Prayer in Recovery
Faith in recovery often begins when desperation finally opens the door to change. In the early days of sobriety, my faith in recovery began from an emotional low, still carrying anger, remorse, and frustration.
I didn’t just have a drinking problem; I had a thinking problem, and I had not yet learned the coping skills I needed to face life’s challenges. I felt disconnected from the world, and knew I had to reach out and ask for help.
That willingness led me into the rooms of AA, where I began learning how to live without returning to drinking.
Understanding Prayer More Deeply
To protect my sanity and sobriety, I needed to understand prayer more deeply. That need led me to spiritual teachers and, ultimately, to Emmet Fox, whose influential book The Sermon on the Mount emphasizes prayer’s power to transform lives:
“Prayer does change things. Prayer does make things happen quite otherwise than they would have happened had the prayer not been made. It makes no difference at all what sort of difficulty you may be in. It does not matter what the causes may have been that led up to it. Enough prayer will get you out of your difficulty if only you will be persistent enough in your appeal to God.”
This message reached me at a crucial moment in my journey. Emmet Fox’s teachings showed me the importance of praying consistently, no matter what circumstances I faced.
A Practice in Prayer
Step Eleven encourages us to seek “conscious contact” with God. Through Emmet Fox, I learned to build muscle memory in prayer, especially through his idea of “The Golden Key.” The practice is simple: whenever temptation or a troubling thought arises, turn your attention immediately toward God. In doing so, you metaphorically turn a “golden key” that opens the door to God’s presence by shifting your focus.
This practice takes discipline, but it can bring results. It helps me hit the “pause button” in life before I act out of fear.
Because negativity often filled my mind, this approach helped me. Over time, I made it my way of praying continuously, and eventually it became automatic. As I practiced, I found relief from unhealthy desires, anger, fear, and anxiety.
Simple Prayers for Recovery
Short, simple prayers—such as “Thank you, God,” “Thy will, not mine be done,” or “Help me, Lord”—calmed my troubled thoughts and comforted me during difficult moments.
The Serenity Prayer also helps me. It shifts my perspective and helps me surrender whatever weighs on my mind.
The Lord’s Prayer teaches me how to approach God and ask Him for strength, forgiveness, guidance, and care.
The Saint Francis Prayer reminds me that humble acts can bring a calming spirit.
The Holy Rosary settles me into a tranquil meditative state, focusing on Jesus.
These devotions give me a quiet space in a busy world to regroup my thoughts, rest in God’s rich love and mercy, and quiet my mind.
In my experience, prayer brings relief. The form matters less than the humility to seek God continuously. For me, conscious contact with God brings freedom through a relationship rooted in love. It strengthens my trust that everything will be okay.
Reflection: When troubling thoughts arise, what simple prayer or practice can I return to?
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