11th Step Morning Meditation Short Guide Quick Reference

Here is a short "how to" guide for AA's 11th step morning meditation. 

Here I hope to provide the 11th step morning meditation instructions in a short and easy to follow guide that can be used each morning.

1. Pray: God I humbly ask you to direct my thinking. Please divorce my thinking from self pity, dishonest and self seeking motives.
2. Think about your plans for the day: Make a mental or written to do list of your plans and think about anyone you may meet, speak with or deal with. Think about how God would like you to be with them. Think about how you will act today as a person who has turned their will and life over to the care of a loving and kind Higher Power. What will you say? How will you act? What will you do now that you are putting the spiritual principles of AA in your life? How will you apply love, tolerance, kindness, forgiveness and patience to events and relations with others throughout the day?
3. If you have uncertainty or indecision about what to do or how to be in a situation today: Pray. Ask God for ideas or intuition about how to handle or deal with the situation you have uncertainty or indecision about. Sample prayer. God I don't know what to do today. I don't know how to handle (fill in the blank) Please calm my busy thinking, please help me decide what I should do today or how I should be. I humbly ask for your inspiration. I know I should not be running my life my way. Please show me your way. You may find that after this prayer you get some "God ideas" or "divine inspiration". The book says with practice we will get better at it and gain more knowledge of Gods will for us . God ideas and divine inspiration, in my experience, are thoughts of how to apply kindness, patience, tolerance, love and good will toward others.
4. When finished say the closing prayer: God, please show me all through the day what my next step should be. Please give me whatever I need to take care of such problems. I especially ask you for freedom from self will. God I humbly ask you what I can do for other alcoholics still sick. (pg 164)
5. Say prayers of your choice: Suggested prayers are the 11th step prayer, 3rd step prayer (pg. 63 AA book) and any other prayers you choose. 
6. Remember to pray all throughout the day. Big book: 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.’’

Click here for an indepth break down of the 11th step morning meditation taken from the AA Big Book

Click here for a breakdown of evening review portion of the 11th step from the AA Big Book.

For the TSGO of AA group online please visit:

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(c) 2016 BringTheHope 
excerpts from AA book under free use policy.

Questions for me as a long timer.

Recently I've had the pleasure of meeting a like minded AA online as we share common friendships in AA on Facebook. She is writing an article for The Grapevine and asked that I help in answering some questions. Here in this post are the questions and my answers.


1. What does Singleness of purpose mean to you.   

I find that AA's singleness of purpose is outlined in our literature through traditions 3 and 5, especially the long form of tradition 3 which states "Our membership ought to include all who suffer from alcoholism. Hence we may refuse none who wish to recover." So, in my view it's not really a matter of what it means to me, but that I follow the traditions in an effort to help the fellowship survive. I feel the best I can do is to follow those traditions by how I behave in meetings and what I do to help new alcoholics recover. To me it is both traditions which I should follow to ensure that AA keeps it's one simple purpose;  to help the alcoholic still suffering from alcoholism as defined in the text for our society, the book "Alcoholics Anonymous".  AA's primary purpose is to be kept simple. Over the years I have learned that the more I study AA the more I find out the program of AA is simple. Sometimes it takes courage to carry out the work, but the ideas are simple.  "God does not make to hard a terms for those who seek him"(pg46 AA)


I think Bill W. said it best:

Our first duty, as a society, is to insure our own survival. Therefore we have to avoid distractions and multi-purpose activity. An AA group, as such, cannot take on all the personal problems of its members,  let alone the problems of the whole world.

Sobriety -- freedom from alcohol -- through the teaching and practice of the Twelve Steps, is the sole purpose of an AA group. Groups have repeatedly tried other activities and they have always failed. It has also been learned that there is no possible way to make non-alcoholics into AA members. We have to confine our membership to alcoholics and we have to confine our AA groups to a single purpose.  If we don't stick to these principles, we shall almost surely collapse. And if we collapse, we cannot help anyone.

So in my opinion what singleness of purpose means to me doesn't really matter, it's that as a member of AA that I learn the tradition and follow that tradition which is important.


Excerpt from the Grapevine Vol. 50, No.2 / April-May 2004
Singleness of Purpose:

On the face of  it,  the  idea  is  simplicity  itself.
Traditions  Three  and  Five  state  it  clearly:  “The  only
requirement  for  membership  is  a  desire  to  stop  drink-
ing.”  “Each  group  has  but  one  primary  purpose  –  to
carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.” A.A.
is for alcoholics and people who think they might have a
drinking  problem,  and  as  a  Fellowship  we  do  one  thing
only  –  share  our  program  of  recovery.

2. How many Home Groups do you have, and why?
   I have one home group although I don’t really think of it as such.
 My group has daily meetings that I regularly attend and where I hold the service positions, treasurer and chairperson. This group has core members who use the Big Book and 12 and 12 regularly in meetings which is primarily why I like it.  My personal opinion is that there is perhaps too much emphasis on ideas like having a home group without really outlining what a good home group is. New commers may be better served by being urged to find groups where real alcoholics have recovered from alcoholism through practice of the 12 steps. A group with real alcoholic members who have recovered through practicing the 12 steps best carries the message of Alcoholics Anonymous. Over the years I have come to know this message is quite simple; recovery from alcoholism through a spiritual awakening brought about by doing the 12 steps and continued practice of them in ones everyday life.

3. Do you serve in general service? And if so what are you currently serving as?

 I do not currently have a general service position but have been a GSR in the past.

4. Do you feel the Lords Prayer is appropriate in AA meetings.

        Yes, it is a prayer which at first I had a difficulty with but in time grew to embrace. There are many prayers from religion which I can adopt to enhance my relationship with God as I understand him. I am not a Christian or for that matter a religious man but appreciate the content of the Lords Prayer. One great prayer which has a religious origin is the 11th step prayer or more widely known as the Prayer of Saint Francis. It is by far my favorite prayer as it, to me, sums up how I ought to be in Gods world practicing the program of AA. The 3rd step prayer also sounds very religious but is a good prayer which outlines the intent of the 3rd step. With good guidance through quality sponsorship new alcohlics are taught the meaning of these prayers and the reason they are used. In this way they can get past any prejudices they may have due to the fact some of them have religious origins

5. What is your sobriety date?
     March 13th 1993

6. Why do you still go to meetings?
   To carry the message to the alcoholic still suffering and in doing so continue to practice the 12th step and 3rd step. In doing the 12th step I continue to turn my will and my life over to the care of God through the action of helping alcoholics still suffering.
      I also enjoy the friends and people I've met over the years; the social aspect of the fellowship. It's a joy now to be a part of the fellowship as I can be of service and watch others recover and give back what I have been so freely given.

Can drug addicts without a drinking problem attend AA meetings?

My short opinion is yes they can in open meetings as observers but there are plenty of other A groups for problems other than alcoholism. In closed meetings only people who desire recovery from alcoholism ought to attend because new alcoholics that don't have drug histories will have trouble identifying with drug addiction which can be quite different than alcoholism. The focus is effectiveness of AA. AA addresses one problem, alcoholism. Amongst new attendees who use both drugs and alcohol, as well as an unfortunate amount of drug counselors there exists an attitude that drug addiction and alcoholism are same thing. According to AA they are not and in my experience they are not. There are quite a few things different about addiction to alcohol as opposed to addiction to heroin or cocaine.

I will say this. AA does have a singleness of purpose. And for good reason. The short form of the 3rd tradition states "a desire to stop drinking" However the long form states "Our membership ought to include all who suffer from alcoholism. Hence we may refuse none who wish to recover." So, what I see here is the short form being a summary and the long form being a more in depth explanation which states "all who suffer from alcoholism" The big book is pretty plain about it's description of alcoholism. Loss of control - a two fold disease of body and mind. Complete inability to control drinking using will power. There are plenty of other A groups for people who have problems other than alcohol. Let AA be for alcoholics. (I am an addict too but got sober and clean in AA and don't announce myself as an addict) The good news is there are groups who have charters and meeting introductions that plainly state that their group is for alcoholics or people who think they have a problem with alcohol. They invite others to stay and happily direct them to other A groups after the meeting. If AA fellowship becomes a catch all for any problem under the sun the real alcoholic may find it very difficult to identify, never get the chance at recovery and pay the ultimate price. Groups should make an effort to read literature and practice the traditions in meetings. AA is not as effective if the fellowship becomes a vehicle for those who wish to attend meetings as a social vehicle, or to make friends, for self help, sex addiction, drug addiction etc... It's too bad but I see a lot of that.

Thoughts on strong AA fellowship groups and meetings.

     In my humble opinion to be the most effective at carrying the message of recovery from alcoholism through doing the 12 steps, current core members of a fellowship group ought to be what our literature defines as "real" alcoholics. Also in my opinion it is best that they have also recovered through practicing the 12 steps as outlined in the book Alcoholics Anonymous and 12 steps and 12 traditions book.

(Real alcoholic members being people who have alcoholism as described in the the doctors opinion and first 1/3 of the 164 pages of the book.)

     It is the matter of identification that is crucial. How the problem of mind and body manifests in an individuals drinking history. The stories about the inability to stop once starting drinking, the inability to control it. Not being able to stop permanently even when honestly wanting to ... the stories of "real" alcoholics help a new real alcoholic do his 1st step which is crucial in surrendering and getting the motivation to carry on with the rest of the steps to get a spiritual awakening and a conscious contact with a HP. This giving recovery through removal of the obsession by reliance on God. People who attend meetings that are only hard drinkers or have problems other than alcoholism do not have the experience and stories of a real alcoholic and in my opinion can't be nearly as effective at helping a new real alcoholic identify. "All alcoholics are drunks but not all drunks are alcoholics" Pg 20-21 of the big book goes more indepth into this fact they had found. In my opinion a "healthy" AA group ought to have core members who are real alcoholics and are actively putting the 12 steps in their lives and in doing so realize they need to carry "the message of recovery through doing the steps" to other alcoholics. I am not saying we ought to sus out who is a real alcoholic and who isn't but a strong group ought to have core real alcoholic members who have a consistent and big book originated message of recovery through doing the steps.

More new commers than ever before?

I have been living in Thailand the last year or so and have been seeing several new people showing up to the meetings here in Bangkok.
It may be a trend in our society that is driving people to drink and use drugs in ever increasing numbers.  ( perhaps also and increase in using other vices) As a result a greater number of people may be hitting lows and searching for recovery. I wonder if there are any studies or existing statistics that show an increase per capita of American people using psycho pharmaceuticals or self medicating with drugs and alcohol. Living abroad and tuning into USA TV now and again has given me a fresh perspective on at least TV advertising trends and what is being broadcast to the American public. One thing I've noticed. I had tuned into the USA CNN here and there seems to be an extraoridinary number of drug commercials urging people to be there "own advocate" and suggesting people to ask their doctors about these new drugs. It wasn't this way until perhaps about 10 years ago that I can recall. I would hope some studies are being done.

The media exists to serve it's sponsors and generate advertising revenue. As a result a huge emphasis on consuming as being the way to happiness is always urged. A better car, a better looking partner, a bigger and better furnished house, tastier and more expensive food is advertised as the way to happiness. I saw an airline commercial today that's used a music jingle singing "It's all about you". I had to chuckle, when it was all about me I almost died. Glad we in AA have a program that shows a path to happiness as being of service to God and others. -- The simple and practical 12 step program of recovery -- a design for living.

The 12 step practical program of action and faith without works is dead.

To be vital, faith must be accompanied by self sacrifice and unselfish, constructive action.  

( Big Book, Working With Others, p.94  )

As the years go by and I try to persist in understanding and practicing the program of AA it's all become less and less complicated and surprisingly simple.

The fellowship at large tends to get inundated with many ideas and rhetoric from many sources. Those sources include the latest from detox, treatment and rehabilitation centers which tend to do nothing more than urge their clients to go to meetings after their stay. They do not, in my experience do any intensive study of the AA program but tend to be more or less safe places to dry out and learn about addiction or alcoholism "as they see it" and how the medical community understands it.

The program of AA however is, at it's core, a spiritual program of action. A way to seek and establish a relationship with a Higher Power to recover ; recovery through abstaining from alcohol and living life by new principles, spiritual principles. There is some confusion by many as to what the AA program actually is. Many believe it to be the meetings and the fellowship, but I have found through study of the literature that this is not the case at all. To be effective the program ought not be confused with the fellowship.  The program is simply the 12 steps. The AA book "12 steps and 12 traditions" has one of my favorite statements about the AA 12 step program of recovery.

AA's Twelve steps are a group of principles, spiritual in their nature, which, if practiced as a way of life, can expel the obsession to drink and enable the sufferer to become happily and usefully whole.
 
- From The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, page 15.