when times get tough.

In the first of the Christian 12 steps, we admit to ourselves and to God that we are powerless over our compulsions to use.

In the 2, we admit to ourselves and to the Lord that without His help, we can never get better.

It's a step of real humility, it needs to come from the heart, and you need to believe it as you believe in Christ. You need humility here! You are not God, and you cannot do what only He can do! He will cure you if you open your heart to His grace, and by praying to the Lord of your need for Him, you begin a great journey back into the embrace of Christ. He has been waiting for you!

A 2nd Step Prayer from the Big Book of AA

God, I'm standing at the turning point right now. Give me your protection and care as I abandon myself to you and give up my old ways and my old ideas just for today.
Amen

Anonymous Second Step Prayer

Dear God

I am so tired of drinking, and I know now that I cannot leave it on my own.
I don’t feel very worthy of your gifts, but I'm asking for your help anyways, and I'm going to use what you give me to get better.
I'm scared, but I trust you.
I need your help
I can’t do it without your help.
Lord, show me the way and I will follow.
Lord I really need your help today.

Amen

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In the 3rd of the Christian 12 steps, we pledge our will and our lives to the God of the Christian Bible.

We pledge to God that we will accept His will as our will, and live according to the word of the Bible. A transformation of life through the word of Christ; which is easy to say but tough to truly do, especially for many of us who have lived lives of arrogance away from Christ for a long period.

While abusing drugs or alcohol, we do not pray with an open heart, leading us from God's love. Now we are sober – maybe struggling – but sober, and now when we pray we are ready to feel God's love and guidance in return. Now our prayers have meaning.

When you struggle, the answer is prayer, always prayer.

The third step is a step of prayer.

AA Big Book Third Step Prayers

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!

Amen

God, Take my will and my life. Guide me in my recovery. Show me how to live.

Amen

Anonymous Third Step Prayer

God,

I've been away for a while, but now I'm back
I've missed You, and I need You
God, I've made a mess of things, and although I've done wrongs on my own, I'm asking for Your help to start doing right
I don’t know the way out of this, but I know that You do, and I'm ready to listen
God, please lead me and take away my pain so I may serve You better
I am yours, and I am ready
God, let me start again

Amen

In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven

Matthew 5:16

When we talk of walking the Christian 12 steps there is an implied ending. You get to the 12th and presto change you’re done and cured, and unfortunately, it doesn't work that way.

Better to think of the top of the 12 steps as more of a Stairmaster, and you're going to be on it for life!

And that's a great thing! The 12 steps are simply a set of steps that ensure we live in such a way as to feel God's love, and live for Him - and it's not something that we are ever going to stop needing, or ever stop wanting.

The last of the 12 steps calls for good works. You, by this point have transformed, and what you were is but a memory reminding you of what you never want to be again. As a Christian, you have a duty towards good works, and what better way to serve Christ than through spreading the Christian word of recovery!

Take what you have learned and celebrate it, and strive mightily to lead so that others still using may follow in your example towards Christ.

Anonymous 12th Step Prayer

Thank you Lord for leading me back to You
I was alone and I was lonely
I was weak and I was selfish
I am still weak, but you make me stronger
Before, I followed my own selfish desires, only
Now, help me to lead others to You, always

Amen

There are only 12 steps, but there is no end. The 12 steps are for life, and working the last three of the steps ensures that we live as we should - free from substance abuse -and in the embrace of the Lord.

Pray! Pray every day…5 times a day! Pray of thanks, for grace and with humility. Keep Christ in your heart, always, and live for Him, always.

AA Big Book 11th Step Prayers

As we go through the day we pause, when agitated or doubtful, and ask for the right thought or action. We constantly remind ourselves we are no longer running the show, humbly saying to ourselves many times each day 'Thy will be done.

God, I'm agitated and doubtful right now. Help me to stop and remember that I've made a decision to let You be my God. Give me the right thoughts and actions. God save me from fear, anger, worry, self-pity or foolish decisions that Your will not mine be done.

(Prayer of St Francis of Assisi) —"Lord, make me a channel of thy peace - that where there is hatred, I may bring love - that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness - that where there is discord, I may bring harmony - that where there is error, I may bring truth - that where there is doubt, I may bring faith - that where there is despair, I may bring hope - that where there are shadows, I may bring light - that where there is sadness, I may bring joy. Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted - to understand, than to be understood - to love, than to be loved. For it is by self-forgetting that one finds. It is by forgiving that one is forgiven. It is by dying that one awakens to Eternal Life.

Amen."

God can heal, and He will not turn away from anyone who seeks His love and guidance.

When a loved one suffers with addiction, and there seems no end in sight, we can feel despair; and worse, we can try to act as God.

We try to force change, and when we cannot, we blame ourselves. We take on ourselves tasks fit only for Christ, and we blame ourselves when of course we fail. We forget humility and we show no faith in the power of God's love.

A loved one's addiction is a real Christian trial. Have faith, God can raise the dead; surely he can heal your loved one! Believe in the power and infinite love of the Lord. Believe that He can make things better and that all things are possible.

There is hope!

Trust in him, and pray.

Lord

I believe that You can do all things
I believe that I cannot understand Your workings, but I trust that in all things there is meaning and purpose
I believe in Your infinite compassion and love
I believe that you can heal the sick and raise the dead
I believe that you fill my heart with your purpose and that I am unworthy of this gift, but I accept it gladly.
I believe that although my loved one suffers now, that he will see the light of your love and when he does, I believe that You will heal him
I ask for humility
I ask for the wisdom to serve you in all things
I believe in You and I pray that my loved one will soon feel Your Grace

Amen

A prayer for grace. A prayer for understanding and a prayer for wisdom. Let God guide you and allow you to live well, for Him.

Dear God,

I am powerless and my life is unmanageable without your help and guidance.
I come to you today because I believe
that You can restore and anew me to meet my needs today.
Since I cannot manage my life and affairs,
I have decided to give them to You.
I put my life, my will, my thoughts,
my desires and ambitions in Your hands.
I give You all of me: the good and the bad,
the character defects and shortcomings,
my selfishness, resentments and problems.
I know that You will work them out in accordance with Your plan.
Such as I am, take and use me in Your service.
Guide and direct my ways and show me what to do for You.
I cannot control or change my friends or loved ones,
so I release them into Your care
for Your loving hands to do with as You will.
Just keep me loving and free from judging them.
If they need changing, God You'll have to do it; I can't.
Just make me willing and ready to be of service to You,
to have my shortcomings removed, and to do my best.
Help me to see how I have harmed others
and make me willing to make amends to them all.
Keep me ever mindful of thoughts and actions that harm myself and others,
and which separate me from Your light, love and spirit.
And when I commit these errors,
make me aware of them and help me to admit each one promptly.
I am seeking to know You better,
to love You more.
I am seeking the knowledge of Your will for me
and the power to carry it out.
Lord, teach me patience,
and remind me that it is hard work,
but well worth the labor.
Guide me in all I do to remember that
waiting is the answer to some of my prayers,
and that when I need You,
You will be there to help me.

Amen

It's hard sometimes. Our loved ones may do terrible things while drunk or high and these actions can hurt us deeply.

Sometimes it's difficult for us to avoid judging, but when we do, we no longer serve Christ…we act as God. We do not need to forget wrongs committed against us, we do not need to allow further wrongful actions to be committed against us; but we must remember that our loved one is sick. We must forgive, and we must only pray that through Christ, they can get better.

Remember them for what they were. Remember that they are sick, remember that through God's love they can get better, and love them. Protect yourself, but love them.

Dear Lord

Fill my heart with only love
Through your grace, let me love him even though he has hurt me
Help me to understand that I need not forget, but I must forgive
Let me at all times to understand that his disease takes him away from your love.
Let me at all times remember what he was
Dear Lord, I pray that he finds You, but until he does, give me the patience to wait, the courage to serve only you and the love to treat him only with kindness.

Amen

Letting go, doing all that you can and nothing more; this is a trial for any parent watching a teen abuse drugs. Pray for understanding, for grace and for healing.

Lord, sometimes I don’t know where my job as a parent ends and Your heavenly gift as Savior begins. Grant me understanding, so that I may do all that I can, and nothing more.

Lord, keep my faith burning bright. I believe in you and I believe in your power and love, but sometimes I am tempted to act in your stead. I hurt so much watching my son destroy himself. Grant me faith, so that I may receive your grace and act as Your instrument of love.

Lord, save me from despair. I get overwhelmed sometimes. My wife and my kids need attention, love and support, and so do I. Grant me clarity so that I may serve my family, even in this dark hour.

Lord, show me the path I must walk. Show me what good works I can do to serve You. I need your guidance, and although sometimes I feel rage, Lord, transform my anger into love, and use me as an instrument of Your purpose.

Lord, let my son feel Your love. I believe that only You can heal his wounds. He is troubled, He harms himself, please; bring him home.

Amen

The 6th step is like a last bit of housekeeping, getting things in order so that God may take our unwanted aspects away forever!

The 7th step liberates us from those defects of character that block His love and grace from our hearts. We pray to God to take away our defects of character, and He does, and it's great!

Through the power of prayer, God will remove our shortcomings so that we may live better Christian lives. If we pray with honesty and longing, He will free us.

A true demonstration of the glory of God and the power of prayer.

Pray!

AA Big Book 7th Step Prayers

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.

Anonymous 7th Step Prayer

God, I'm tired of what I was, and how I was
I've thought real hard on this, and I've prayed too
I'm ready to live a new kind of life, a life for You
I know now more than ever that I need your help in this and all things
And I'm asking for it with an open heart
Take away all of my defects, and replace them with your love and strength
Fill my heart with the desire to serve only You
Thy will be done

Amen