AA Prayers: The Ones the Programme Actually Uses
Alcoholics Anonymous has no single official prayer. What it has is a small set of them, each attached to a particular moment in the programme, plus one said together at the start or end of most meetings in the world. For help finding AA meetings near you, call (866) 920-0628.
Read more: The 11th Step Prayer in AA: A Daily Practice
There Is No One AA Prayer
AA does not tell members what to believe or who to address, and it never settled on a single prayer. The wording throughout the literature is a higher power as you understand it, with the understanding left entirely to you.
What exists instead is a handful of prayers tied to specific steps, and one that belongs to the meeting rather than to any step.
The Serenity Prayer
The one nearly every meeting opens or closes with, asking for serenity to accept what cannot be changed, courage to change what can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
It did not originate in AA and predates the fellowship, but it has been part of it so long that most members learn it in their first week without ever being taught it.
The Third Step Prayer
The Third Step Prayer comes from Chapter 5 of the Big Book, said at the point of deciding to turn one's will and life over to a higher power. It is usually said once, out loud, with a sponsor present, rather than daily.
Of all of them this is the one that marks a decision rather than a practice.
The Seventh Step Prayer
The Seventh Step Prayer also comes from the Big Book, said when asking to have one's shortcomings removed. It follows the sixth step, where a member becomes willing to let them go in the first place.
Like the third step prayer it belongs to a moment in the work rather than to a morning routine.
The Eleventh Step Prayer
The prayer of St. Francis, carried in the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, asking to be made an instrument of peace. This is the one most often used daily, because the eleventh step itself asks for prayer and meditation as a daily practice.
If you are looking for something to say every morning, this is the one members build a routine around.
The Set Aside Prayer
Not in the Big Book and not official, but widely said: a request to set aside everything you think you already know about the programme, about yourself and about your own drinking, long enough to hear something new.
It circulates by word of mouth and the wording varies by region, which is a fair sign of how it spread.
If You Are Not Religious
A great many members are not, and the programme is built to accommodate that. Agnostic, atheist and secular members work the steps without adopting anyone else's god.
Some treat these as intentions said aloud rather than petitions. Others skip them and keep the meetings. Both are ordinary, and nobody is checking.
Hearing Them Said Out Loud
Prayer in AA is mostly a group activity, said together at the close of a meeting with everyone standing. Reading one on a page is not the same experience.
You can search by city and state in our directory, and listings show the format so you can find the meditation and eleventh step meetings where this comes up most.