Going Deeper With God
Guarding Our Inner Life | Step 11 — Prayer & Meditation
“Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.”
"Lord, what would you have me to do?" ( Acts 22:10 )
Early in recovery, we tend to rely heavily on our group, our sponsor, and trusted friends. But as we progress, we begin to grow more comfortable with God — understanding that He truly is the loving Heavenly Father we long to be near.
More and more, we choose special time with God, getting to know and love Him more deeply. We progressively learn that He can be trusted to be the ruler of our lives. As He gives us direction, we realize He has our best interest in mind. As we trust Him more fully, we pray more for wisdom and understanding ( James 1:5-6 ) of His will for us ( Acts 22:10 ), realizing that He will provide a way for us to do what He asks ( 1 Corinthians 10:13 ).
Often, through prayer and meditation, I ask for our Father's will concerning decisions I need to make, problems I need to solve, or direction for my life. It often takes time to understand His leading — but He always comes through. And sometimes, when I honestly don't know how I'll be able to do what He's asking, I've learned to lean into something Paul discovered from personal experience:
"My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness." ( 2 Corinthians 12:9 )
Paul wrote those words from a place of real suffering — a thorn in the flesh he begged God three times to remove. The answer wasn't relief. It was something better: the assurance that Father's power shows up most clearly precisely where our own runs out. Every command from Father carries within it the resources needed to obey it. He doesn't call us and then leave us to figure it out alone.
Isaiah put it this way:
"He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might He increases strength… They who wait on Jehovah shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." ( Isaiah 40:29, 31 )
And when the path ahead still feels uncertain, this is the promise we stand on:
"Trust in Jehovah with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." ( Proverbs 3:5-6 )
This is what Step 11 is really about — not religious discipline for its own sake, but a growing, lived-in trust. Prayer and meditation become the daily practice of turning back toward the One who already knows the way and has promised to walk it with us.