Step 1 Prayer: Asking God for Honesty About Drinking
A Step 1 prayer is simply telling God the truth: you can’t control your drinking, and you need help. There’s no official wording for it. The book that lays out the steps gives a set prayer for Step 3 and Step 7, not for Step 1, so the prayer below is our own, written to match what the first step asks.
A prayer for Step 1
Father, I come to you without excuses.
I have promised myself and the people I love that I would cut back, and I haven’t kept those promises.
I have told myself it isn’t that bad. It is.
Once I start, I can’t stop. And when I’m sober, I find my way back to the first drink anyway.
I admit I am powerless over this, and my life has become more than I can manage.
I don’t want to hide from that anymore, and I don’t want to drown in shame over it either.
Give me the courage to be honest, with you, with myself, and with one other person.
Thank you that you meet me in weakness and not only in strength.
I can’t. You can. Help me take the next step.
In Jesus’ name, amen.
Why a prayer this simple works
People often think prayer has to sound holy. Step 1 suggests the opposite. The most useful prayer at this point is the most honest one. God already knows how the last weekend went. Saying it to him is for your sake, not his.
Scripture is full of people praying from the bottom. David wrote some of his best-known psalms after his worst failures. The tax collector in Jesus’ story stood at a distance and asked only for mercy, and Jesus said he was the one who went home right with God (Luke 18:13–14).
“The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”
A morning version
If the longer prayer feels like too much, try this each morning before your feet hit the floor:
Lord, I can’t handle alcohol, and I can’t run my life on my own. Keep me honest today. Amen.
That’s enough. Pray it whether you feel anything or not. Feelings tend to show up later, after the habit.
When the prayer feels empty
Some people reach Step 1 angry at God, or not sure he’s there at all. That’s all right. You can still be honest out loud. Tell him you don’t know if he’s listening. That counts as prayer too, and it is often where real faith begins. Step 2 speaks directly to this.
Safety first. If you drink heavily every day, stopping suddenly can be dangerous. Talk to a doctor before you quit.
One thing to do after you pray
Prayer and action belong together in the steps. After you pray this, do one concrete thing today:
- Read a few pages of More About Alcoholism (pp. 30–43 in the 4th edition) and mark what sounds like you.
- Write down the last time you drank and what happened right before the first one.
- Find a meeting for this week, or text one person in recovery.
The Step 1 questions give you a fuller set to work through, and the Step 1 page explains the whole step.
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