Disciple Lifestyle: A Simple Plan for a Blessed Life. This book invites you on an exploration of the 12 steps, not as a recovery tool but as a guide for embracing a Christian way of living. As we embark on this spiritual journey, we will navigate the terrain of surrender, faith, and divine connection, drawing parallels between the wisdom of the 12 steps and the timeless teachings of Jesus Christ.
Other people have used the 12 steps in Christianity such as Celebrate Recovery. I fully support their efforts. This is my experience using the 12 steps as my way of life as a disciple of Christ for the last 37 years. It has worked for me.
I hope they enjoy the process and if they use it, the results will leave a lasting impact on their lives and their faith.
Once I have even a little bit of faith that God will help me, I need to ask Him. I learned this prayer in the 12-step programs I attended for years:
God, I offer myself to Thee—to build with me and to do with me as Thou will. Relieve me of the bondage of self so that I may better do Your will. Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help with Your power, Your love, and Your way of life.
It was a very profound prayer for me. It is a declaration that I am willing to let go of my way and have Him take over my life. It wasn’t really that hard for me initially to start this process. At my best, I ended up hitting bottom with drugs and alcohol. It was harder later when I had to start letting go of the deeper security blanket parts of my personality that I had developed to protect myself. If you get to this stage and just begin to let go of even small parts of your life, you will be amazed at what God will begin doing.