upon God and feel
his good presence;
This will carry you through
your day’s business.
In recovery, we learn that addiction is a disease that has damaged us physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Another word for recovery in this context would be healing. Once we cease living in active addiction we begin to get better and to repair the damage as best we can. In some areas, we bounce back quickly; others take longer, and some things may never be totally repaired. But, we do get better.
Healing is actually an extended conversation with God, a befriending of the flesh, mind, heart, and spirit that have been bruised and incised. Prayers of healing are especially important for us. We pray that our experiences of the pain and struggle of addiction be blessed with God’s healing touch. We ask that God’s grace and love wash over us and weave together the tattered strands of our hurting bodies, minds, emotions, and souls. We pray until our pain is eased into peace, and then we pray our thanks for the respite we have been granted.
The following prayers are a reminder to us that part of our healing process is to care for others with the same love and compassion we are given from others, and include two derived from Native American spirituality and a poem by John Donne. Some of the prayers focus on physical illness, others on spiritual malaise, still others make no distinction. The final prayer concerns HIV/AIDS, a disease to which we have lost many brethren in and out the rooms of recovery.
Lord, Please Help Me
AUTHOR UNKNOWN
Lord, please help me to bring
Comfort where there is pain
Courage where there is fear
Hope where there is despair
Acceptance when the end is near and
A touch of gentle with tenderness,
patience, and love.
She Who Heals
AN AMERICAN INDIAN HEALING PRAYER
Mother, sing me a song
That will ease my pain,
Mend broken bones,
Bring wholeness again.
Catch my babies
When they are born,
Sing my death song,
Teach me how to mourn.
Show me the medicine
Of the healing arts,
The value of spirit,
The way I can serve.
Mother, heal my heart
So that I can see
The gifts of yours
That can live through me.
I Am Worthy A Prayer for All Those in Recovery
REV. JOHN T. FARRELL
I am worthy of recovery, serenity, and a happy life.
I am worthy of achieving these things,
no matter what I have done up to this point in life
and whatever transgressions I may have committed.
I am still worthy.
I am competent and intelligent, no matter how badly
I did in school and what my employment history is.
I can make a contribution, no matter what anyone
has told me to the contrary. I alone have the means
to reach my dreams. I am worthy to live my dreams.
The road of life is difficult, not just for me,
but for everyone. It does me no good to compare
myself to others. All are worthy in the eyes of God
and all face unique challenges. I shall be honest
about who I am and will move away from my
preoccupation with self. It is not humility
to be something I am not or what others expect
me to be. I will be myself because I am worthy.
No one will give me my new life of recovery.
I am willing to work hard for it. I am willing
to accept the gifts and tools I have been given.
I am willing to transform myself into the good
and worthy person I was meant to be. I am
willing to pray and to serve others. I will
always remember that I am worthy.
And I will always be grateful.
As I Walk
TRADITIONAL NAVAJO PRAYER
As I walk, as I walk
The universe is walking with me
In beauty it walks before me
In beauty it walks behind me
In beauty it walks below me
In beauty it walks above me
Beauty is on every side
As I walk, I walk with Beauty.
The Prayer of John Donne
Bring us, O Lord God, at our last awakening
into the house and gate of Heaven,
to enter into that gate
and dwell in that house, where there shall be
no darkness nor dazzling, but one equal light;
no noise nor silence, but one equal music;
no
