When I wake up, I’ll think quietly about the twenty-four hours ahead. I’ll ask God to direct my thinking, especially asking that it be free from self-pity and from dishonest or self-seeking motives. If I have to determine which of several courses to take, I’ll ask God for inspiration, for an intuitive thought, or a …
The Gamblers Anonymous Red Book, in explaining Step Eleven, says A conscious contact seems to start with daily prayer. What is prayer? To some it is a personal chat with their Higher Power. So each of us can pray as we see fit. If at first prayer seems difficult, you can fake it until you make it. In time …
From time to time, I begin to think I know what God’s will is for other people. I say to myself, This person ought to be cured of his illness, or That one ought to be freed from the abuse she’s going through, and I begin to pray for those specific things. My heart is in the right place …
I’ll begin today with prayer—prayer in my heart, prayer in my mind, and words of prayer on my lips. Through prayer, I’ll stay tuned to God today, reaching forward to become that to which I aspire. Prayer will redirect my mind, helping me rise in consciousness to the point where I realize that there’s no …
Prayer can have many rewards. One of the greatest rewards is the sense of belonging it brings to me. No longer do I live as a stranger in a strange land, alien in a completely hostile world. No longer am I lost, frightened, and purposeless. I belong. We find, in Gamblers Anonymous, that the moment …
Prayer does not change God, wrote Soren Kierkegaard, but it changes him who prays. Those of us in the Gamblers Anonymous Program who’ve learned to make regular use of prayer would no more do without it than we’d turn down sunshine, fresh air, or food—and for the same reason. Just as the body can wither and fail for …
Taking a long hard look at those defects I’m unwilling or reluctant to give up, I ought to rub out the rigid lines I’ve drawn. Perhaps, in some cases, I’ll then be able to say, Well, this one I can’t give up yet…. The one thing I shouldn’t say: This one I’ll never give up. The minute we say, No, never,” …
What causes compulsive gambling? Did we gamble because of some inner flaw or shortcoming or life situation? Gamblers Anonymous: A New Beginning says: We don’t know and … we cannot afford to care. Those who come to us need help immediately…. The benefits of introspection and speculation are paltry when compared to the rewards of helping others regain …
Without freedom from compulsive gambling, we have nothing. Yet we can’t be free of our obsession to gamble until we become willing to deal with the character defects that brought us to our knees. If we refuse to work on our glaring defects, we’ll almost certainly return to our addiction. If we stay clean with …
Some of us, after we’ve taken the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and then the Seventh Step, sit back and simply wait for our Higher Power to remove our shortcomings. The Gamblers Anonymous Program reminds us of the story of St. Francis working in a beautiful garden. A passerby said, You must have prayed very hard to get …