Praying For Others, p. 206
While praying sincerely, we still may fall into temptation. We form ideas as to what we think God’s will is for other people. We say to ourselves, “This one ought to be cured of his fatal malady” or “That one ought to be relieved of his emotional pain,” and we pray for these specific things.
Such prayers, of course, are fundamentally good acts, but often they are based upon a supposition that we know God’s will for the person for whom we pray. This means that side by side with an earnest prayer there can be a certain amount of presumption and conceit in us.
It is A.A.’s experience that partially in these cases we ought to pray that God’s will, whatever it is, be done for others as well as for ourselves.
12 &12, p. 104
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PRAYING WITH A FEATHER
Years ago many devoted preachers and Sunday School teachers were fond of telling people to “pray hard.” Well-meaning as this advice was, it was mistaken. I often tell people to pray “soft,” which, of course, means gently.
I do this because I know that the more quietly and gently we pray, the better results we get. In prayer, as in many other activities, effort defeats itself. More than once I have said to my congregation, “Pray with a feather—not with a pickax.”
Always pray gently, and especially if you have a good deal of fear, or if your difficulty seems to be a very important one.
For thou , Lord , art good , and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee (Psalm 86:5).
© 1931 by Emmet Fox
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18
November
A SAFETY NETOccasionally . . . We are seized with a rebellion so sickening that we simply won’t pray. When these things happen we should not think too ill of ourselves. We should simply resume prayer as soon as we can, doing what we know to be good for us.~ TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 105 Sometimes I scream, stomp my feet, and turn my back on my Higher Power. Then my disease tells me that I am a failure, and that if I stay angry I’ll surely get drunk. In those moments of self-will it’s as if I’ve slipped over a cliff and am hanging by one hand. The above passage is my safety net, in that it urges me to try some new behavior, such as being kind and patient with myself. It assures me that my Higher Power will wait until I am willing once again to risk letting go, to land in the net, and to pray.Copyright © 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services Inc
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