Jesus says “keep company with God.” Why? Because He is there listening for all who pray and mean it.

We have all heard the saying ‘Say what you mean and mean what you say!’ Most of us have talked to God because things have not gone according to our agendas. But, God wants to be involved in every area of our lives, in all circumstances. We are encouraged by Jesus in Matthew 6 to “find a secluded place so we won’t be tempted to role-play and we can come before God simply and honestly” and seek His guidance.

There is a connection between what we do and what God does. He depends on us to do our part before He decides His. I believe recovery is a three stage process.

1. RECOVERY – learning and applying the Twelve Steps to our lives in order that He will help us to change and become the ‘new person’ the Bible talks about in 2 Corinthians 5:17

2, REPENTANCE – understanding the mistakes we have made, making amends for them and making a conscious decision not to do them anymore.

3. RELIVING – the life-long spiritual journey of seeking, learning and doing God’s will to fulfil His purpose in our lives and become the people He created us to be.

The first and second stages are our part. God in His wisdom gives us all free will and with our free will comes the choice to either follow or ignore Him. We do that in the recovery process I believe by learning all we can about ourselves, about life and about God in order that we can develop our characters into God approved characters.

It tells us in Luke 11:10 “Don’t bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This is not a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we’re in.

Improving our conscious contact with God requires us not only to speak to God but to listen to Him and acting on His instruction to live the best life we can and help others to do the same.

Paul says in Titus 1:2 My aim is to raise hopes by pointing the way to life without end. This is the life God promised long ago—and he doesn’t break promises!

To understand and God’s promises for our lives and apply them to our daily living we need to be in constant communication with Him. One of the most important ways of doing that is through reading and studying ahis Word, which I will share more on next week in week three – step eleven.