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Miracles In Progress 12 Step Recovery Forums -> Step Work -> Step Work -> Step 3
Post Info TOPIC: Step 3
Wantneeda


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Step 3
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Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him.


Step 3 requires that we take affermative action as a result of the developing awareness we have gained from working the first two steps. In step 1, we admitted we were powerless, that our lives had become unmanageable. In step 2, we came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.


List ways in which step 1 prepared you for step 3.


List ways in which step 2 prepared you for step 3.


Step 3 seems to require more of us than the first 2 steps because we are now asked to turn ourselves over to a Higher Power with total abandon. If we feel pressured by this decision, we are going too fast. We must slow down and take the time needed to become ready to proceed. It is in thesefirst 3 steps that we set the foundation for working all of these steps and for achieving the peace and security we are looking for.


list examples that indicate you are prepared to turn your will and your life over to the care of God.


What resistance do you have that indicates you may have blocked God from your life?


The key to success in working step 3 lies in our willingness to turn our lives over to the care of God. This is difficult for many of us because we are so accustomed to handling our lives on self-will alone. Our self-will has banned God from our lives, and the idea of surrender is frightening. We learned to pray to God and to ask Him for things we want, but we were always in control. We are accustomed to asking Him for guidance in helping us achieve our goals. This is different rom turning our very essence over to Him to do whatever He wants withour our having any say in the matter.


Most of us who start this program do so in search of answers to the complex questions of life and asso to find a way to stop repeating painful cycles of ineffective behaviour. In the past, some of us may have experimented with lifestyles and beliefs that appeared to present solutions. What we are really looking for is a personal experience of God that transcends the arguments over mankinds conditioning dogmas.


In concluding the examination of your prepredness to turn your will and life over to God, what was revealed to you about how you have:


"Made a decision..." Have you stopped thinking about it and done it? If you haven't yet made the decision, list the things that are holding you back.


"To turn our will and our lives over...." Do you trust that turning over doesn't mean giving up your life?


"To the care of God...." How do you see God as caring for you?


"As we understood Him..." How do you understand Him now? If you are still struggling with the idea of God, what events have formed your present view?


(we) "Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understand HIm."


Step 3 is a decision to recover. My commitment with my God to make changes in my life.


Referring to pages 60-63.      The step starts with the wording "Being convinced" What do you think the BB is referring to?


"Each person is like an actor who wants to run the whole show, is forevertrying to arrange the lights, the ballet, the scenery and the rest of the players in his own way." Can you identify with this line?


Page 61. What are some of the traits you have used to manipulate people?


"He begins to think life doesn't treat him right" Page 61. Can you identify?


What does the first paragraph on page 62 mean to you? "Selfishness-self-centeredness! What, we think is the root of our troubles....position to be hurt."


"so our troubles, we think, are basically of our own making." Page 62. Do you accept this statement?


"Neither could we reduce our self-centeredness much by wishing or trying in our own power, we had to have God's help." Have you freely accepted the conditions of this line?


Can you accept the following conditions of the last paragraph on page 62? "This is the how and why of it. First of all, we had to quit playing Fog. It didn't work. Next, we decided that hereafter in this drama of life, God was going to..."


be the director-I am the actor?


He is the principal, I am his agent?


He is the father, I am His child?


The three words re: paragraph 2, page 63-"We were reborn." How does this make you feel and what does it mean to you?


The following is an interpretation of the step 3 prayer by Father Bob of the Lumsden retreat


My God, I surrender my will into your hands.


With my will I hand over to you all that I am and have.


All things come from you as a gift and so


I give them back to you so that I rest entirely under you will in everything.


At this time I surrender into your care my wife and children and all my loved ones;


take O God, my anxieties and worries, my joys and sorrows, my strengths and my weaknessess


so that in all things you are in charge and I am your willing instrument.


God, I hand myself over to you now and for always.


Amen



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Wantneeda


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The powerlessness over alcohol ruling my life and how unmanageable my life really is(Was). Spiritually, mentally, physically. I'm defeated. I surrender!


In believing in a power greater than myself I can do nothing alone and the insanity of my life- the fragmented parts I became, only God can restore Wendy to wholeness-sanity-and keep me there. I believe enough to willingly take a chance. I'm defeated. I surrender!


This is my decision alone, no one is forcing me , i'm not doing it for anyone but myself. My way obviously wasn't working! I'm defeated. I surrender!


The only Higher Power I've known in my life was drugs and alcohol. Denial that i was powerless kept any other Higher Power from my life. I am powerless, I believe. I'm defeated. I surrender!


Deciding not to decide IS a decision. Decison leads to action!!!


I must give my whole life over to Him, the good and the bad. My will is my thinking, my reasoning power, learning. My conciousness. My life is the ability to breathe, touch, taste, smell. Exist! My will and life together is all that I am. Turning my will and my life over doesn't mean giving up my life, it means getting a life!


I trust God gives me what I need. Selfishness- self-centeredness was what my life ran on. Me, me, me. My bottom lasted for 3 years...nothing went how i wanted, i almost gave up on life, who else could have carried me through that  time but God? So many times i should have been dead. I'm defeated. I surrender!


I was dishonest, self-pitying to get others to pity me. Self-seeking, whether it hurt others or not. I thought my life was everyone elses fault. I set myself up to be hurt because I didn't like who I was and that allowed others to retalliate which was my motive, in a sense i was manipulating myself! today i accept responsibility for my actions! Allowing god to take charge of my will and my life has given me freedom. Allowed me to take off my rose-colored glasses.


Today I gamble everything I am that a Higher power will take charge of every aspect of my life.


I turn my body, mind, spirit and all my affairs over. "God, take charge"!!!


I believe that my will is my ego, my mind. God's will is in my heart. When i listen to  my head I get in trouble. When i listen my heart, that's Gods' will.


 



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cheri


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Posts: 48
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Thanks Wendy...you are so awesome!


Love,cheri



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fearbgone


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step 1 is over,step2 was an epiphany and step3 im stuck,how do you come to believe in something that you cannot see,or find out when there is an answer,why do we have to wait.This is why people quit the god business.

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siobhan
Wantneeda


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Posts: 22
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Hi fearbgone,


faith as small as a mustard seed is all thats needed, take a chance. Really what have you got to lose??


Many have been in your shoes, are in your shoes and will be.


Some use nature as their higher power, or their AA group...Good Orderly Direction. You can borrow someone elses concept of a Higher power til you find one that suits you. Fake it till you make it.


I'd say if you're stuck on step 3 then you haven';t really gotten the jest of step 2.


For myself all I know is that something greater than myself has carried me this far, that gives me faith that that something will continue to carry me.


Good for you for questioning, don't stop!!


I must do step 1,2,3 every day. A power greater than myself can restore me to sanity, i proved to myself time and time again that self-will only got me in trouble. When I listen to my heart I believe thats Gods will.


Hugs & hugs Wendy



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