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Miracles In Progress 12 Step Recovery Forums -> Step Work -> Step Work -> Step 7 AA
Post Info TOPIC: Step 7 AA
Dan B 76


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Step 7 AA
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Step 7 AA

Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

 

Are we now ready to let God remove from us all the things which we have admitted are objectionable? Can He now take them alleveryone? If we still cling to something we will not let go, we ask God to help us be willing.

When ready, we say something like this: My Creator, I am now willing that you should have all of me, good and bad. I pray that you now remove from me every single defect of character which stands in the way of my usefulness to you and my fellows. Grant me strength, as I go out from here, to do your bidding. Amen. We have then completed Step Seven.   BB pg 76

 

At some of these we balked. We thought we could find an easier, softer way. But we could not. With all the earnestness at our command, we beg of you to be fearless and thorough from the very start. Some of us have tried to hold on to our old ideas and the result was nil until we let go absolutely.  BB pg 56

 

I tried the easier softer way with step seven in my early sobriety.  But the result was nil.  I hoped that just asking Him to remove my shortcomings was all I needed to do.  Ask and in the morning they would be gone no work on my part.  This could be looked at as not actually working the sixth step, however I was willing it was the effort required that was holding me back not working the seventh step.

 

Step seven is an action step.  We are asking Him to remove our shortcomings but we need to put in the work and take action.  This is the part in the seventh step prayer where we ask for strength.  I cannot make these changes without strength from outside of myself.  This strength can come from many places.  What I needed to do to work on removing these shortcomings was to let those around me know what I was working on so that they could remind me when I was slipping into the behavior I was trying to remove/change. 

 

Arent most if not all of the shortcomings we are asking Him to remove the behaviors we had listed in writing our fourth step?  So it is from this list of our shortcomings that we can take the action that is required for step seven.  If we listed pride as a defect of character/shortcoming the opposite is humility.  For me when I was ready for this step I asked Him to remove this shortcoming but I had to take the action to replace my pride with humility, or replace procrastination with action.  For all of my defects/shortcomings there is an asset to replace it with.  In my experience if I dont replace a shortcoming with something positive it doesnt go away and if it does its not for long.  And still for me these shortcomings have a way of showing up again at times sometimes it feels as if it is a revolving door.  Out with some but others creep back in.  As time goes by and I keep working my program the revolving door slows down.  When these defects arise now from time to time I look at where I am at, how is my program working, what is happening in my life, how is my spiritual program.  When I look at these things I can generally find what is missing.  I might need more meetings, perhaps my spiritual program is suffering and I need more prayer or meditation Im not working my tenth step.  If I dont keep up on the maintenance part of my program I end up back at the action steps.

 

Through working this step we are, as with all of the steps, making spiritual progress.  As we replace these shortcomings with positive behaviors and strengths we are making spiritual progress.  The more spiritual progress we make the stronger our sobriety becomes.  When I finally worked this step as an action step not just wanting my shortcomings removed with no effort my program of recovery made progress.

 

Please share your experience, strength and hope of step seven



-- Edited by Dan B 76 on Sunday 19th of February 2012 05:32:20 PM

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Fyne Spirit


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This is one of those steps where I am very glad we have that saying about progress rather than perfection. In a way I find myself taking the seventh step several times a day, though at other times it's 10 and 11. From my experience though, the principle purpose of this step is to help remove those obstacles that block me from my relationship with my God. I came to AA with a great deal of baggage which I think of as being in three main areas. First the make up of my character, thoroughly defective and likely to lead me back drinking. I came to understand that through step four. Then there were the secrets, the shameful memories that kept me awake, and kept me feeling like I was the only one who was that bad, dealt with in step 5. The forth required and honest self appraisal, and i had developed some honesty and willingness, at least sufficient to tackle this job., The next, confession required me to develop the qualities of faith and trust, but only in one human being, my sponsor, with whom there was no history other than recovery. But step 9, restitution, the final part of house cleaning, would need me to be rid of all kinds of destructive defects. For here there was history, emotion, blame, guilt, resentment, maybe even revenge. Yet this step I was told was not only the final bar to conscious contact with my God, but also I may never overcome drinking if I do not make amends. So I humbly asked Him to remove my shortcomings and he did so at least to the extent that allowed me to complete steps 8 and 9. He removed or reduced procrastination, pride, envy, sloth, lust, greed, dishonesty, fear and selfishness to the extent that, with the help and guidance of my sponsor I was able to commence work on the next steps free of selfish motives.
Paradoxically, those defects are still with me today, I dig out my 4th for reference now and again, but they are much less and don't rule my life anymore. Sometimes I let one back in for a while, and find myself asking to have it removed again, but this seems to be more in the context of the living steps 10,11,12 - after all, I am not a saint.

God bless,
Mike.

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Fyne Spirit
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