Honest Prayer
“Although honesty is difficult to practice, it is most rewarding.”
Basic Text, p.92
How difficult we find it to be honest! Many of us come to NA so confused about what
really happened in our lives that it sometimes takes months and years to sort it all
out. The truth of our history is not always as we have told it. How can we begin to be
more truthful?
Many of us find it the easiest to be honest in prayer. With our fellow addicts, we
sometimes find that we have a hard time telling the whole truth. We feel certain that
we won’t be accepted if we let others know us as we really are. It’s hard to live up to
the “terminally hip and fatally cool” image so many of us portrayed! In prayer, we
find an acceptance from our Higher Power that allows us to open our hearts with
honesty.
As we practice this honesty with the God of our understanding, we often find that it
has a ripple effect in our communications with others. We get in the habit of being
honest. We begin to practice honesty when we share at meetings and work with
others. In return, we find our lives enriched by deepening friendships. We even find
that we can be more honest with ourselves, the most important person to be truthful
with!Honesty is a quality that is developed through practice. It isn’t always easy to be
totally truthful, but when we begin with our Higher Power, we find it easier to extend
our honesty to others.
Just for today: I will be honest with God, myself, and others.