Step Twelve:

“Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we
tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these
principles in all our affairs.”

THE joy of living is the theme of A.A.’s Twelfth Step, and action is
its key word. Here we turn outward toward our fellow alcoholics who
are still in distress. Here we experience the kind of giving that asks no
rewards. Here we begin to practice all Twelve Steps of the program in
our daily lives so that we and those about us may find emotional sobriety.

When the Twelfth Step is seen in its full implication, it is really
talking about the kind of love that has no price tag on it. Our Twelfth
Step also says that as a result of practicing all the Steps, we have each
found something called a spiritual awakening. To new A.A.’s, this often
seems like a very dubious and improbable state of affairs. “What do you
mean when you talk about a ‘spiritual awakening’?” they ask.

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, page 106. Copyright © 1981
Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.

Twelfth Step Prayer
Dear God,
My spiritual awakening continues to unfold.
The help I have received I shall pass on and give to others,
Both in and out of the Fellowship.
For this opportunity I am grateful.
I pray most humbly to continue walking day by day
On the road of spiritual progress.
I pray for the inner strength and wisdom
To practice the principles of this way of life in all I do and say.
I need You, my friends, and the program every hour of every day.
This is a better way to live.

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