AA Morning Meditation Big Book pages 86,87 and 88 explained. Step 11

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Part 2. Morning Prayer and Meditation

Given we know that the AA program is contained in the first 164 pages of the Big Book ( with further good information in the step essays of the 12 steps and 12 traditions book ) let's now follow the 2nd half of the prayer and meditation instructions found on pages 86, 87 and 88 of the book "Alcoholics Anonymous"

Big Book Pg 86:

On awakening let us think about the twenty-four hours ahead. We consider our plans for the day. Before we begin, we ask God to direct our thinking, especially asking that it be divorced from self-pity, dishonest or self-seeking motives. Under these conditions we can employ our mental faculties with assurance, for after all God gave us brains to use. Our thought-life will be placed on a much higher plane when our thinking is cleared of wrong motives.

The Big Book authors (the first 100 alcoholics) tell us that each morning they consider their plans for the day. Before doing so they say a prayer and ask God to direct their thinking. A morning meditation makes a lot of sense for people trying to live a spiritual life. A very simple and practical way to start each day for people seeking and developing a conscience contact with a Higher Power. In the ABC's we read at each meeting it says (b) That probably no human power could have relieved our alcoholism. (c) That God could and would if he were sought. So the morning meditation is a daily exercise to seek God's guidance and advice for the day. In doing this we continue to "work" the program and practice spirituality throughout the day.

Let's break it down and see what we should do. As always with the Big Book, if they do it, we should do it. They say that they "consider their plans for the day" and before they begin they say a prayer. So that’s what we will do - say a prayer and then consider our plans for the day.

Let's take it right out of the book and say the same prayer they do.

God, I humbly ask you to direct my thinking. Please divorce my thinking from self pity, dishonest and self seeking motives.

A simple prayer isn't it? That's all they say they do. It's not complex at all. AA is a simple and practical program. Wonderful news for those of us who consider ourselves "complex" people.

Now having asked God to set our minds to good direction let's do what they do next.

2) We now think about our day and plans for it: (consider our plans for the day)

Since we are considering our plans for the day what I like to do is to make a mental or written "to do" list. I think about what I am going to do today and write a list. It's up to you, you can think about it or write it down, as long as you are "considering your day".

Many of us have jobs and work. I find that for work days a reminder that I should be "part of the team" and a worker among workers is a good idea. Things like "I'm going to talk low and act courteously" are great. I'm going to try and be kind toward all. (You might notice this is from the evening meditation). What we want to do is set our selves to try and do Gods will - not ours for the day.

What ever we do we want it to be with good motives. My opinion is that a loving Higher Power wants me to try to be friendly, kind, patient and tolerant. The God I've gotten to know does not want me to be greedy, selfish or dishonest. I have found that the God I know is love and kindness. The books says "love and tolerance of others is our code". (last paragraph pg 84) so I need to try and "live the code".

Something I have been doing lately (on advice from my sponsor) is to try to think about who I might be dealing with or talking to that day. I try to contemplate how I will be with that person. I think about the kind of attitude God would want me to have when talking with that person. For instance, I usually have sponsee's to talk to. I try to remind myself to be patient and tolerant and "put myself in their shoes" during the conversation. If it's someone I am doing business with I try to remember to listen more than talk. If I am going to an AA meeting I remind myself to be just a "member among members" and go in the spirit of service to others. I will try to picture in my minds eye the meeting with the person or persons for that day and the best way to be with them in Gods world. He is the director, I am the actor and I need to act as he would have me act. I need to try my best to live like God wants me to -  selfless, tolerant, patient and of service to others. In this way I can be assured I am doing his will, not mine.

Let's have a look at what the book says next.

In thinking about our day we may face indecision. We may not be able to determine which course to take. Here we ask God for inspiration, an intuitive thought or a decision. We relax and take it easy. We don’t struggle. We are often surprised how the right answers come after we have tried this for a while.

This portion of the meditation exercise is advice for alcoholics who might have indecision about what to do with their day.

Many of us may have a lot going on in our minds in the morning. We may have the habit of getting out of bed and drinking some strong coffee to get the wheels turning in our heads. Many alcoholics tend to think too much and can't decide what to do with a day when first trying this exercise. Some of us might not have jobs in early sobriety, are retired, or lucky enough to be rich with a lot of time on our hands. AA also has directions for life situations like these! Pretty cool huh? I think they knew the kind of people they were writing for. They don't leave too much to guess about.

Let's find out what the book says to do if we feel "indecision" - the feeling of not knowing what to do about something or having too much free time and not knowing what to do with it. By now we probably have a pretty good idea what AA might suggest to do about these kinds of problems . Again, it simply says we go to God for the answers. How do we do this? Well prayer again of course!

The big book states it:
Here we ask God for inspiration, an intuitive thought or a decision.

So we make a prayer. Something like the example below is fine. You can use this one or make up your own, just as long as the general idea is there. Your God will know what your talking about right? It could be something about a specific problem your having. An issue with someone or just a general feeling of doubt about what to do today. Any kind of stressful indecision or bad feelings that come up, just pray for help.

Prayer example
"God I don't know what to do today. I don't how to handle (xxxxx) Please calm my busy thinking, please help me decide what I should do today. Please give me your inspiration. I know I should not be running my life (third step idea here), please show me the way"

With practice, many AA's devoted to the program in the book find that they get some God ideas and feel focused right after prayer like this. It works, it really does, with daily effort on our part. This idea is stated in the next paragraph.

We relax and take it easy. We don’t struggle. We are often surprised how the right answers come after we have tried this for a while. What used to be the hunch or the occasional inspira­tion gradually becomes a working part of the mind. Being still inexperienced and having just made con­scious contact with God, it is not probable that we are going to be inspired at all times. We might pay for this presumption in all sorts of absurd actions and ideas. Nevertheless, we find that our thinking will, as time passes, be more and more on the plane of in­spiration. We come to rely upon it.

The big book authors are telling us that with practice and repeating the exercise our thinking with be more on the "plane of inspiration" or more aligned with Gods will. We get advice here to watch out that we don't think our ideas are actually Gods. A good way to check is to just ask yourself this. Is the thought I just had good, kind or loving? Is this idea I have the kind of thing a loving Higher Power might suggest? You might think God told you to stand up and confront or even fight with someone, making some kind of trouble, revenge, retribution or the like. Let your conscience be your guide. We all know what is good in our hearts. A kind and loving God (in my opinion) doesn't want me fighting and confronting others. You can also ask yourself. " Am I trying to get "MY WAY" again or am I letting the chips fall as they may and surrendering the situation to God? With practice we start seeing where our thinking ends and Gods thinking begins. Gods thinking seems to always be for goodness, kindness, tolerance and getting along with all. Live and Let Live. Trying to be a kind, tolerant, patient and understanding person is the essence of AA spirituality.

Next we close out the exercise. Let's go back to the Big Book and see what it says they do. Again, if they do it we should do it to if we are to "thoroughly follow their path"

We usually conclude the period of meditation with a prayer that we be shown all through the day what our next step is to be, that we be given whatever we need to take care of such problems.  

The next thing the big book authors say they do is "conclude the period of meditation with a prayer" What is the prayer? Well it is right here in the paragraph above. We can just re-word it for us. This is how I like to re-word it.

God, please show me all through the day what my next step should be. Please give me whatever I need to take care of not knowing what to do next. Please I humbly ask you to give me freedom from self will. 

Again, I am just using the info from the big book and doing what they do. Also we can include and say other prayers. I like to say the 11 step prayer from the 12 and 12. It is a beautiful prayer. Prayers of your choice are a really good idea too. Any kind of prayer that does not have selfish ends is a good prayer.  Let's look at what it says next.


We ask especially for freedom from self-will, and are careful to make no request for ourselves only. We may ask for ourselves, however, if others will be helped. We are careful never to pray for our own selfish ends. Many of us have wasted a lot of time doing that and it doesn’t work. You can easily see why.

In this paragraph we read that the authors pray for freedom from self will ( like my prayer above) and then they give us some advice about how to pray again. They say they never pray for things for themselves EXCEPT if it might help others. Pretty cool right? We can pray for things for us if they will assist in helping others. Now watch out, we have to be careful with that. For example I'm fairly sure they don’t mean we can pray for things like fast expensive cars because we think it will impress people in AA and they will "want what we have". I think what they mean is we can, for example, pray for work if we don't have it. If we have good work then we can live well and have time to to be of service to others. Things like that are OK because they enable us to have time to be of service to other AA's

The next portion until the end of the chapter is all instruction and advice.

 If circumstances warrant, we ask our wives or friends to join us in morning meditation. If we belong to a religious denomination which requires a definite morning devotion, we attend to that also. If not mem­bers of religious bodies, we sometimes select and memorize a few set prayers which emphasize the principles we have been discussing. There are many helpful books also. Suggestions about these may be obtained from one’s priest, minister, or rabbi. Be quick to see where religious people are right. 

Finally we get some instruction about how to pray throughout the day. Great stuff as we are trying to practice the AA way of life - a spiritual way of life.

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.’’ 

So as they suggest, what we do is to pause at any time during the day when we find ourselves angry or doubtful about a situation and ask for the right thought or action. "Ask what" you might be thinking. Ask who? Well God or Higher Power of course. Again it is back to prayer and asking God for help. We try to remind ourselves through a simple prayer said many times all through the day we should try to do Gods will not ours. This is practice of the 3rd step which through earlier study we know is continual life effort. So throughout each day, if we try to "turn it over" by asking for help and willingness to do Gods will, we are truly putting the practical program of AA into our lives.

What I do is try to remember to say this prayer every hour or so, more if I'm having a tough day at work or issues with family etc.. "Thy will, not mine, be done." Some days are better than others. Progress not perfection right? None of us are spiritual giants. We just try the best we can.

Finally the big book authors give us some promises that we can get if we do all the things THEY DO outlined on pages 86,87 and 88. 

We are then in much less danger of excitement, fear, anger, worry, self-pity, or foolish decisions. We become much more efficient. We do not tire so easily, for we are not burning up energy foolishly as we did when we were trying to arrange life to suit ourselves. It works—it really does. We alcoholics are undisciplined. So we let God discipline us in the simple way we have just outlined. But this is not all. There is action and more action. “Faith without works is dead.’’ The next chapter is entirely devoted to Step Twelve

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page 86 big book   aa big book page 86   page 85 to 88 page 86 88 big book pg 84-88 big book

AA's Evening Meditation pages 86,87 and 88 explained - Step 11

Morning and Evening Meditation - Step 11

From page 86,87 and 88 of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Part 1. Evening Meditation

Big Book page 86:

The first paragraph on page 86 gives direct instructions about what to do each evening before bed. This is the 1st part of the 11th step. Here we will break down the paragraph and make clear what the Big Book authors tell us they do.

Let's look at the first portion of the paragraph.

Big Book:
When we retire at night, we constructively review our day. Were we resentful, selfish, dishonest or afraid? Do we owe an apology? Have we kept something to ourselves which should be discussed with another person at once? Were we kind and loving toward all? What could we have done better? Were we thinking of ourselves most of the time? Or were we thinking of what we could do for others, of what we could pack into the stream of life?

The big book authors state "when we retire at night we constructively review our day". They tell us this is what they do at night. If we are also going to follow the program then we should do what they do. So each evening before bed, we review our day and ask ourselves these questions, one at a time, pausing and giving each some thought.

Take a few minutes on each one and search out your memories of the day.

Was I resentful? 

Was I selfish?

Was I dishonest?

Was I afraid?

Do I owe an apology? 

Have I kept something to my self that should have been discussed with another person at once?

Was I kind and loving toward all? 

What could I have done better? 

Was I thinking of myself most of the time or was I thinking of what I could do for others, of what I could pack into the stream of life?

After asking yourself these questions you now have a "days review". A review is like an inventory isn't it? How about that! So what you've just done is a single days inventory and hopefully caught any faults, defects of character or short comings that may have come up. We try our best to practice the 10th step during the day and "when we are wrong promptly admit it" but, of course, we are all human and some days make mistakes and slip up on applying the principals in all our affairs and not promptly admit it when we fall short.  The 11th step evening review is the catch all at the end of the day. Through doing this portion of the 11step we take a final look at where we might have fallen short spiritually. So now you may be asking yourself; now that I have this days review what do I do about it? Well that's just what the Big Book authors tell us after these words of advice.


But we must be careful not to drift into worry, remorse or morbid reflection, for that would diminish our usefulness to others.

This portion of the paragraph is advice. Let's take a closer look at what this sentence is saying to us.

For people that may be prone to depression, self loathing, low self esteem etc. They should be careful to remember none of us is perfect. If you feel like this give yourself a break and keep in mind that with an attitude of worry, remorse, depression or self loathing it is difficult to be helpful or useful to other people. The book  says. "for that would diminish our usefulness to others". The definition of diminish is "lessen" or "make less". Helping others is what the Big Book plainly says is our purpose. " To be of maximum service to God and those about us." It is in this move toward "selflessness" that we seek and know God better and continue to grow our spiritual condition. After all, we are attempting to maintain and grow our spirituality and continue our spiritual experience (Appendix II in the AA Big Book) which gives us relief from our illness each day. (We have a daily reprieve based on being spiritually fit)

Now after the words of advice we find out what to do with our days review.

Big Book:
After making our review we ask God's forgiveness and inquire what corrective measures should be taken.

Let's look at this sentence. First it simply says that after our review "we ask for Gods forgiveness" So we should just make a prayer asking for forgiveness. I believe it doesn't need to be complicated, God knows our intention. Here's what I usually say.

Prayer: God please forgive me for my mistakes today, please help me to do better.

The next sentence states "and inquire what corrective measures should be taken".
Here we are asked to make another prayer. I say a prayer like this.

God please show me what to do to avoid these mistakes in the future. I seek your inspiration. Thy will not mine be done.

Now, let's think about this a minute. The Big Book authors say that they "inquire". Inquire is the same as asking right? So we simply just ask God "what corrective measures should be taken".
How about that? The Big Book authors suggest we ought to ask God what we should do to correct our mistakes. Doesn't that imply that we might get an answer? Yes it does! So what do we do to get an answer? Here is where the meditation comes in.

After making the prayer for forgiveness and asking God how to do better, try to relax and stay silent for 10 or 15 minutes. Longer if you feel you have the discipline. Calm your mind and relax to see if you get some kind of answer. This takes practice but many times we find that we get some ideas that aren't our own. Some AA's say they "hear a voice speak" in their minds. You may find you get some ideas which you could honestly say you think didn't come from you, these quite possibly are God inspired. This is what we are looking for. If the ideas are truly good they are probably from God. Use them, try to incorporate them into the next day.


Some God "idea" examples from my own meditation experience:

I should relax at work, I take things too seriously and get into fights with co workers because of it. I should try to "Live and let live".

I should call my sponsor more often and be as truthful as possible.

I've been neglecting my family, I should make more time for them. Make a few more phone calls to my brothers and sisters.

I should go to more meetings, not for me, but to help the newcommers.

I need to try to be a kinder person each day. I've been too pushy and crass with even the cashier at the market.

I need to cool down behind the wheel and not drive so aggressively. It's messing with my serenity

I should pray more throughout the day.

I need to try and focus on being a part of the team at work, rather than trying to go around showing everyone how to do their jobs.

I need to work the steps again with a good sponsor who knows the book.

This completes part 1 of the daily meditation. AA Big Book authors also give us instructions about what to do each morning. This will be covered in part 2 here.
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