The Set Aside Prayer:

I just realized that we say the Set Aside Prayer every week, and that I have never posted it independently on the blog itself. The prayer is derived from the chapter To The Agnostic, pages 47 and 48.

The versions of the prayer are endless, but, here is one that I like to read before our meeting:

“Dear God, we invite you into this room, to guide and direct each of us as we seek Your Truth. Please set aside within each of us anything that would block us. Lay aside our prejudices about what we think we know about ourselves, our disease of COE, this meeting, the steps and our spiritual condition. Remove our fears that we may hear Your Truth through the members of this group. Give us the strength and courage to share Your Truth with each other in a real spirit of Love and Compassion for our fellow man”

We ask that we may have a truly open mind, so we might have a new experience with these things and come to know You better. Please help us see the Truth. Amen.

Alternatively:

Dear God, please enable us to set aside everything we think we know about this process, this meeting, and my spiritual condition. Please remove our fears that we may hear Your Truth through the members of this group. Give us the strength and courage to share Your Truth with each other in a real spirit of Love and Compassion for our fellow man”

We ask that we may have a truly open mind, so we might have a new experience with these things and come to know You better. Please help us see the Truth. Amen.

Here is a more general version:

Set-Aside Prayer God, please set aside everything I think I know about You, everything I think I know about myself, everything I think I know about others, and everything I think I know about my own recovery, for a new experience with myself, a new experience with others, a new experience with my own recovery, and especially a new experience with You!

This prayer is endlessly adaptable.  Here is a more basic version:

“Dear God please help me to set aside everything I think I know about (people, place or thing) so I may have an open mind and a new experience.  Please help me to see the truth about (person, place or thing). AMEN.”

This is the one we used for the BBA:

“God please enable me to set aside everything I think I know for an open mind and a new experience. Please help me see the Truth about myself, my recovery, You and the Twelve Steps.”

As you can see, the last section can be adapted for whatever one is working on at the moment, i.e., about this book, the meetings, the 12 Steps and my disease.

A variation of the one above:

Below are suggestions for adapting the Set Aside Prayer to the Steps:

Step 1:

Please help me see the Truth about my physical craving after I start to compulsively overeat…

Please help me see the Truth about my mental obsession before I start to compulsively overeat.

Please help me see the Truth about the unmanageability of my life.

Step 2:

Please help me see the Truth about my need to come to believe in a Power greater than myself, and that You are either everything or nothing.

Step 3:

Please help me see the Truth about the failure of my life run on self-will and my decision to turn my will and my life over to the care of God.

Step 4:

Please help me face and be rid of the things in myself which have been blocking me from You, other people and myself.

Pre-Step 5:

Please help me see the Truth about my need to share with another person my whole truth, especially the things I swore I would take with me to the grave. Remove my fears and help me to be completely honest with this inventory and the exact nature of my wrongs.

Please help to remove my fears and help me be completely honest in what I am about to do. Please Father, give me the courage, faith and strength I need to share with this person my whole truth, especially the things I swore I would take with me to the grave.

Step 5:

Please help me see the Truth about my need to have the integrity to admit to You, another human being, and to myself the exact nature of my wrongs.

Please help me to have the integrity to admit to You, another human being, and myself the exact nature of my wrongs.

Step 6:

Please help me see the Truth about the defects of character which block me off from You and are an obstacle to my recovery. [people. place or thing].

Step 6:

Please help me to be entirely willing/ready to have You remove all my defects of character.

Step 7:

Please help me see the Truth about my need to have the humility to ask You to remove my shortcomings. — holding nothing back.

Step 8:

Please remove my fears and show me Your Truth. Please show me all the harms that I have caused with my behavior and make me willing to make amends to them all.

Step 9:

Please remove my fear and give me the strength, courage and direction to do the right thing, no matter what the personal consequences may be.

Step 10:

Please help me face and be rid of the things in myself which have been blocking me from You, other people and myself.  When I am wrong, please help me to admit my mistakes and make amends for any harms promptly. Please help me to think less of myself and more often of others. Please show me how You would have me be.

Step 11:

Please, grant me the disciple to continue to seek Your will though prayer and meditation, and grant me the power to carry it out. May I listen to the still quiet voice inside and seek only to grow in understanding and effectiveness.

Step 12:

Please help me to carry the message of Truth and principled living to others, especially other addicts, and to practice these principles in all my affairs.

Try to adapt and create your own personal Set Aside Prayer that is meaningful to you!

As with everything, take what you want and leave the rest behind.

In love and service,

Shira