Recently the idea came to me that the members of our SA group might pray for each other. Our group has been growing, and praying for each other can be a way of supporting and strengthening each other. At each meeting, we pray for SA members yet to come when we have a moment of silence. How else can I pray for others?

There are probably multitudes of ways. I have heard it said that “every good thought is a prayer.” Here are some ways I have been practicing the 11th Step, specifically by praying for other members.

For a few years now, I have been saying a prayer morning and evening, and at meals. It goes like this: “May we have sobriety, sanity, serenity today.” Then I list a few words for sexual sobriety, such as “continence and chastity,” and finish with “freedom, safety and kindness.” I pray for those things for all SA members, and indeed for all people. The “we” connects me with a worldwide community of seekers. “May we” reminds me that it is a “we” program, and that I have a lot of company on this quest.

Another prayer practice I do every day is a form of prayer that is a lot like meditation. For a half hour every day, I simply sit in silence and gratitude. Those who teach this type of prayer say that when you “open yourself to God’s presence and action,” you are really praying for all of creation, even if you are not thinking of anyone in particular.

Another kind of prayer I can do anytime of the day is what I call “dedication.” I like to dedicate some positive action I am doing to someone who crosses my mind — in this case, to SA members. For example, I like to walk, so I often dedicate my walk to others with the intention that they will share the happiness I derive from my walk as well. Often I feel I cannot appreciate enough the positive things in my life. My attention wanders before I can give them the attention they deserve. Therefore I “wish” the benefits of these things into a spiritual “pool” from which anyone who needs may take. (It is said that we’re saved to serve. I believe we are also “saved to savor.” As AA’s Big Book says, “We absolutely insist on enjoying life.” By means of my “dedications,” I feel that my savoring can also be serving.)

Some say that, in the spiritual life, intention is of the essence. What we wish is a powerful spiritual force.

I sometimes request prayers by phone from groups whose main occupation is to pray for people and situations. Some of these groups pray daily for a certain number of days, for a specific request. I feel it is good for me to take advantage of these networks, joining them in good will, and bearing in mind that “there are things wrought by prayer that this world dreams of.”

I try to remember, when I feel I cannot do enough, or serve enough, that even a small amount of prayer is of inestimable value. Spiritual energy partakes of the infinite, and so a little can go a long way. My prayers need not be dramatic to be powerful, and my spiritual actions need not be momentous to be healing, to ourselves and others.

Praying for other SA members can be a way for me to give expression to my gratitude for being alive and in recovery. It has been my experience that I need to give expression to my gratitude and to my defects, or I become forgetful of my blessings, and feel stale or bored, or even discouraged and despondent. Expressing my gratitude through prayer for others lets my blessings overflow the narrow boundaries of my life, and keeps my spiritual channel open and free flowing. Thus, it helps me to “live in grateful contemplation of the One who cares for us all.”