“Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.”
My Step Seven
I didn’t expect Step Seven to feel emotional. I thought it would be a simple request: please take these defects. But when I actually tried it, I felt vulnerable. Like I was handing over parts of myself I had lived with for years and to some extent had been keeping me alive.
And yet—I was also tired. Tired of trying to fix myself. Tired of wrestling with pride, with fear, with control, with all the lies. Step Seven felt like placing a heavy burden down.
What surprised me was how tender it felt. I wasn’t begging. I wasn’t bargaining. I was simply saying—I’m ready to try a new way. Please help me.
It didn’t feel dramatic. It felt honest. And freeing. Like telling the truth after years of pretending.
Some of my shortcomings are still with me, and will be probably for the rest of my life, no one is perfect. But when I ask for help with them every day, something shifts. Maybe not in the world, but in me.
And that’s enough.
Step Seven Prayer
My God – My Higher Power,
I come to You now with open hands and an honest heart.
I am tired of carrying these shortcomings—
the fear, the pride, the control, the anger.
They once helped me survive,
but now they only keep me from peace.
I do not ask to be perfect.
I only ask to be changed,
in the ways that lead me closer to truth, to love,
and to the person You created me to be.
Please remove the defects that block me
from being useful to You and others.
Help me to walk in humility—
not thinking less of myself,
but thinking of myself less.
Give me the strength to trust Your timing,
the patience to accept what still needs work,
and the courage to live in honesty, service, and grace.
Amen
From the AA Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Seven is quiet but transformative. If Step Six was the posture of willingness, Step Seven is the movement of humility. We don’t command our healing—we request it. We ask.
Not with demands or deadlines, but with humility: a spirit that says, I cannot do this alone. This is the moment we take our readiness and place it in the care of something greater than ourselves.
We’re not promising perfection. We’re not pledging to never fall back. We’re not even prescribing how we think change should happen. We’re simply asking our Higher Power—however we understand that—to take what no longer serves us, and do what we cannot do alone.
Humility is key. That doesn’t mean shame or grovelling. True humility is clarity: knowing who we are, who we are not, and where we need help. It’s the grounding honesty that clears space for growth.
As the Twelve and Twelve puts it:
“The chief activator of our defects has been self-centered fear… Humility is the remedy.”
This Step marks a turning point. In the earlier Steps, we looked within and shared openly. Now we begin letting go, not just in theory, but in practice. We stop managing and controlling, and start trusting and releasing.
It’s important to remember: shortcomings may not vanish overnight. The process is often gradual. But the request is honest and hopeful: Please remove what blocks me from being my truest, healthiest self.
Excerpts from the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous
The Big Book, in Chapter 6: Into Action (page 76), offers a simple but powerful prayer as we begin Step Seven:
“When ready, we say something like this:
‘My Creator, I am now willing that you should have all of me, good and bad.
I pray that you now remove from me every single defect of character
which stands in the way of my usefulness to you and my fellows.
Grant me strength, as I go out from here, to do your bidding. Amen.’”
This moment marks a shift—from self-reliance to spiritual reliance. We no longer try to edit ourselves into worthiness. Instead, we surrender all of who we are, trusting that what we release will be replaced with something better.
The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions offers deeper reflection, noting that humility is not humiliation, but a clear-eyed acceptance of who we are—and who we are not. It reminds us that most of our defects are driven by fear and self-centredness, and that true transformation begins with surrender, not strategy.
We’re not asking for a life free of struggle. We’re asking for the inner strength to meet life with integrity, openness, and grace. Step Seven is not about becoming flawless; it’s about becoming free.
Letting the Rain Fall
I thought change would come,
like thunder—
crashing in,
tearing the old away.
But it came,
softly.
Like morning rain,
on soil that had hardened.
The anger loosened.
The pride washed thin.
The fear,
grounded,
quiet,
watering the roots,
of me.
I asked—not shouted—
for help.
And it came.
Not all at once.
But in the stillness
after surrender.
I am not perfect.
But I am not alone.
And that,
for today,
is grace.
The Homework Bit
Exploration:
Look back over your Step Six reflections. Which defects are you truly ready to release? Which still feel sticky?
Questions to consider:
- What does humility mean to me today?
- Do I believe my Higher Power wants to help me grow?
- What might my life look like without these particular shortcomings?
Inventory:
Take your Step Six list. Next to each character defect, write:
- What it has cost you.
- What it has protected you from.
- How your life might improve if you allowed it to be removed.
Then write a short prayer or intention beside each one. Keep it simple. Keep it honest.
Example:
Impatience – I ask for patience in the pauses. I trust that things unfold in their own time.
Preparation:
Begin each day this week with a short Step Seven prayer of your own making. Try the one from the Big Book—or write one that reflects your truth.
