Step 11 Pathways

Step 11 Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

1.  How do I define the difference between prayer and meditation?  Prayer is my talking to God.  Meditation is taking the quiet time to listen for answers.  Can I talk to sponsor or other Al-Anon friends about the difference?  Yes.

2.  Am I willing to try prayer and meditation today?  I do this as often as possible.  Sometimes I am not consistent enough about a daily routine as I believe starting and ending my day with consciously giving time to these two activities would be of immense help to me.

3.  What can I do to add prayer and meditation to my life today?  I can make the decision to set aside time each day at the exact same time to engage in both activities for at least 15 minutes at the beginning and end of the day.

4.  Do I have a special time and place to pray and meditate?  Think about it each day and set the time as sitting in front of someplace beautiful and quiet such as my window overlooking the lake (at home), campsite, or window at Sequim.  I need to get up at 6 and give 15 minutes to this; each night after dinner another 15 minutes.

5.  How have I sought to improve my conscious contact?  I talk to God throughout the day and listen to spiritual music, soak up God's beauty, and listen to CDs in the car that talk very Al-Anon type talk - Joel and Joyce.  It helps me reprogram my thoughts and win the battle of the mind.  I can stay more upbeat by focusing on those words.  Have I sought out help from my group?  I have reached out to some members and am planning a retreat with them.  I hope to establish an even stronger relationship and spend more time on retreats like this.

6.  What personal spiritual experiences can I draw on to help me improve my conscious contact with God?  I have felt his peace and answers come to me, I saw Jesus and felt his warmth, and I have had many experiences where the solution to the problem was right there.

7.  What does it mean to me to pray only for God's will and not my own?  I may not know what's best for me so it is best to ask for guidance and not specifics as perhaps what I want isn't really good for me right now.  I need to trust that I am where I am supposed to be.  How can I distinguish between God's will and my will?  Usually God's will comes to me when I am quiet and receptive.  I know exactly what I want so I can usually tell when it's my will.  I get a good feeling when it's right.

8.  How have I been mistaken about God's will?  How has my self will caused me difficulties?  I can't think of an instance of being mistake, but I do know that I am not always sure about the answer - is it me or God?  I do know that I lived my life without asking for help or guidance and made a pretty good mess of it and lived down and discouraged - not what I want for myself.

9.  How am I willing to be guided today?  I usually ask for patience and to be a blessing to others each day.  I also ask for guidance about specific situations facing me.  However, I could ask for guidance much more - before every decision.  I could also talk to Al-Anon members about those things.  These days I tend to do and say nothing because I would rather do that than mess things up further.

10.  Is something blocking me in this step today?  What is it?  I tend to be inconsistent.  What steps can I review to help me feel connected today?  Steps 1-3, 6-7, 10 work help me to refocus.  10 in particular is one I'd like to do everyday as I have a check in list as to how the day went.

11.  What do I need to have the power to do this step?  Mainly I need courage and consistency.  Have I asked God for that power?  Yes, I have.  I also repeat to myself that "I will not fear" as well as other helpful slogans.