The very first prayer of anonymous alcoholics is a conscious appeal to God and higher powers. To understand the message that goes in that prayer, one must at least understand that the complete destruction of one's “I” becomes inevitable with every glass drunk.
After an alcoholic falls on that sharp line that separates life from death, after he has almost crossed that line several times and looked beyond the line of being, he can understand the meaning of this small but very strong prayer.
God, give me reason and peace of mind to accept what I can’t change, the courage to change what I can change, and the wisdom to distinguish one from the other.
A person goes through all the circles of hell from not understanding what is happening to him, to the realization that he is not like everyone else, that he is actually sick not only physically, but also mentally. At this moment, there is a clear desire to come to faith in a better future, which is possible only with a complete rejection of alcohol and the return of one's spiritual strength.
Help yourself, or How to find yourself among strangers
This faith is most often found in the divine beginning, since any other faith is quite unsteady and not constant. The most controversial of these is belief in oneself and one's strength. This prayer for the peace of mind of anonymous alcoholics helps addicted people to go on a flat road and, if possible, get away from fears and self-digging that destroy an already tormented soul.
The prayer of anonymous alcoholics, turned to God, gives confidence that if you still don’t have enough strength at first to cope with your addiction, then there is some kind of higher essence that will certainly help. The power of the phrase “Help yourself” has a deeper meaning. It implies the idea that you need to find the same people suffering from the same ailments, and help them or ask for help from them.
No one knows the problem of alcoholism as deeply as a drinker knows. The whole community of anonymous alcoholics (AA) is built on this idea, which actually helps many people get out of the abyss, which is rapidly pulling deeper and deeper. In AA there is a program consisting of 12 steps, after passing through which the person who wants to be healed finds the truth, sees and becomes a different person.
Fourth step
Anonymous alcoholics begin to read the prayer of an evil person and meaningfully understand it at the fourth step of the program. Its text is as follows:
God, I understand that (name), which caused me evil, was possibly spiritually sick,
although I don’t like the symptoms of his illness and how this person (name) offended me, he was spiritually sick just like me.
God, help me treat him with the same tolerance, pity and compassion with which I would treat a sick friend.
(Name) offended me. He is a sick man, how can I help him?
God help me forgive him.
I want to fulfill your will!
Reading prayers, doing good deeds, making his mind go deeper and deeper into the true motives of human existence, understanding and realizing his destiny, the alcoholic returns to society with a completely different person. Neither psychologists, nor psychotherapists, nor relatives and friends will help here. Only man himself can cure his soul and body by changing his attitude to the universe and finding the necessary fulcrum. The prayer of anonymous alcoholics also helps.
Flying into the abyss
At the same time, it is worth knowing that there are no former alcoholics and this disease is incurable. A person may not touch alcohol until the end of his days, consciously understanding the consequences of the first glass.
But he still remains an alcoholic. Until the first sip, until the next breakdown, until the inevitable flight into the abyss. To prevent this from happening, the prayer of anonymous alcoholics will help, recited at moments when it becomes inexpressibly empty in the soul.