March 3: The Third Step Prayer

You’ve decided. Now how do you actually say it to God?

Paul urges believers to offer their bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. He calls this reasonable service, or true worship. In the old system, a sacrifice was placed on the altar and given completely to God. Paul says now we offer ourselves, but alive. Every day. Our whole selves.

That’s what Step Three is. Offering yourself.

For generations, people working the steps have marked that decision with a short prayer, printed in the 1939 text. Here it is:

God, I offer myself to Thee—to build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt. Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do Thy will. Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of Thy Power, Thy Love, and Thy Way of life. May I do Thy will always!

The old language can feel formal. But look at what it says. I offer myself. Build with me. Do with me what You want. Release me from being trapped in myself. Take away my difficulties, not so my life is easier, but so my victory can help someone else. Let me do Your will, always.

That’s a living sacrifice in plain terms.

Notice the phrase “bondage of self.” Drinking is often a symptom of a deeper problem: life centered on me. My wants, my fears, my plans, my resentments. Self becomes a prison. The prayer asks God to unlock it.

Many people suggest praying it with another person present, someone in your program or a pastor. Saying it out loud in front of someone makes it real. It’s no longer a private thought. It’s a decision witnessed.

You don’t have to feel anything special when you pray it. Some people do. Many don’t. The point is the offering, not the feeling. And the prayer can be prayed again any morning you need to renew it.

One thing today

Pray the Third Step prayer out loud today. If you can, pray it with one other person in recovery. If not, pray it alone and tell someone afterward.

A prayer

Pray the words above today, slowly. Then add your own: “God, I mean this. Help me live it.”

The prayer is part of Step Three.

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