How Do You Start Praying If You’re Atheist Or Agnostic?

When you are going through a 12 step recovery, you will often find that a lot of the materials focus on prayer as well as praying to a higher power, whether it be God or someone else. However, if you are an atheist or agnostic, how do you begin?

What is AA Agnostica?

You can take an alternative 12 step recovery that uses a secular view. This is for atheists, agnostics, and freethinkers. This allows you to focus on addiction recovery without having to accept beliefs that are not your own. If you don’t want to pray in the traditional sense, there is still a way for you to work towards sober living – and having access to the materials and groups that don’t have a religious reflection can be best for your belief system.

Finding a Higher Power

As you go through the addiction recovery process, it can be advantageous to find a higher power. Most people take this to mean God. However, it is not always the case. You don’t have to believe in God in order to have a higher power to look towards. Many atheists use the program as their higher power. They concentrate on the road to recovery and the value of others – as well as being a value towards others who are working on sober living.

A supernatural deity doesn’t have to be in the picture. Some people have beliefs that there is a higher power and others don’t. If you want to start praying, it doesn’t have to be to a deity.

Non-Religious Prayer

Your prayer can simply focus on reading materials that are mantras for the road to recovery. You can also enjoy a 12 step movement that uses prayer in a non-religious form. You should take some time to reflect on your life and your future, and this can be your time for prayer, even if it is not in the traditional sense.

It can be alarming to walk into AA and see that God is everywhere, including in the opening prayer. The good news is that you can still go through the program, even if you are agnostic or an atheist. Many have successfully completed the program before you and many will after you. It’s just important to know how to take God out of the equation and look for your own higher power, even if it is the program itself.