Last Updated on April 26, 2025 by 2626robert
When Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) recommends seeking a higher power, they refer to a force or presence greater than oneself that can provide strength, guidance, and support in recovery. Importantly, AA does not define this higher power specifically—it is left to each individual’s interpretation.
For some, it may be God or a religious deity, while for others, it could be a more abstract concept like the universe, nature, fate, love, or even the collective strength of the AA group itself. The idea is to recognize that overcoming addiction requires relying on something beyond personal willpower alone.
In AA’s Twelve Steps, steps 2 and 3 directly reference this concept:
- Step 2: Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
- Step 3: Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
The key phrase “as we understood Him” emphasizes that the concept is flexible and personal, allowing individuals of any or no faith to relate in their own way.