San Francisco Sober Living, Detox & Treatment Directory

“Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.” — Alcoholics Anonymous (1939) · Chapter 5 · How It Works

Step Seven as printed in Chapter 5; the prayer that accompanies it appears in Chapter 6.

Seven words — the shortest Step — and the operative one is “asked.” Not fixed, not managed, not white-knuckled: asked. After a lifetime of self-improvement projects that doubled as self-attack, the program proposes something gentler and stranger: request the removal, then go be useful while the work happens. Humility here just means accuracy — knowing which jobs are yours and which never were.

Quote from the 1939 first edition of Alcoholics Anonymous (public domain). Reflection original to sanfranciscosober.com. This site is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.