BIG BOOK STEP INDEX
Step 1 We admitted we were powerless over alcohol – that our lives had become unmanageable.
This Step is described on Roman numeral pages 25 – 32 (xxv – xxxii), on pages 1 – 44:1, and 52:2.
Step 2 Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
This Step is described in parts of chapters 1, 2, 3, and all of chapter 4.
Step 3 Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
This Step is described on pages 60:3 – 64:0. The directions for taking Step 3 are on pages 60:4, 62:3, and 63:2 – 64:0. The results of taking Step 3 are given on page 63:1 and the last line of 63:3.
Step 4 Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
This Step is described on pages 63:4 – 71 and directions for taking this Step are given throughout. The results of taking Step 4 are given on page 70:3.
Step 5 Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
This Step is described on pages 72 – 75. The directions for taking Steps 5 are on page 75:1, the first sentence of 75:2, and 75:3. The results of taking Step 5 are on page 75:2 after the first sentence.
Step 6 Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
This Step is described on page 76:1. The directions for taking Step 6 are also there.
Step 7 Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
This Step is described on page 76:2. The directions for taking Step 7 are also there.
Step 8 Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
This Step is described on page 76:3. The directions for taking Step 8 are also there.
Step 9 Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
This Step is described on pages 76:4 – 84:1 and the directions for completing Step 9 are given throughout. The results of taking Step 9 are on page 83:4 – 84:1.
Step 10 Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
This Step is described on pages 84:1 – 85:2. The directions for taking Step 10 are on page 84:2, the first line of 84:3, and 85:1. The results of taking Step 10 are on page 84:3 – 85:0.
Step 11 Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His Will for us and the power to carry that out.
This Step is described on pages 85:3 – 88:3. The directions for taking Step 11 are on pages 86:1 – 88:0. The results of taking Step 11 are found on page 88 lines 2 – 8.
Step 12 Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all of our affairs.
This Step is described on pages 89 – 150. Many tips on how to carry our message of recover to another alcoholic are found throughout chapter 7, and many tips on how to carry our message and practice these
“Dear God, please set aside everything I think I know [about myself, my disease, the Big Book, the 12 Steps, the Program, the Fellowship, the people in the fellowship, and all spiritual terms, and especially about you God] so I may have an open mind and a new experience [with all these things]. Please help me see the Truth. Amen.”
“The Set-Aside Prayer” (sometimes referred to as the “Lay-Aside Prayer”), as stated here, is not word-for-word stated in the Big Book; but statements and ideas that have inspired the prayer can be found in the Big Book on the pages given below and are highlighted in bold font. The words used above, excluding those in the brackets, comprise the prayer in its purest form. Feel free to adapt or modify the bracketed words as needed. Our spiritual advisors have found that this prayer seems to have a profound affect when used while taking someone through Steps 1 and 2 out of the Big Book.
Page 42, ¶ 2: “But the program of action, though entirely sensible, was pretty drastic. It meant I would have to throw several lifelong conceptions out of the window.”
Page 46, ¶ 1: “We found that as soon as we were able to lay aside prejudice and express even a willingness to believe in a Power greater than ourselves, we commenced to get results…”
Page 47, ¶ 1: “When, therefore, we speak to you of God, we mean your own conception of God. This applies, too, to other spiritual expressions which you find in this book. Do not let any prejudice you may have against spiritual terms deter you from honestly asking yourself what they mean to you.”
Page 47, ¶ 4: “Besides a seeming inability to accept much on faith, we often found ourselves handicapped by obstinacy, sensitiveness, and unreasoning prejudice. Many of us have been so touchy that even casual reference to spiritual things make us bristle with antagonism. This sort of thinking had to be abandoned. Though some of us resisted, we found no great difficulty in casting aside such feelings. Faced with alcoholic destruction, we soon became as open minded on spiritual matters as we had tried to be on other questions. In this respect alcohol was a great persuader. It finally beat us into a state of reasonableness. Sometimes this was a tedious process; we hope no one else will as prejudiced for as long as some of us were.”
Page 49, ¶ 2: “We, who have traveled this dubious path, beg you to lay aside prejudice, even against organized religion.”
Page 58, ¶ 3: “Some of us have tried to hold on to our old ideas and the result was nil until we let go absolutely.”
