Up or down

Recovery
#1

"This is our road to spiritual growth. We change every day...This growth is not the result of wishing but of action and prayer."

Our spiritual condition is never static; if it's not growing, it's decaying. If we stand still, our spiritual progress will lose its upward momentum. Gradually, our growth will slow, then halt, then reverse itself. Our tolerance will wear thin; our willingness to serve others will wane; our minds will narrow and close. Before long, we'll be right back where we started: in conflict with everyone and everything around us, unable to bear even ourselves.

Our only option is to actively participate in our program of spiritual growth. We pray, seeking knowledge greater than our own from a Power greater than ourselves. We open our minds and keep them open, becoming teachable and taking advantage of what others have to share with us. We demonstrate our willingness to try new ideas and new ways of doing things, experiencing life in a whole new way. Our spiritual progress picks up speed and momentum, driven by the Higher Power we are coming to understand better each day.

Up or down-it's one or the other, with very little in between, where spiritual growth is concerned. Recovery is not fueled by wishing and dreaming, we've discovered, but by prayer and action.

Just for Today: The only constant in my spiritual condition is change. I cannot rely on yesterday's program. Today, I seek new spiritual growth through prayer and action.

1 Like
#2

Action > Prayer/Wishing

#3

Wishing? Try doing. Easier when not alone. To each their own.

#4

That's what I said. I consider prayer and wishing to be in the same basket.

If I can't get it done with "doing", I pray, but to Joe Pesci, like George Carlin.

#5

Believe in God or not prayer is good for us. Psychological proof is out there...The psychological benefits of prayer | CNN

#6

Awwww here we are all again!

I absolutely believe in the placebo effect.

#8

I'm not offended in any way. Calm down.

#9

The thing is prayer isn't a placebo. There is psychological and neurological proof that prayer is a stress relief and mood stabilizer. It has much the same effect as meditation. That is weather you believe in God or not. It has often been proven that through prayer we often find clarity to see the answer to a problem. This is because we often use prayer ad a verbal mind map; i.e. it's kinda like bouncing ideas off of someone else. So to claim placebo when there is countless medical journals supporting the evidence that prayer is helpful is kinda sus.

1 Like
#10

You're misunderstanding me. I didn't say it wasn't helpful. I said it was a placebo, meaning we (you) pray and you find benefit in it. So it helps. It is a form of meditation. So you praying(meditation) is helpful. Taking some quiet time and thinking about things can never be a bad thing. But there is a difference in meditation and praying to something supernatural and omnipotent who apparently only helps the people who pray the most, or he's working in mysterious ways etc. Prayer and hard work can get you in a better place. Hard work alone will too. Prayer alone will not. There is nothing supernatural about it.