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

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a widely used approach that can help people achieve and maintain recovery from alcohol addiction, also known as alcohol use disorder (AUD). Research supports AA's effectiveness, with one review finding that 42% of participants remained abstinent after one year.¹ In this article, we’ll walk you through Step 7 and what it can look like in practice.

What Is Step 7 of AA?

Step 7 of Alcoholics Anonymous states: “Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.”²

This Step focuses on practicing humility and recognizing that lasting change often requires support beyond your own efforts. Rather than trying to control or fix everything yourself, Step 7 encourages you to let go of ego and ask your higher power for help in releasing harmful patterns. It builds on the willingness developed in Step 6 and helps deepen self-awareness and openness to growth in recovery.

What Is the Purpose of Step 7 of AA?

The purpose of AA Step 7 is to help you develop a more humble view of yourself so you can ask a higher power, as you understand it, to remove your shortcomings.²

Learning humility isn’t always easy, but AA describes it as an important part of personal growth and recovery.² In many areas of life, people are encouraged to feel proud of themselves, and that can be positive. However, in recovery, pride can sometimes make it harder to change.

As you begin to let go of pride and practice humility, you may find it easier to accept support. With a more humble mindset, you might feel more willing to acknowledge when you need help and more open to receiving it from others and your higher power.²

How to Complete Step 7 of AA

Step 7 can feel challenging because humility often takes emotional maturity and honesty. You might find it easier to do this work when you practice self-compassion, which means treating yourself with kindness when you make mistakes.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 other AA guidance in the book, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions.⁴

These tips can help you understand how to complete Step 7 of AA:

• Reflect on your Step 4 inventory. Recall the shortcomings you identified when you “made a searching and fearless moral inventory of (y)ourself.”⁵ Revisiting these patterns can help you stay grounded in the work you’ve already done.
• Examine your motivations. Consider how your shortcomings may have influenced your decisions or prevented you from reaching your goals.²
• Practice humility. Notice how adopting a more humble mindset may make it easier to ask your higher power to remove your shortcomings.²
• Stay open to support. Recognize where guidance from others and your higher power could help you grow and move forward.²
• Talk through ego defenses. Speak with your sponsor, a therapist, or another trusted person about the patterns that have gotten in your way. Ego defenses like denial, rationalization, and projection are ways your mind protects you from discomfort, but they can also keep you stuck.³
• Connect through meditation, prayer, or reflection. Engage in meditation, prayer, or reflection to deepen your connection with your higher power and ask for help in letting go of 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, it helps 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 As you work on Step 7, you may feel more prepared for Step 8 and the process of seeking forgiveness and making amends.

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.

If you're in rehab, you may start learning about AA in group therapy or group meetings at your treatment center. During rehab, you might also receive 12-Step facilitation therapy. This approach often includes weekly sessions that can help you learn about AA and prepare to take part in meetings.⁶

Many people also participate in AA meetings as part of their aftercare plan.⁶ Aftercare is ongoing support that can help you maintain progress after formal treatment.⁷ Depending on your needs and preferences, it can include a mix of options, such as individual or group therapy, telephone or technology-based support, or sober living. Sober living homes are substance-free residences that support people in recovery.^7,8

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

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 support 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), helps 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, involve nine to 20 hours of weekly treatment.⁹
• Partial hospitalization programs for addiction, which offer a highly supportive form of outpatient treatment, involve four to eight hours of daily treatment.⁹
• Aftercare programs, which can include the above components to offer ongoing support and help you manage the challenges of recovery.⁹

Ready to take the next step in your recovery? Use Recovery.com to compare 12-Step–friendly treatment options in your area so you can find a program that fits your needs, values, and goals for long-term sobriety.