Seeking God's Will

Whose Will?

We have seen A.A.'s ask with much earnestness and faith for God's explicit guidance on matters ranging all the way from a shattering domestic or financial crisis to a minor personal fault, like tardiness. A man who tries to run his life rigidly by this kind of prayers, by this self-serving demand of God for replies, is a particularly disconcerting individual. To any questioning or criticism of his actions, he instantly proffers his reliance upon prayer for guidance in all matters great or small. He may have forgotten the possibility that his own wishful thinking and the human tendency to rationalize have distorted his so-called guidance. With the best of intentions, he tends to force his will into all sorts of situations and problems with the comfortable assurance that he is acting under God's specific direction.

TWELVE AND TWELVE, PP. 103-104


"How can anybody expect God to acquiesce in the half-baked prayers that a lot of us send up to Him? He would have the world in a worse chaos than it is now in five minutes.

"Real prayer is not telling God what WE want. It is putting ourselves at His disposal so that He can tell us what He wants. Prayer is not trying to get God to change His will. It is trying to find out what His will is, to align ourselves or realign ourselves with His purpose for the world and for us....That's why it is good to begin these meetings with silence.

"Dante said, 'In His will is our peace.'"

c. 1957, Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, page 265-266