Answer to Prayer
I know that God answers prayers. In 2019 I started to go to 12 step meetings again. A friend mentioned that she was going and asked if I would be interested in checking out the meetings. I explained that I had been to meetings before but that I would like to go again. That was the beginning.
I had been asking God for years to take away my addictions. I never seemed to get an answer. As things progressed over the years I could stay sober for only about a month, usually, but no longer than that. It seemed that it was never going to end. Things only seemed to get worse as time when by. Sometimes, I would give in quickly because I would think to myself, "What is the use of fighting? I know that it will eventually happen anyway." I felt like I was stuck. I had no hope that I could stay abstinent. I would pray for help and go for a while but it was a constant battle and I was white knuckling almost the whole way. Satan had me in a trap, and I could not pull myself out.
Going to the ARP program again, I found a sponsor. It was a miracle to find her. She was part of the answer to prayer. My sponsor challenged me to change how I was praying. Instead of asking God to take away my addictions, I was invited to ask Him to bring me to a place where I could give them up. As I prayed for that, I could not imagine what God could do that would take me to a place where I could give up my addictions. I told myself that if I couldn't imagine it then it was not possible. Boy, was I wrong!
After a few months of praying to be brought to that place, my life started to fall apart. I won't go into details now about how it fell apart, but it did. I began to be humbled. I had to ask for help from others, everything that I thought was in my control was taken out of my control. At the same time God gave me support. My family, friends, my bishop, my roommates and I was also introduced to a counseling program called True Connection.
One day, as I was driving home from work, I was praying and asking God why he wasn't taking my addictions from me and the thought came into my head, "Sharon, when you are ready to let them go, I will take them. As I thought about it, I realized that I was still holding onto them and that God doesn't force anyone to do anything. It was my own desire to continue that was keeping them in my life.
After one last jarring event, I was finally at that place. I was able to let God take things. As I looked back on the things that had fallen apart and the support system that was put in place,I realized that all of those things were part of the answer to my prayer. Those things that I had thought of as trials really were part of the answer. I couldn't imagine that God could get me to that place, but He did. If He can do that for me then He can do anything!
I had been asking God for years to take away my addictions. I never seemed to get an answer. As things progressed over the years I could stay sober for only about a month, usually, but no longer than that. It seemed that it was never going to end. Things only seemed to get worse as time when by. Sometimes, I would give in quickly because I would think to myself, "What is the use of fighting? I know that it will eventually happen anyway." I felt like I was stuck. I had no hope that I could stay abstinent. I would pray for help and go for a while but it was a constant battle and I was white knuckling almost the whole way. Satan had me in a trap, and I could not pull myself out.
Going to the ARP program again, I found a sponsor. It was a miracle to find her. She was part of the answer to prayer. My sponsor challenged me to change how I was praying. Instead of asking God to take away my addictions, I was invited to ask Him to bring me to a place where I could give them up. As I prayed for that, I could not imagine what God could do that would take me to a place where I could give up my addictions. I told myself that if I couldn't imagine it then it was not possible. Boy, was I wrong!
After a few months of praying to be brought to that place, my life started to fall apart. I won't go into details now about how it fell apart, but it did. I began to be humbled. I had to ask for help from others, everything that I thought was in my control was taken out of my control. At the same time God gave me support. My family, friends, my bishop, my roommates and I was also introduced to a counseling program called True Connection.
One day, as I was driving home from work, I was praying and asking God why he wasn't taking my addictions from me and the thought came into my head, "Sharon, when you are ready to let them go, I will take them. As I thought about it, I realized that I was still holding onto them and that God doesn't force anyone to do anything. It was my own desire to continue that was keeping them in my life.
After one last jarring event, I was finally at that place. I was able to let God take things. As I looked back on the things that had fallen apart and the support system that was put in place,I realized that all of those things were part of the answer to my prayer. Those things that I had thought of as trials really were part of the answer. I couldn't imagine that God could get me to that place, but He did. If He can do that for me then He can do anything!
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