AA Step 7: Humbly Ask Your Higher Power to Remove Your Shortcomings

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) can help people achieve and sustain recovery from alcohol addiction, also referred to as alcohol use disorder (AUD). Studies show that attending AA support groups and working through the Steps can be an effective way to achieve and maintain sobriety.¹ This article will help you understand AA Step 7.

What Is the Purpose of Step 7 of AA?

The purpose of AA Step 7 is to cultivate a humbler view of yourself so that you can ask the higher power of your own belief to remove your shortcomings.² Learning humility is not an easy task, but it is necessary for sobriety and true happiness, according to AA.²

Throughout life, people often learn that being proud of themselves is a positive quality, but in alcohol recovery, it can be detrimental and get in the way of accomplishing desired outcomes.² Releasing pride and ego defenses through a humbler attitude is seen as an essential component of true change. A humble person is more willing to admit that they can’t do it alone, and they can therefore more easily seek and accept help from others and their higher power.²

How to Complete Step 7 of AA

Step 7 is one of the most difficult Steps for people to accomplish because developing humility requires people to be truly sincere and emotionally mature enough to admit to their limitations.³ Your AA group may provide you with a worksheet to help guide you, and you can discuss this Step with your sponsor. You can also read more about it and the other 24 principles of AA in the book, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions.⁴

What follows are some tips to help you understand how to complete Step 7 of AA:

• Recall the shortcomings that you identified in Step 4, where you “made a searching and fearless moral inventory of (y)ourself.”⁵
• Consider your motivations and realize how your shortcomings have been blocking the achievement of your true desires.²
• Realize the need for a humbler attitude to ask your higher power to remove your shortcomings.²
• Admit that you need help from others and your higher power.²
• Talk to your sponsor, a therapist, or another trusted person about the ego defenses that have gotten in your way. Everyone has their own defense mechanisms, such as denial, rationalization, or projection, that can keep them stuck in unhealthy habits and prevent them from moving forward in their lives.³
• Engage in reflection, prayer, or meditation to connect to your higher power and ask it to remove your shortcomings.²

How Step 7 of AA Fits Into Your Recovery Journey

Step 7 is preceded by Step 6, which states that we “were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.”⁵ To humbly ask your higher power to remove your shortcomings, you need to first become willing to let go of them.

Step 8 follows Step 7, and states that we “made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.”⁵ Once you have removed your character flaws and cultivated a humbler and more modest attitude in Step 7, you are better prepared to expand your recovery to include the process of seeking forgiveness and making amends with Step 8.

How to Find a 12-Step AA Program

You can find an in-person or virtual AA meeting through the AA website, which provides contact information for resources that have meeting lists in your location and the surrounding area.

People who participate in rehab may start the AA process in group therapy or group meetings offered by their treatment center. During rehab, you might also receive 12-Step facilitation therapy, a type of behavioral therapy that is designed to familiarize people with AA and help them become ready to participate in the AA process.⁶

Many people also participate in AA meetings as a part of their aftercare plan.⁶ Aftercare is a form of ongoing support that can help you sustain recovery and extend the effects of formal treatment.⁷ Depending on your needs and preferences, it can include a combination of components, such as individual or group therapy, telephone or technology-based interventions, or sober living, which are substance-free residences that support people in recovery.^{7, 8}

Start Your Recovery

If you are already involved in a 12-Step program or you’d like to join one, you might also benefit from rehab. Rehab can help you safely stop drinking alcohol, build and practice new skills, and set the stage for a healthier and more productive life.⁶

You’ll first receive an evaluation of your unique needs. Based on this assessment, your rehab journey might include one or more levels of care, such as:

• Medical detox, which offers medical supervision, support, and medication (if necessary), to help you undergo withdrawal more comfortably and safely.⁹
• Inpatient drug and alcohol rehab, which means that you will live onsite at a rehab facility for the duration of treatment, where you’ll receive ongoing care and support so you can fully focus on your recovery.⁹
• Outpatient addiction treatment programs, which means that you can continue to live at home but you will attend treatment on a regular schedule at a rehab facility.⁹
• Intensive outpatient drug and alcohol rehab programs, which provide a more supportive form of outpatient treatment, involving 9-20 hours of weekly treatment.⁹
• Partial hospitalization programs for addiction, which offer a highly supportive form of outpatient treatment, involving 4-8 hours of daily treatment.⁹
• Aftercare programs, which can include the above-mentioned components to offer ongoing support and help you deal with the challenges of recovery.⁹

Learn More About AA

• Step 1
• Step 2
• Step 3
• Step 4
• Step 5
• Step 6
• Step 8
• Step 9
• Step 10
• Step 11
• Step 12
• AA Big Book
• AA Promises