Thursday 7/16/09 - "FAITH IN PRAYER"

"FAITH IN PRAYER"

I sometimes wonder how many people were praying for me at the end of my drinking. No one ever actually told me that they were, but I feel very certain that it was happening. My parents did not know I was an alcoholic until the day I hit my bottom and called them for help, but before then I did call them at times "crying in my vodka", whether they knew it or not.

I would be in that terrible self-pitying place where everything was my ex-husband's fault. I had not a clue that my alcoholism was making it impossible for me to cope with life's problems and find healthy solutions. I feel certain my mother and father were praying for me without knowing exactly what the problem was.

I can remember being in Bible study groups on Sunday mornings, hung over. Maybe some of those people recognized what they were seeing. I sure didn't. And perhaps some of them were praying for me.

When I had a crisis with my drinking, I was in pastoral counseling with a wonderful minister in my church who kept telling me he would meet with me anytime, but gently added that things would not get better in my life till I stopped drinking. At that point, I just couldn't stop, just didn't stop, but he kept seeing me and I will never forget the love and kindness he gave me. I'm sure he was praying for me. And thank God the day came when I did stop.

Today, I have faith that there were prayers being said for me and I know that God answered them. I have faith that prayers are heard. I say many prayers. There are many people who need them. It is my great privilege to give what I feel sure was given to me.

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FAITH:
Strong belief in something, especially without proof.
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From "Relentless" by D. Koontz, p. 150
"Among other things, my past had taught me that the very fact of my existence is a cause for amazement and wonder, that we must seize life because we never know how much of it remains for us, that faith is the antidote to despair and that laughter is the music of faith." (italics are mine)
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FROM "ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS" - OUR BIG BOOK

"Faith has to work twenty-four hours a day in and through us, or we perish." (p. 16, lines 12-13)

"When we saw others solve their problems by a simple reliance upon the Spirit of the Universe, we had to stop doubting the power of God. Our ideas did not work. But the God idea did." (p. 52, lines 24-27)

"For faith in a Power greater than ourselves, and miraculous demonstrations of that power in human lives, are facts as old as man himself.

We finally saw that faith in some kind of God was a part of our make-up, just as much as the feeling we have for a friend. Sometimes we had to search fearlessly, but He was there. He was as much a fact as we were. We found the Great Reality deep down within us. In the last analysis it is only there that He may be found. It was so with us." (p. 55, lines 13-22)

"The verdict of the ages is that faith means courage. All men of faith have courage. They trust their God. We never apologize for God. Instead we let Him demonstrate, through us, what He can do. We ask Him to remove our fear and direct our attention to what He would have us be. At once, we commence to outgrow fear." (p. 68, lines 21-27)

"...be an example of the truth that faith alone is insufficient. To be vital, faith must be accompanied by self sacrifice and unselfish, constructive action." (p. 93, lines 24-26)

FAITH, PRAYER, ACTION - A recipe for recovery!

Prayer Girl