# What is the Third Step prayer, and where is it?

**In short:**
- It's on page 63 of the Big Book, in Chapter 5, "How It Works" (pp. 58–71). It begins "God, I offer myself to Thee—to build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt." (p. 63)
- The book doesn't call it "the Third Step prayer." It introduces it as something "Many of us said to our Maker, as we understood Him" (p. 63) when they took Step Three.
- The book says the exact words don't matter: "The wording was, of course, quite optional so long as we expressed the idea" (p. 63).

## Where it sits

Step Three reads: "Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him." (p. 59)

The book explains the Step on pages 60 to 63 before giving any prayer. Read in order:
- The first requirement is to be convinced that a life run on self-will "can hardly be a success" (p. 60).
- It describes the alcoholic as an actor trying to run the whole show (pp. 60–61), and names "Selfishness—self-centeredness!" as the root of our troubles (p. 62).
- Members found they couldn't get rid of self-centredness on their own and needed God's help (p. 62). "First of all, we had to quit playing God" (p. 62).
- When they took that position, they became less interested in themselves and "More and more we became interested in seeing what we could contribute to life" (p. 63).

Then: "We were now at Step Three" (p. 63), and the prayer follows.

## What the prayer asks

After its opening line, the prayer asks to be relieved of "the bondage of self" so as to better do God's will (p. 63). It asks God to take away the person's difficulties, and gives a reason that points outward: so that victory over them may bear witness, to the people the person would help, of God's power, love and way of life (p. 63). It ends by asking to do God's will always (p. 63).

So even this prayer, said at the moment of decision, is aimed past the person praying, at "those I would help" (p. 63).

## What the book says around it

- **Be ready first.** "We thought well before taking this step making sure we were ready" (p. 63).
- **Alone or with someone.** It was "very desirable" to take the step with an understanding person, "such as our wife, best friend, or spiritual adviser" (p. 63). But "it is better to meet God alone than with one who might misunderstand" (p. 63). The book doesn't say to say it with a sponsor, or with anyone in particular.
- **Your own words are fine.** The wording was "quite optional" (p. 63).
- **It's only a start.** The decision "could have little permanent effect unless at once followed by" a strenuous effort at the inventory (p. 64). Step Four follows straight away.

## Read it yourself
- Chapter 5, "How It Works" (pp. 58–71), with the prayer on page 63, free from A.A.: https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/en_bigbook_chapt5.pdf
- Related: *What is the Seventh Step prayer, and where is it?* · *How does the Big Book say to do Step 4?*
- The full book, *Alcoholics Anonymous*, is sold by A.A. World Services at https://onlineliterature.aa.org.

## Sources
| Source | Pages | First published |
|---|---|---|
| *Alcoholics Anonymous*, Chapter 5, "How It Works" (Step Three and the prayer) | 59–64 | 1939 |

Page numbers are from the fourth edition (2001). The Preface says the program chapters have been "left largely untouched" since 1939 (p. xi), but our sources have no first edition to compare page numbers against.

*Recovery Starts is independent and not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous. Quotations are brief and cited; the Big Book is © A.A. World Services, Inc.*