- Believe that God exists, that I matter to Him, and that He has the power to help me recover. Prayer: Dear God, I’ve tried hard to fix and control my life’s hurts, hang-ups, and habits. I admit that, by myself, I’m powerless to change. I need to begin to believe and receive Your power to help me recover. You loved me enough to send Your Son to the cross to die for my sins. Help me to open myself up to the hope I can find only in Jesus. Please help me to start living my life in reliance upon this hope, one day at a time. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
- Openly examine and confess my faults to myself, to God, and to someone I trust. Prayer: Dear God, You know our past; You’re familiar with all the good and bad things we’ve done. We ask You to give us the strength and courage to list them so we can “come clean” and face both our past and the truth about our present and future. Please help us reach out to those special persons You’ve placed along our road to recovery. Thank You for providing them to help us maintain balance as we work on our lists. In Christ’s name I pray, Amen.
- Voluntarily submit to every change God wants to make in my life and humbly ask Him to remove my character defects. Prayer: Dear God, thank You for taking me this far on my recovery journey. Now I pray for Your help in making me entirely ready to change my destructive patterns. Give me the strength to deal with the character defects I’ve turned over to You. Allow me to accept all the changes You want to make in me. Help me to be the person You want me to be. In Your Son’s name I pray, Amen.
- Evaluate all my relationships. Offer forgiveness to those who have hurt me and make amends for harm I’ve done to others, except when to do so would harm them or others. Prayer: Dear God, thank You for Your love, for the grace You freely offer. Help me model Your ways when I make my amends to those I’ve hurt and offer my forgiveness to those who’ve injured me. Help me set aside my selfishness and speak the truth in love. Help me focus on my own responsibility in the issue, so my actions won’t be conditional. I know I can forgive others because You first forgave me. Thank You for loving me. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
- Reserve a daily time with God for self-examination, Bible reading, and prayer in order to know God and His will for my life and to gain the power to follow His will. Prayer: Dear God, help me to set aside the hassles and racket of the world, so I can focus my mind and listen just to You for the next few minutes. Help me to get to know You better. Help me to better understand Your plan and purpose for my life. Father, help me to live this day within the boundaries of today, seeking Your will and living this one day as You would have me live it. I pray that others may view me as Yours, not just in my words but, more importantly, in my actions. Thank You for Your love, Your grace, Your perfect forgiveness. Thank You for all those important individuals You’ve placed in my life — in my program, in my recovery, and within my church family. Your will be done, not mine. In Your Son’s name I pray, Amen.
- Yield myself to God to be used to bring this Good News to others, both by my example and by my words. Prayer: Dear Jesus, as it would please You, bring me someone today whom I can serve. Amen.
—by John Baker, adapted from Your First Step to Celebrate Recovery: How God Can Heal Your Life. The book is part of the Celebrate Recovery ministry, now in its 25th year.
How to Use This Book
This book introduces you to the Celebrate Recovery ministry. Celebrate Recovery exists because time does not heal all wounds. Time can often make things worse, as we let hurts from years ago fester and grow. Still, for most of us, it’s hard to reach out and get help.
Celebrate Recovery will empower you to get help and grow toward full Christ-like maturity. If you take part in the Celebrate Recovery ministry, you join nearly 4 million people who have overcome their hurts, hang-ups, and habits.
This book, Your First Step to Celebrating Recovery, will get participants up to speed on the benefits of Celebrate Recovery, and will inspire them to seek healing through God’s love, truth, grace, and forgiveness.