Week #1 – Surrender (Introduction and Steps 1, 2 and 3)
Step 1 – We admitted we were powerless over (our difficulties)—that our lives had become unmanageable.
Hand out the “Four Spiritual Activities” and describe the Prison Cell of Addiction (Step Zero), the Recovery Triangle, and the recovery process in terms of Surrender, Sharing, Amends and Guidance.
Describe how your life had been unmanageable before you recovered.
Read the “Big Book” passage on “unmanageability” (page 52, para. 2, lines 3-8).
“. . . We were having trouble with personal relationships, we couldn’t control our emotional natures, we were a prey to misery and depression, … we had a feeling of uselessness, we were full of fear, we were unhappy, we couldn’t seem to be of real help to other people …”
“Can you identify with any of these statements? If you can, you are ready to take Step One.”
Ask the First Step question (page 30, para. 2, lines 1-2).
“Do you concede to your innermost self that you (have a problem)?”
Step 2 – Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
Explain to the newcomers that, at some point in their recovery, they may come to believe, but it is not necessary to believe right now. In Step Two, all that is needed is a “willingness to believe.”
Read the “Big Book” paragraph on “willingness” (page 46, para. 1, lines 3-8).
“. . . We found that as soon as we were able to lay aside prejudice and express even a willingness to believe in a Power greater than ourselves, we commenced to get results, even though it was impossible for any of us to fully define or comprehend that Power …”
Describe how you “came to believe.”
Ask the Second Step question (page 47, para. 2, lines 2-3).
“Do you now believe, or are you even willing to believe, that there is a Power greater than yourself?”
Step 3 – Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood (God).
Lead the Third Step Prayer (page 63, para. 2, lines 2-8).
“Please repeat after me”:
“God, I offer myself to thee (repeat)
to build with me (repeat)
and to do with me (repeat)
as thou wilt. (repeat)
Relieve me of the bondage of self (repeat)
that I may better do thy will. (repeat)
Take away my difficulties (repeat)
That victory over them (repeat)
May bear witness to those I would help (repeat)
of thy Power (repeat)
thy Love (repeat)
and thy way of life. (repeat)
May I do thy will always!” (repeat)
“We have now taken the First Three Steps.”
“Are there any questions or comments?”
Copyright: Faith With Works Publishing Company, Wally P., 2010